Legalization

IPC's Mary Giovagnoli in USA Today

Published on Tue, Nov 27, 2012

IPC Director Mary Giovagnoli was quoted in USA Today's article on Senators Kyl and Hutchison's ACHIEVE Act legislation. Here's an excerpt:

WASHINGTON -- Arizona Sen.Jon Kyl and Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison introduced legislation Tuesday to give legal status to young immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children.

The bill by the two Southwest Republicans -- and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. -- would offer special student and work visas and ultimately permanent legal status to those who earn a college degree or serve four years in the military.

"We need to have a discussion that is sensible, that is calm," said Kyl, who, like Hutchison, is retiring in January. "This particular piece of immigration reform seemed a logical place to begin."

Unlike several previous "Dream Act"-style bills, it does not offer a special pathway to citizenship, a conscious omission that is likely to be opposed by immigrant rights' groups and many Democrats.

"I think this is a doubled-edged sword," said Mary Giovagnoli, director of the Immigration Policy Center, which advocates for immigrants' rights. "On one hand, I think it's great that people are putting ideas out there about how to go forward on immigration. At the same time, I think it's really unfortunate that the choice is being made to put solutions out there that don't include the opportunity for people to become citizens."

Published in the USA Today

Mohammad Akhter

Dr. Mohammad Akhter is the President and CEO of InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based international development and humanitarian nongovernmental organizations. InterAction's 160 members provide humanitarian and development assistance in every developing country, working to overcome poverty, exclusion and suffering by advancing social justice and basic dignity for all.

Dr. Akhter's journey to this position appears to be the epitome of the American dream. He was born into a family of farmers in India shortly before the partition that established India and Pakistan as two separate nations. His mother had an eighth-grade education. His father had completed high school on a sports scholarship. This helped them to establish a toehold in the new nation.

Dr. Akhter's grandfather couldn't write his name, but his parents made sure that all six of their children had master's degrees and the cycle of poverty was broken. He believes that health and education are the twin lights leading one away from poverty.

Dr. Akhter earned his medical degree from King Edwards Medical College in Lahore, Pakistan (1967), and his master of public health degree from Johns Hopkins University (1973). His public health residency was completed at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York. In 1976, he was certified by the American Board of Preventive Medicine.

Dr. Akhter serves as clinical professor in the department of family and community medicine at Georgetown University Medical School, and as an adjunct professor of international public health at George Washington University School of Public Health. He also served as Dean of the College of Community Medicine, as well as professor and chair of the department of public and hospital administration in Lahore, Pakistan.Read more...

Huffington Post Cites IPC Report in Op-Ed

Published on Sat, Jul 13, 2013

In a Huffington Post Op-Ed by James Zogby, the President of the Arab American Institute, cited an IPC report on America's immigrant heritage. He writes:

"Immigrants have always been derided as "lazy," "different and unable to fit in," and a "drain on the economy." This was said of the Irish, the Italians and the Eastern and Central Europeans. In a marvelous study compiled for the Immigration Policy Center, researcher Jeffrey Kaye compares the recent bigoted statements made by politicians in Hazleton, Pennsylvania (who are themselves descendants of immigrants) with the statements made about their ancestors when they first arrived in America, a century ago. They too were defamed as "lawbreakers," " a drain on public funds" and "not able to assimilate.""

Published in the Huffington Post

Joan Friedland, Esq.

Joan Friedland, Esq., was Managing Attorney at the National Immigration Law Center in Washington, D.C. until July 2011. She worked for many years with non‐profits and in private practice in New Mexico and Florida, practicing primarily in the areas of civil rights, immigration and criminal law. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School and currently lives in New Mexico.

Mexican and Central American Asylum and Credible Fear Claims: Background and Context (May 2014)
Turning Off the Water: How the Contracting and Transaction Provisions in Alabama’s Immigration Law Make Life Harder for Everyone (IPC Special Report, November 2011)
Falling Through the Cracks: How Gaps in Prosecutorial Discretion Policy Affect Immigrants Without Legal Representation (IPC Special Report, May 2012)

IPC Data on Taxes Paid By Undocumented Immigrants Cited by Latin Times

Published on Tue, Feb 11, 2014

The Latin Times cited data from the IPC's "Facts about the Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN)" in a recent article titled "GOP Amendment Seeks To Deny Child-Tax Refund To Undocumented Children".

"A statement released by her office then said that the credit 'currently costs taxpayers billions', an assertion challenged shortly afterward by Univision analyst Fernando Espuelas in a column for the Hill. Espuelas pointed out that undocumented immigrants often pay taxes using the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), contributing what he described as a “net multibillion-dollar gain for the federal, state and local treasuries, even when factoring in the Child Tax Credit”. The Immigration Policy Center wrote in 2009 that in 2001, the ITIN brought in $300 million in taxes from undocumented filers."

Published in the Latin Times

Kavitha Sreeharsha, Esq.

Kavitha Sreeharsha is a Senior Staff Attorney at Legal Momentum’s Immigrant Women Program. Her work focuses on immigration policy advocacy and technical assistance relating to immigrant women issues. Her advocacy includes co‐chairing the Freedom Network (USA), the only human‐rights based anti‐trafficking coalition in the United States. Kavitha received her J.D. from U.C. Hastings and her B.A. from U.C. Berkeley. She is a recipient of several awards including the 2004 Unity Award from the Coalition of Minority Bar Associations and the 2007 Tanya Nieman Award from Partners Ending Domestic Abuse in San Francisco. Kavitha is based in Washington, D.C.

Reforming America's Immigration Laws: A Woman's Struggle (IPC Perspectives, June 2010)

Obama Administration in Sync on Immigration Dollars and Sense

Released on Tue, May 05, 2009

The Obama Administration is clearly in sync on immigration this week, announcing initiatives that pave the way for immigration reform. In a Senate oversight hearing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, testified about her plans to protect our borders and enforce our immigration laws in smarter and more effective ways. Meanwhile, President Obama unveiled a $27 billion plan for border and transportation security - part of the 2010 budget he plans to present to Congress - that will enable the Secretary to do just that.

View Release

Upcoming Trips

November 2013: The AILA/AIC India Tour

FLYER!

New State-Level Research Debunks the Myth of Immigrant Criminality

Released on Wed, Jul 16, 2008

Recent data from New Jersey and California which once again confirms what researchers have found repeatedly over the past 100 years: immigrants are less likely than the native-born to be in prison, and high rates of immigration are not associated with higher rates of crime.

View Release