IPC In The News

BOISE, Idaho -- A new study shows how immigrants, both legal and illegal, effect Idaho's economy.

Numbers from the Immigration Policy Center show immigrants made up 7.2 percent of Idaho's workforce in 2008. Of that, 3.1 percent were illegal immigrants.

The study also says that if all undocumented immigrants were removed from the state, Idaho would lose nearly $430 million in economic activity. "These immigrants are an integral part of our economy, they're an integral part of our communities and if they were to leave, there would be huge economic repercussions. So if the Federal Government acts, people will be able to come out of the shadows and legalize and pay their fair share on the economy," said Tyler Moran of the National Immigration Law Center.

The study also showed the purchasing power of immigrants in Idaho. Latinos purchasing power totaled 2.5 billion dollars. That a more than 500 percent increase from 1990.

WATCH:

Published In: Fox News | 07/29/10

Immigrants Help Utah, Research Group Says

Immigrants — both legal and illegal — are surprisingly important to Utah's economy and future, according to a new compilation of data about them.

The Immigration Policy Center, a Washington-based research group, spent a year looking at academic studies and U.S. Census Bureau data about immigrants in each state, and released fact sheets for each on Wednesday.

"Facts are sadly lacking in the immigration debate," said Mary Giovagnoli, director of the center. She said too many people "seek to manipulate information to project an image of immigrants — both those here legally and illegally — as drains on society who make no positive contributions. The facts demonstrate something entirely different."

Published In: Desert News | 07/29/10

Factbox: States Wrestle With Immigration Policy

As of June 30, bills similar to Arizona's law had been introduced in South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Michigan.
In the first half of the year, 44 state legislatures passed 191 laws and adopted 128 resolutions relating to immigrants and refugees, with governors vetoing five of the bills. This was a 21 percent increase in enacted laws and resolutions from the same time period in 2009.
Most of the state legislation addresses employment, law enforcement and identification.
In all of 2009 more than 1,500 bills were introduced in state legislatures related to immigration, compared to 300 in 2005.
Immigrants made up more than 12 percent of the U.S. population in 2008 and the foreign-born share of Arizona's population was 14.3 percent that year. In California, which is also on the border, foreign-born residents make up more than a quarter of the population. Latinos make up the biggest group.
The Latino share of Arizona's population was 30.1 percent in 2008. In neighboring Texas, Latinos made up 36.5 percent of the population and in California they made up 32.4 percent. In New Mexico, they represented nearly 45 percent of the population.

Published In: Reuters | 07/29/10

Study Says Northwest Immigrants Have Big Economic Impact

The Immigration Policy Center, based in the nation's capital, pulled together immigration data from a variety of sources. Then it released fact sheets for all 50 states.

The center's Wendy Sefsaf says the study concludes that, if all undocumented workers were booted out of the Northwest immediately, the economic impact would be huge.

Wendy Sefsaf: "The undocumented are part of our workforce and they're people who buy and consume goods. So if you get rid of them, there's less consumers, which means there's less money going into an economy that supports those jobs."

The center's study concludes illegal immigrants have a bigger economic impact in Washington than in other Northwest states. Regionwide, the research estimates spending by undocumented workers is responsible for about 90-thousand jobs.

The Pew Hispanic Center estimates five percent of Oregon workers are undocumented, compared to about three percent in Washington and Idaho.

Published In: NPR KPLU | 07/29/10

Immigrants A Force In Georgia Many Came Here Legally, But Overstayed

While most illegal immigrants live and work under the radar in Georgia, they have created an indelible economic footprint here, according to a number of experts:

● They account for about $9.4 billion in a state economy of roughly $320 billion.

● They contribute between $215 million and $253 million to state coffers in the form of sales, income and property taxes.

● They account for 6.3 percent of Georgia’s work force, but in some industries they are the lion’s share of workers. Experts estimate that 40 percent to 50 percent of the workers in agriculture — the state’s largest industry — are illegal.

Published In: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | 07/29/10

SB 1070: New Study Released Showing Economic Impact of Latinos Leaving AZ

For more than a year, senior researcher Dr. Walter Ewing and research associate Seth Hoy analyzed and compiled data on every state in the US to track the powerful impact immigrants have on this country. The result: A recent study released by the Immigration Policy Center that highlights both the political and economic power that immigrants—specifically Latinos and Asians—have on the United States. With Arizona's controversial SB 1070 scheduled to go into effect today (although a ruling yesterday by US District Judge Susan Bolton blocks some aspects of the law), politicians, business owners and the like should take note.

Published In: Latina | 07/29/10

Democrats Fight Back on Immigration

Benjamin Johnson, executive director of the more liberal American Immigration Council, countered that for some conservatives, "it's never enough." Over the last seven years, Johnson said, the U.S. has quintupled its number of border agents and quadrupled its immigration enforcement budget -- "but the appetite for increasing immigration enforcement-only policy seems to be never-ending. I can only conclude that it's because constantly raising the bar on how much we need to spend and what constitutes secure borders at this point seems like an excuse for not doing anything else."

Published In: Atlantic | 07/29/10

You Can Go Home Again Why There's No Need For "Safe Departure" Border Checkpoints For Illegal Immigrants

Explainer thanks Cheryl David of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Benjamin Johnson of the American Immigration Council, Audrey Singer of the Brookings Institution, and Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies.

Published In: Slate | 07/29/10

Study Says Northwest Immigrants Have Big Economic Impact

The Immigration Policy Center, based in the nation's capital, pulled together immigration data from a variety of sources. Then it released fact sheets for all 50 states.

The center's Wendy Sefsaf says the study concludes that, if all undocumented workers were booted out of the Northwest immediately, the economic impact would be huge.

Published In: NPR - KPLU | 07/29/10

Authorities Say Immigration Law Won’t Change How They Do Business

Now, unless a federal judge decides otherwise, law enforcement officers will be required starting Thursday to check the status of anyone they have “reasonable suspicion” to be in the United States illegally.

In a report released this month by the Immigration Policy Center in Washington, D.C., an Arizona attorney voiced concerns about how the law could be interpreted and carried out throughout the state.

Published In: East Valley Tribune | 07/28/10