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White House and Congress to Discuss Immigration Reform June 8th

Politico reports that President Obama has invited members of Congress from both sides of the aisle to discuss immigration reform at the White House on June 8th. According to Politico, an un-named administration official said: “The meeting will be an opportunity to launch a policy conversation that we hope will be able to start a debate that will take place in Congress later in the year." Read more at ImmigrationImpact.com. (May 20, 2009)

Obama�s Controversial Two-Step Moves in Direction of Immigration Reform

After boosting border enforcement, the Obama Administration recently announced that it will also increase funding for a troublesome program started by George W. Bush. The controversial program gives Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unregulated access to the immigration information of every person in local prisons across the United States. Although Obama may be sending mixed signals as he paves a road to immigration reform—signals that frustrates many of his most steadfast supporters—he also understands that he must smooth the way for immigration reform by restoring the confidence of the American public and prove that the government is capable of upholding the rule of law. Read more at ImmigrationImpact.com (May 20, 2009)

New Reports Reveal Immigration Does Not Increase Unemployment

Two new reports prepared for the IPC by the consulting firm Rob Paral & Associates debunk the simplistic myth propagated by anti-immigration activists that immigrants fill U.S. jobs only at the expense of unemployed native-born workers. The reports use data from the Census Bureau to demonstrate that there is no discernible relationship whatsoever between the number of recent immigrants in a particular locale and the unemployment rate among native-born whites, blacks, Latinos, or Asians. This holds true even now, at a time of economic recession and high unemployment. Read more at ImmigrationImpact.com. (May 19, 2009)

Crackdown on Bad Seed Employers a Step in the Right Direction

This week, the Denver Post watch underworld rise of the lycans in HD highlighted the case of five undocumented migrant farmworkers who were imprisoned in squalor at the hands of their smugglers, Moises and Maria Rodriguez. The Mexican farmworkers, who were found working the fields of Northern Colorado, lived in a fenced-in compound on the edge of the Weld County in vile makeshift houses that the Colorado Department of Labor inspectors deemed “uninhabitable.” According to reports, the men piled into an old school bus and rode to a farm field, then put in 12 hours planting, or weeding, or harvesting vegetables. The smugglers paid them a mere $7 an hour, but only allowed the workers to keep $2 an hour. Read More at ImmigrationImpact.com. (May 18, 2009)

Mexican Migration Slows Along With U.S. Economy

Mexican Census data released this week shows a decline in Mexican migration to the United States. This data comes as no surprise and is in line with what other researchers have been saying for months when it comes to the immigration slow down: “it’s the economy stupid.” Read more at ImmigrationImpact.com (May 15, 2009)

Immigrants Could Soften Effects of Baby Boomer Retirement

On Tuesday, the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees released their annual reports on the dire financial condition of the nation’s two largest social safety-net programs. Not surprisingly, the reports highlight the devastating impact that the current recession is having on both Social Security and Medicare, which are now expected to run out of money years earlier that previously forecast. The reports should also serve as a reminder of the severe demographic crisis the United States is confronting as the native-born population grows older: as the 78-million Baby Boomers retire over the next two decades, immigrants will play increasingly important roles in the U.S. economy as taxpayers, workers, consumers, and homebuyers.Read more at ImmigrationImpact.com.

Pew Report Reveals Continuing Importance of Immigrants to Housing Market

A recent report from the Pew Hispanic Center sheds new light on the value of immigration to the U.S. economy—even in the midst of a recession. The report, which examines the impact of the housing market’s boom-and-bust cycle on minorities and immigrants in the United States, found that the latest housing “bust” which began to unfold in 2005 has had less of an impact on immigrant homeowners than on native-born homeowners. Read more at ImmigrationImpact.org. (May 13, 2009)