Skip to Content

Programs:

Legalization

Facts About Immigrants' Low Use of Health Services and Public Benefits

Low-income immigrants are less likely to receive public benefits than are low income U.S. citizens.

Published On: Fri, Sep 01, 2006 | Download File

The Rush to Limit Judicial Review

Access to an independent judiciary with the power to hold the government accountable in its dealings with individuals is a founding principle of the United States. In contrast, imagine a system where there is no access to independent judgment; where, instead, the referee works for the opposing team. The House of Representatives took a step away from this founding principle by passing the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act (H.R. 4437) on December 16, 2005. A provision of the bill would erode access to independent judgment by severely restricting access to the federal courts for individuals in removal (deportation) proceedings. This provision is part of a long string of efforts by proponents of restrictive immigration policies to limit the jurisdiction of the federal courts over immigration cases.

Read more...

Published On: Fri, Sep 01, 2006 | Download File

Broken Levees, Broken Promises: New Orleans

Covers the exploitation of migrant workers doing backbreaking and dangerous clean-up work in New Orleans.

Published On: Wed, Aug 23, 2006 | Download File

The Growth and Reach of Immigration: New Census Bureau Data Underscore Importance of Immigrants

New data from the 2005 American Community Survey (ACS), released by the Census Bureau on August 15, 2006, underscore the extent to which immigration continues to fuel the expansion of the U.S. labor force.

Published On: Tue, Aug 01, 2006 | Download File

Building the Wall: Will We Be Better Off?

Information on the costs and effectiveness of border militarization and its impact on local communities.

Published On: Tue, Aug 01, 2006 | Download File

The Top Ten Ways America Gets Immigration Wrong

The most striking thing about today’s immigration debate is how many times America has been here before—and how many times it has made the same mistakes. With respect to David Letterman, here is a list of the biggest errors that U.S. policymakers have made in designing immigration policy. As Congress wrestles to find the right mix of immigration enforcement and immigration reform, it should keep in mind what it has done wrong in the past so that it has a chance to get it right this time.

Read more...

Published On: Tue, Aug 01, 2006 | Download File

Managing Immigration as a Resource

Benjamin Johnson, Director of the Immigration Policy Center, discusses the futility of an enforcement-only approach to immigration reform and the need for a more comprehensive strategy to deal with the problem of undocumented immigration. In this new "Perspective," he argues that immigration cannot be treated simply as a law-enforcement issue. Rather, the United States must begin managing immigration as a national resource.

Read more...

Published On: Tue, Aug 01, 2006 | Download File

Detaining America's Immigrants: Is this the best solution?

Policy Debate: Our government detains over 230,000 people a year – more than triple the number of people in detention just nine years ago.  The annual cost to the government is $1.2 billion.

Published On: Tue, Aug 01, 2006 | Download File

Building a Competitive Workforce: Immigration and the U.S. Manufacturing Sector

Shortages of skilled labor constitute the foremost challenge confronting U.S. manufacturers who face growing competition from manufacturers in Asia, Eastern Europe, and elsewhere. Demand for professionals with university degrees is rising as manufacturing becomes increasingly high tech. But the U.S. educational system is not producing enough highly educated native-born manufacturing workers to meet this growing demand.

Published On: Mon, Jul 31, 2006 | Download File