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New report indicates Arizona-style immigration laws do not favor local economies

Published on Tue, Mar 29, 2011

A report released this month aims to help state legislators considering Arizona-style immigration-enforcement bills answer this question: If S.B. 1070-type laws accomplish the declared goal of driving out all undocumented immigrants, what effect would it have on state economies?

This report comes when Florida Republican legislators in both chambers are working to change the Sunshine State’s immigration laws through bills that copy Arizona’s law while making controversial federal enforcement programs Secure Communities and 287(g) state law.

Critics of the proposed Florida bills have pointed to the civil rights and legal violations, as well as the economic burden, these bills would have on the state’s residents.

The report issued by the Center for American Progress and the Immigration Policy Center concludes that:

• Immigrant workers as a whole added $47.1 billion to Arizona’s gross state product — the total value added by workers of goods and services produced in the state — in 2008. The undocumented workforce by itself accounted for $23.5 billion of this gross state product.

• The pre-tax earnings of immigrant workers in Arizona totaled almost $30 billion for all immigrant workers and nearly $15 billion for undocumented workers.

• The output and spending of all immigrant workers generated 1.2 million jobs in Arizona in 2008, while the output and spending of undocumented workers generated 581,000 jobs.

• The analysis estimates that immigrants on the whole paid $6 billion in taxes in 2008, while undocumented immigrants paid approximately $2.8 billion.

The report adds that the effect of deportation in Arizona would:

  • Decrease total employment by 17.2 percent.
  • Eliminate 581,000 jobs for immigrant and native-born workers alike.
  • Shrink state economy by $48.8 billion.
  • Reduce state tax revenues by 10.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the effects of legalization in Arizona would:Read more...

Published in the Florida Independent

Litigation Clearinghouse Newsletter Vol. 1, No. 22

This issue covers litigation related to ICE raids at Swift plants, post-Lopez motions, developments in Acosta and Padilla-Caldera cases, challenges to Matter of Blake, and technical support from the National Immigration Project.

Published On: Thursday, December 21, 2006 | Download File

Our economy needs illegal immigrants

Published on Sun, Jun 12, 2011

By STEPHEN M. NeSMITH JR.

As an immigration attorney, I highly favor immigrants coming to this country legally. There is no question illegal immigration is a major issue in this country and the United States needs a strong enforcement policy. But no matter what side of the debate you're on, Alabama's immigration law will only worsen our already struggling economy.

The authors of House Bill 56 claim illegal immigration causes economic hardship. Naturally, during tough economic times, we want to blame someone else for our problems. Illegal immigrants are an obvious target since there are negative consequences to their presence, such as increased education and medical costs. But what I don't understand is why my fellow Republicans ignore the benefits they bring.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform estimates illegal aliens cost Alabama $112 million. However, the Immigration Policy Center estimates illegal aliens in Alabama pay a total of $130 million in taxes (personal, property and sales). So, whatever "economic hardship" illegal aliens cause by their presence, they easily offset with the money they pay back into the system.

We are a nation of laws and must enforce those laws. But the hard truth we must face is, at this moment (and until we fix the broken immigration system), our economy is dependent on illegal immigrants.

It is simple supply and demand. Before an enforcement-centric policy would be prudent, we must ensure we have a sufficient supply of workers to meet our needs. The governor of Georgia realized this, albeit too late.Read more...

Published in the Alambam.com

Policy and Politics: Senator Durbin and Education Experts Discuss DREAM Act

Washington, D.C. - Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), the chief sponsor of the DREAM Act (the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act), has placed the bill on the Senate calendar for debate later this week.  A new report shows that, while the benefits of the DREAM Act to individual immigrant students may be obvious, the benefits to society as a whole of a more highly educated, higher income tax-base are substantial.  Leaders from the field of education will comment on the DREAM Act and the benefits it could provide if adopted. Read more...

Court Holds Noncitizens Granted Voluntary Departure may Seek Reopening

Dada v. Mukasey, 554 U.S. 1 (2008)

A divided Supreme Court held that voluntary departure recipients must be permitted to unilaterally withdraw a voluntary departure request before the expiration of the voluntary departure period in order “to safeguard the right to pursue a motion to reopen.” The Court, however, rejected the argument that the voluntary departure period automatically tolls when a motion to reopen is filed. Read more...

Our Melting Pot: Meeting, Eating and Growing Together

The goal of Our Melting Pot is to develop knowledge and appreciation of the diversity of nations from which our students' ancestors came. By creating his/her own Immigration cookbook, students will appreciate their ancestry and learn about how certain foods are incorporated in to life in the United States.

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The American Immigration Council's Top 11 for 2011

Released on Thu, Dec 08, 2011

The American Immigration Council and its four programs had a busy year in 2011. We want to thank you for your support, readership, and feedback. We also want to ask you to consider supporting our work with a year-end gift. Your tax-deductible donation will help us continue our work which includes the following "Top 11 for 2011." Read more...

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Napolitano Sees Hope for Immigration Reform

Published on Sat, Nov 14, 2009

The government has beefed up border security and workplace immigration enforcement, and now should begin the work of overhauling immigration laws, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Friday.

Published in the L.A. Times

Immigrants Vital to U.S. Military, Report Finds

Published on Wed, Nov 11, 2009

With Veterans Day and the tragic events of Fort Hood fresh in the public mind, a new report from the Immigration Policy Center (IPC) entitled Essential to the Fight: Immigrants in the Military, Eight Years After 9/11 should provide some perspective. One of the main points of the report is that "Without the contributions of immigrants, the military could not meet its recruiting goals and could not fill its need for foreign-language translators, interpreters and cultural experts."

Published in the The San Fernando Sun

Prosecutorial Discretion

Prosecutorial discretion is the authority of a law enforcement agency or officer to decide whether to enforce the law in a particular case. In the immigration context, favorable exercises of prosecutorial discretion include grants of deferred action, stays of removal, and decisions to cancel or not issue a Notice to Appear (NTA). Since 2000, the legacy Immigration and Naturalization Service and current DHS agencies have issued more than a dozen guidance memoranda addressing prosecutorial discretion. The LAC has issued a practice advisory suggesting ways that immigration attorneys can influence the favorable exercise of prosecutorial discretion by DHS, and filed an amicus brief relating to the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in a Ninth Circuit case.

Tell about your cases. We encourage attorneys who have requested favorable exercises of prosecutorial discretion to submit reports of their experiences by completing this survey.

CASES | ADVOCACY | RESOURCES

CASES

Vega Alvarez v. Holder, No. 08-71383 (9th Cir. amicus brief filed Feb. 25, 2011). The court requested that the parties submit supplemental briefs on the impact of the Morton Memo on civil immigration enforcement priorities on the continued prosecution of removal proceedings against the petitioners.Read more...