Skip to Content

Special Reports

Our most in-depth publication, Special Reports provide detailed analyses of special topics in U.S. immigration policy.

Breaking Down the Problems: What's Wrong with Our Current Immigration System?

While some characterize our immigration crisis as solely an issue of the 11 to 12 million unauthorized immigrants living in this country, our problems extend beyond the number of undocumented people to a broader range of issues. Read more

Published On: Wed, Oct 21, 2009 | Download File

Untying the Knot (Part I of III): The Unemployment and Immigration Disconnect

With Congress once again poised to consider comprehensive immigration reform, a key question confronting lawmakers is to what extent immigration and unemployment are related. Opponents of immigration reform frequently argue that immigrants “take” jobs away from many native-born workers, especially during economic hard times. Yet an analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau clearly reveals that this is not the case. In fact, there is little apparent relationship between recent immigration and unemployment rates at the regional, state, or county level.

Published On: Tue, May 19, 2009 | Download File

Untying the Knot (Part II of III): Immigration and Native-Born Unemployment Across Racial/Ethnic Groups

One of the most contentious issues in the debate over immigration reform is whether or not the presence of immigrants in the U.S. labor force—especially undocumented immigrants—has a major adverse impact on the employment prospects of African Americans. However, data from the U.S. Census Bureau reveal that this is not the case. In fact, there is little apparent relationship between recent immigration and unemployment rates among African Americans, or any other native-born racial/ethnic group, at the state or metropolitan level.

Published On: Tue, May 19, 2009 | Download File

Untying the Knot (Part III of III): The Disparity between Immigrant Workers and Unemployed Natives

The Immigration Policy Center (IPC) released the third and final installment of a three-part report, Untying the Knot. The final report, by Rob Paral and Associates, reveals that unemployed natives and employed recent immigrants cannot simply be “swapped” for one another since unemployed natives and employed immigrants tend to have different levels of education, live in different parts of the country, and have experience in different occupations and different levels of work experience.Read more

Published On: Tue, May 19, 2009 | Download File

Debunking the Myth of "Sanctuary Cities": Community Policing Policies Protect American Communities

Read this report to find out why crime experts, including hundreds of local police officers, say that cities with community policing policies help build bridges to immigrant communities that have improved their ability to fight crime and protect the entire community.

Published On: Tue, Mar 03, 2009 | Download File

A Congressional Guide to Immigration: Answers to the Toughest Questions

The Immigration Policy Center has put together a Congressional Guide to Immigration to help those in political office shape and develop a rational national conversation on immigration. The guide covers a range of sub-issues and its talking points are backed by hard data that effectively counters and clarifies the myths and ambiguities associated with the issue.

Published On: Wed, Feb 18, 2009 | Download File

The New Electoral Landscape and What It Means for Immigration Reform: Latinos, Asians, and New Americans Redefine 21st Century American Politics

IPC has compiled this one-stop analysis of all the available data on the Asian, Latino and New American vote and shows how and why they voted the way they did in the 2008 election cycle. The report features a variety of early, exit and election-day polling which tells the story of not only a record rate turnout, but also provides insight into the greatest areas of concern for these voters. It also explores early signals from the new administration and congress with respect to immigration reform.

Published On: Thu, Dec 04, 2008 | Download File

Opportunity and Exclusion: A Brief History of U.S. Immigration Policy

As the current debate over undocumented immigration continues to rage, it is important to keep in mind not only that everyone in the United States is ultimately descended from an "immigrant," even Native Americans whose ancestors arrived here thousands of years ago, but that the rules governing immigration change constantly--and often arbitrarily.

Published On: Tue, Nov 25, 2008 | Download File

The New American Electorate: A Briefing Presentation

A Powerpoint presentation on "the New American Electorate."

Published On: Thu, Oct 23, 2008 | Download File

The New American Electorate: Voting Age Adult Citizens by Nativity and State/Congressional District, 2007

Detailed supplemental tables for every Congressional district on the number of voting-age citizens who are naturalized immigrants, Latinos, and Asians are also available.

Published On: Thu, Oct 23, 2008 | Download File