Just the Facts

Separating Fact from Fiction: The Truth about Kidnapping in Arizona

An oft-repeated claim in the debate over Arizona’s harsh anti-immigrant law, SB 1070, is that tough immigration-enforcement measures are needed to prevent violent crime from engulfing the state. In particular, supporters of SB 1070 often cite kidnappings in the state’s capital, Phoenix, as a reason to crack down on unauthorized immigrants. Arizona politicians such as U.S. Senator John McCain and State Senator Russell Pearce, for instance, have justified their calls for more immigration enforcement by claiming that Phoenix is the “the number two kidnapping capital of the world” after Mexico City. Not only is this claim false, but it ignores two inconvenient facts. First of all, the victims of most kidnappings in Phoenix are unauthorized immigrants. Second, crime rates in Arizona have been falling for years. Cracking down on the unauthorized immigrants upon whom so many kidnappers prey is a classic case of blaming the victim. Moreover, this blame-the-victim posture diverts attention from the fact that the broken U.S. immigration system has created a lucrative market for kidnappers.

The claim that Phoenix is “the number two kidnapping capital of the world” is untrue.Read more...

Published On: Thu, Aug 26, 2010 | Download File

Immigrants in the U.S. Labor Force

New CBO Report Underscores Diverse Contributions of Foreign-Born Workers

A recent report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) underscores not only the diversity of the foreign-born labor force in the United States, but also the myriad roles that immigrant workers play in the U.S. economy. The report, which analyzes data from the Current Population Survey, finds that 15.5 percent of the U.S. labor force was foreign-born in 2009, up slightly from 14.5 percent in 2004. Moreover, immigrant workers and their native-born counterparts differ significantly in terms of occupation and education, as well as where in the country they live. As other, more detailed analyses have confirmed, this suggests that immigrants and natives are filling different niches in the U.S. labor market and are therefore not in direct competition with each other for most jobs.

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Published On: Wed, Aug 04, 2010 | Download File

The DREAM Act: A Resource Page

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Published On: Thu, Sep 16, 2010

The Economics of Immigration: A Resource Page

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Published On: Tue, Apr 19, 2011

Defending the Fourteenth Amendment: A Resource Page

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Published On: Mon, Aug 02, 2010

The Impact of SB 1070: Usurping the Federal Government’s Ability to Set Enforcement Priorities

What proponents of laws like Arizona’s SB 1070 fail to understand is that state and local enforcement of immigration law actually jeopardizes the federal government’s ability to set priorities for immigration enforcement. SB 1070 would divert scarce federal resources away from finding dangerous criminals throughout the United States, focusing instead on detaining and deporting non-violent immigrants in one state: Arizona.

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Published On: Thu, Jul 22, 2010 | Download File

The DREAM Act

Creating Opportunities for Immigrant Students and Supporting the U.S. Economy (Updated 05/18/11)

This fact check provides answers to basic questions about the DREAM Act, from a brief legislative history to how and how many students would benefit. To download the PDF, scroll down to the bottom of this page. Read more...

Published On: Thu, Nov 18, 2010 | Download File