Legalization

The American Immigration Council is designated by the U.S. Department of State to sponsor J-1 intern programs in the following occupational areas:Read more...

A Guide to the H.R. 15

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Read our section-by-section guide to H.R. 15, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act.

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Will a new immigration policy get Latinos to the polls?

Published on Fri, Jun 15, 2012

Mary Giovagnoli, director of the IPC, was quoted in a BBC article discussing the Administration's new policy offering deferred action to "DREAMers," young people brought to this country by their parents and fit certain criteria : Read more...

Published in the BBC

Bookstore

All proceeds from the purchase of books go to the American Immigration Council and its educational initiatives.

Green Card Stories

Introduction by Laura Danielson and Stephen Yale-Loehr
Stories by Saundra Amrhein
Photogrpahs by Ariana Lindquist

The American Immigration Council is proud to support the publication of Green Card Stories. Green Card Stories is an incredible tribute to the diverse backgrounds that make up our immigrant population in America today. The American Immigration Council’s mission is to “strengthen America by honoring our immigrant history by shaping how Americans think about and act towards immigration now and in the future” and we can’t think of a better way to further our mission than through this beautiful and touching book.

Not only can you order books for yourself, your office, family members, clients, etc. you can also order a book to donate to your local school, library or community center or you can donate a book to one of the Council’s designated “hot spots” where education on immigration is needed most. Could your Member of Congress use a thank you or a gentle reminder of who our immigrant population is? Donate a copy of Green Card Stories to a Congressional office. All donated books will be delivered free of charge with a note indicating your generous gift.

To order your copy, fill out an order form. Read more...

Immigrant among first in nation to receive temporary reprieve from deportation

Published on Sat, Nov 03, 2012

IPC statistics were used in this AJC article about Christian Jimenez, one of the first immigrants in the U.S. to receive a reprieve from deportation under Obama's new immigration policy:

Nearly 1 million immigrants across the U.S. are now eligible for deferred action, according to an estimate by the Immigration Policy Center, an arm of the American Immigration Council, an immigrant rights and policy group in Washington. Of those, 24,360 live in Georgia, the eighth-largest total among states.

Published in the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Barbara Murik Chesman

Barbara Murik Chesman was born in the Schlachtenzee Displaced Persons Camp in Berlin, Germany after World War II. Her parents, Abraham and Lisa Murik (nee Davidowicz) both survived the horrors of the Holocaust and emigrated from Germany to the United States in March of 1949.

The family settled here in Washington, DC where Mrs. Chesman attended Wheatley Elementary School, the Hebrew Academy of Washington, and Western High School (now Duke Ellington School for the Performing Arts). She later attended the University of Maryland where she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Government and Politics in May of 1968.

While at college, Mrs. Chesman started working part-time for the Department of State in the Bureau of Consular Affairs for the Passport Office. Following graduation, Mrs. Chesman became a full time employee of the Department of State in August of 1968 in the Office of Passport Services. She met her future husband Bernard Chesman in May of 1971 and they were married June 4, 1972 at Beth Sholom Synagogue in Washington, DC. Immediately following their marriage, they moved to Atlanta Georgia for 7 months, but decided to return to Washington in January 1973 where Mrs. Chesman resumed her career in the Passport Office.

Mrs. Chesman has held many positions in almost every part of the Office of Passport Services but her most notable achievement came in June of 1994, when the Special Issuance Agency (the passport agency which handles all passports for the Federal government) was made a separate entity and she was named Director. Currently, Mrs. Chesman serves in that position today.Read more...

ABC News-Univision Features IPC's Walter Ewing

Published on Mon, Jul 15, 2013

A recent ABC-Univision article titled "Fact Check: Is Fear of Immigrant Criminals Overblown?" featured the IPC's Senior Researcher, Walter Ewing.

"'Obviously, dangerous criminals and terrorists must be punished, and immigrants who are dangerous criminals or terrorists should be locked up,' wrote Walter Ewing, a senior researcher at the Immigration Policy Center, in a book devoted to the issue. 'But harsh immigration policies are not effective in fighting crime or terrorism because the overwhelming majority of immigrants are neither criminals nor terrorists.'"

Published in the ABC News-Univision

Royce Bernstein Murray, Esq.

Royce Bernstein Murray, Esq. worked for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) for eight years: as Associate Counsel in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Office of the Chief Counsel, Refugee and Asylum Law Division from 2003‐2008, and as a Presidential Management Fellow/Asylum Officer in the INS Office of International Affairs from 2000‐2002. At present, Ms. Murray is an adjunct professor of immigration law at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law and an independent refugee and immigration law consultant. She is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center and holds a B.A. with distinction in political science from the University of Michigan.

DHS Progress Report: The Challenge of Reform (IPC Special Report, March 2010)
Second Annual DHS Progress Report (IPC Special Report, April 2011)
Deportation in the Time of Cholera: DHS’s Mixed Response to Haiti’s Earthquake (IPC Perspectives, May 2011)

IPC's Mary Giovagnoli in Chicago Sun-Times

Published on Fri, Nov 29, 2013

Mary Giovagnoli, the Director of the Immigration Policy Center, was quoted in a recent Chicago Sun-Times article titled, "Keeping Immigration Reform Alive."

"“We are going to see it in 2014, a carefully orchestrated dance toward reform,” said Mary Giovagnoli, director of the Washington, D.C.-based Immigration Policy Center. Politicians will have “breathing room after the primaries. We still have a chance at something decent.”

A path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants is a sticking point for Republicans, understandably since the party already has sent alienated Latino voters fleeing to the open arms of Democrats.

A New York Times article last week pointed out that for many, being able to drive and work legally in the U.S. is a bigger priority than citizenship. “What they really care about is a solution that allows them to overcome their greatest vulnerabilities,” Oscar A. Chacon, executive director of the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities, told the Times.

Yet, withholding citizenship wouldn’t stand the test of time. As Benito of ICIRR and Giovagnoli noted, such a move would create an official second-class form of residency that runs contrary to the principles of a proud, democratic country."

Published in the Chicago Sun-Times

Kristin Johnson, Ph.D.

Kristin Johnson, Ph.D., joined the Political Science Department at the University of Rhode Island as an Assistant Professor in the Fall of 2007. She received her Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University in 2007. Her current research interests include the relationship between state capabilities and internal conflict, and resource distribution and development. She is the former Co‐Editor of International Interactions and a member of the TransPacific Consortium. At URI, Kristin teaches courses in International Political Economy, Comparative Politics, and Civil Conflict.