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Demographics

Citizenship by the Numbers

Citizenship Day (September 17) is an appropriate time to take stock of the growing number of U.S. citizens who are immigrants to this country—or who are the children of immigrants.  Roughly one-in-seventeen U.S. citizens are foreign-born, and tens of millions of native-born U.S. citizens have immigrant parents.  This demographic reality has important political ramifications.  A rising share of the U.S. electorate has a direct personal connection to the immigrant experience, and is unlikely to be favorably swayed by politicians who employ anti-immigrant rhetoric to mobilize supporters.  This is particularly true among the two fastest-growing groups of voters in the nation: Latinos and Asians.  The majority of Latinos and Asians are either immigrants or the children of immigrants, and they comprised one out of every ten voters in the 2008 election.

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Published On: Wed, Sep 16, 2009 | Download File

A Conversation about the Economic Effects of Immigration on African Americans

Anti-immigrant groups have repeatedly tried to drive a wedge between African Americans and immigrants by capitalizing on the myth that immigrants take American jobs. In a new Perspectives piece for the Immigration Policy Center, Yale Professor Gerald Jaynes dispels the myth that immigrants take “black jobs” and instead suggests we find solutions on how to lift up all low-wage American workers.

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Published On: Tue, Jul 14, 2009 | Download File

Untying the Knot Series: Unemployment and Immigration

Untying the Knot (Part I of III): The Unemployment and Immigration Disconnect

With Congress once again poised to consider comprehensive immigration reform, a key question confronting lawmakers is to what extent immigration and unemployment are related. Opponents of immigration reform frequently argue that immigrants “take” jobs away from many native-born workers, especially during economic hard times. Yet an analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau clearly reveals that this is not the case. In fact, there is little apparent relationship between recent immigration and unemployment rates at the regional, state, or county level.

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Published On: Tue, May 19, 2009 | Download File

Top 5 Immigration Myths of this Campaign Season: Ending the Immigration Spin - Just the Facts

As the campaign season rolls onward and the intensity of the debate escalates, five recurring myths must be dispelled to clear the way for honest dialogue.

Published On: Thu, Jan 01, 2009 | Download File

The New Electoral Landscape and What It Means for Immigration Reform

Latinos, Asians, and New Americans Redefine 21st Century American Politics

IPC has compiled this one-stop analysis of all the available data on the Asian, Latino and New American vote and shows how and why they voted the way they did in the 2008 election cycle. The report features a variety of early, exit and election-day polling which tells the story of not only a record rate turnout, but also provides insight into the greatest areas of concern for these voters. It also explores early signals from the new administration and congress with respect to immigration reform.

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Published On: Thu, Dec 04, 2008 | Download File

Latino New American Voters Wield Influence in New States: Immigrant Latinos Top Native-Born Latinos in Preference for Obama

Latinos weren't the only group that flexed its muscles this past Election Day. New Americans--naturalized citizens and the U.S.-born children of immigrants who were born during the current era of immigration that began in 1965--make up another important demographic group that demonstrated its ability to swing an election.

Published On: Wed, Nov 12, 2008 | Download File

The New American Electorate (October 2008)

 The Growing Political Power of Immigrants and their Children

At a time when federal, state, and local elections are often decided by small voting margins—with candidates frequently locked in ferocious competition for the ballots of those “voting blocs” that might turn the electoral tide in their favor—one large and growing bloc of voters has been consistently overlooked and politically
underestimated: New Americans.

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Read Supplement #1 (Voting‐Age Adult Citizens by Nativity and State/Congressional District, 2007)

Read Supplement #2 (Voting‐Age Adult Citizens by Race/Ethnicity and State/Congressional District, 2007)

Read the 2008 Election Recap

 

Published On: Thu, Oct 23, 2008 | Download File

Fewer Job Openings Equals Fewer Immigrants:Undocumented Immigration Slows Along With the U.S. Economy

According to new estimates from the Pew Hispanic Center, the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States did not increase between 2007 and 2008, and may actually have fallen. These findings should come as no surprise given the current state of the economy.

Published On: Wed, Oct 01, 2008 | Download File

Money for Nothing: Immigration Enforcement without Immigration Reform Doesn

While the U.S. government has poured billions upon billions of dollars into immigration enforcement, the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States has increased dramatically. Rather than reducing undocumented immigration, this enforcement-without-reform strategy has diverted the resources and attention of federal authorities to the pursuit of undocumented immigrants who are drawn here by the labor needs of our own economy.

Published On: Thu, May 22, 2008 | Download File

Immigration: Long Term Trends and America's Future Arrival Rates, Integration Patterns, and Impact on an Aging Society

Immigration has begun to level off and immigrants are climbing the socio-economic ladder and becoming increasingly important to the U.S. economy as workers, taxpayers, and homebuyers supporting the aging Baby Boom generation.

Published On: Tue, Feb 26, 2008 | Download File