IPC In The News

African Americans In The Immigration Reform Debate: Debunking Myths And Raising Our Voices

Some African Americans have been fearful that the migration of our undocumented neighbors might have an adverse affect on their employment. The truth is, according to a May 2009 report from the Immigration Policy Center, there is no correlation between immigrants entering the labor workforce and the unemployment rate among native-born African Americans. Unfortunately, the unemployment rate in the African American community sits at 14.8%. This is due to broader macroeconomic developments, such as the loss of jobs in the auto and steel industries. We must work to address these issues head on, as opposed to using immigration as a scapegoat.

Published In: Seattle Medium | 09/22/10

Why immigrant, GLBT and good-government groups were behind the defense bill

Here's a question for you: Why are immigration advocates, GLBT groups and good-government types crestfallen that the defense-spending authorization bill failed to beat a Republican filibuster? "The political gridlock that has immobilized the Senate has resulted once again in a lost opportunity for the American people," said Mary Giovagnoli, director of the Immigration Policy Center. Why did she even care?

Published In: Washington Post | 09/21/10

Democrats Reach Out to Hispanics on Immigration Bill

Latinos are now one-quarter of Nevada’s population and nearly 12 percent of voters, according to the Immigration Policy Center, a research group in Washington. Their strong turnout in 2008 swung the state for Mr. Obama. While Ms. Angle has not focused on Latinos, Senator Reid has been running Spanish-language ads and attending rallies, declaring his commitment to the immigration overhaul.

Published In: New York Times | 09/16/10

DREAM Act Could be First Step to Reform

Meanwhile, the anti-immigrant movement is starting to lose steam, as more localities are outright rejecting popular anti-immigrant measures. They fear inviting costly lawsuits and garnering unwanted attention from the federal government. AlterNet's Seth Hoy reports that Tomball, Texas and Fremont, Nebraska are the latest cities to opt against strict anti-immigrant enforcement ordinances. Similarly wary of attracting exorbitant lawsuits, legislators in Ohio and Idaho are feverishly revising their own, once-embraced versions of Arizona's SB 1070.

Published In: The Huffington Post | 09/16/10

Velazquez, Menendez and Gutierrez on Immigration Reform

Advocates of comprehensive immigration reform were once wary of supporting the DREAM Act as a standalone measure because it could scare off future votes for comprehensive immigration reform. Mary Giovagnoli, director of Immigration Policy Center, told TWI recently that it is no longer clear how the DREAM Act’s passage would impact comprehensive reform efforts.

“We don’t have a good measure anymore of what will happen once we get something discreet like the DREAM Act passed,” she said. “But when the sky doesn’t fall in and if people still get re-elected after supporting DREAM, it may show members of Congress that leaning into the immigration issue and voting for comprehensive immigration reform could help them politically.”

Published In: The Washington Independent | 09/15/10

By the numbers: Illegal immigration might be down, but why and what does it mean?

Mary Giovagnoli, director of the Washington, D.C.-based Immigration Policy Center, cautions about overstating the decline. "I don't think it's really a significant drop," Giovagnoli says. "Certainly, 8 percent is something, but if you look at where we were in 1990, then at the numbers of illegal immigration in 2009, the number of people here illegally has tripled."

It’s not just enforcement that matters, but policies, too. Giovagnoli thinks some policies that focus on enforcement haven’t deterred people from coming, and maybe made them more likely to stay out of status if they’re already here.

Published In: St. Louis Beacon | 09/15/10

14th Amendment faces challenge from immigration hardliners

Michele Waslin, a senior policy analyst with the Washington, D.C.-based Immigration Policy Center, said changing the birthright citizenship laws will not solve the problem of illegal immigration.

"It actually increases the number of illegal immigrants because children would be born in the U.S. with no legal status," she said.

Published In: Arizona Central | 09/12/10

Immigration slowdown due to economy, not enforcement

While the Department of Homeland Security has taken credit for a significant drop in unauthorized immigration since 2007, pointing to increased enforcement by the Obama administration, the the decline is actually most likely due to the recession, according a new report by the Immigration Policy Center, the research and policy arm of the American Immigration Council.

Published In: New Mexico Independent | 09/09/10

Arizona teen pursues education in friendlier state

According to the Immigration Policy Center in Washington, D.C., the DREAM Act, sponsored by Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Richard Lugar, R-Ind., would allow "current, former and future undocumented high school graduates and GED recipients a pathway to U.S. citizenship through college or the armed services." This means that people like Alberto would be awarded a conditional lawful permanent resident status for six years, during which time they would have to complete two years of higher education or military service, although they would not be eligible for federal education grants.

Published In: Santa Fe New Mexican | 09/07/10

Birthright citizenship debate goes mainstream

Michele Waslin, an analyst with the Immigration Policy Center, a research organization that focuses on the contributions that immigrants make, said denying citizenship to children would only create more problems.

"It would punish the innocent children of undocumented immigrants, and it flies in the face of traditional American values," Waslin said.

Published In: New County Times | 09/04/10