Immigration Policy Center

Published on Sun, May 11, 2014

The New York Times published an editorial calling for more transparency within Customs and Border Protection based on the Immigration Policy Center's report "No Action Taken: Lack of CBP Accountability in Responding to Complaints of Abuse".

The editorial stated: "If a Border Patrol agent beats, kicks, threatens or otherwise abuses you, you can file a complaint. What you can’t count on, evidently, is anything being done about it.

That is the sorry conclusion of a study released last week by the American Immigration Council, an advocacy organization in Washington. The council sought to collect data about abuse complaints against the Border Patrol — a difficult task, given the lack of transparency at Customs and Border Protection, the agency within the Department of Homeland Security to which the Border Patrol belongs.

The council had to sue under the Freedom of Information Act to obtain records of 809 complaints between January 2009 and January 2012. The accusations varied widely — of migrants kicked and stomped after being detained, struck in the face and head with flashlights and other objects, sexually groped, improperly strip-searched, verbally abused."

Published in the New York Times

Published on Thu, Apr 24, 2014

The Latin Times recently cited the IPC report "Understanding Prosecutorial Discretion in Immigration Law" in an article titled "ICE Data Says Agency Rarely Uses ‘Prosecutorial Discretion’ To Close Cases Against Immigrants".

"The Immigration Policy Center notes that discretion can be used at any stage of an immigration case, from the apprehension phase – when it comes to stopping, questioning and arresting particular people, focusing resources on certain violations or conduct, or detaining people already in police custody or under supervision – to referring cases to courts to begin deportation proceedings.  In most of the country, it appears that authorities rarely practice such discretion after proceedings are already opened: between October 2012 and March 2014, the group reports, ICE intervened to close only 6.7 percent of cases they’d earlier referred to the courts.  The percentage varied widely by region; in Tucson and Seattle, it was around 30 percent."

Published in the Latin Times

Published on Sat, Apr 12, 2014

An editorial by The Detroit News recently highlighted an IPC report on immigrant entrepreneurship in Michigan from a report titled "Michigan: Immigrant Entrepreneurs, Innovation, and Welcoming Initiatives". The editorial stated:

"Between 1996 and 2007, foreign-born Michiganians were three times as likely as nonimmigrants to start a new business, according to the Immigration Policy Center. And they’re six times as likely to start a high-tech firm."

Published in the The Detroit News

Published on Tue, Apr 08, 2014

IPC Director Mary Giovagnoli was recently quoted in The Fiscal Times article "A Republican Path to Citizenship – Via Boot Camp". The article covers Rep. Jeff Denham's (R-CA) ENLIST Act, which would allow undocumented immigrants to become legal permanent residents upon service in the U.S. military

“It’s not surprising that Republicans would dip their toes in the water with these types of bills,” said Mary Giavagnoli, director of the Immigration Policy Center at the American Immigration Council. “There’s overall consensus that people are who are willing to serve their country should be able to have the benefits of citizenship.”

Published in the The Fiscal Times

Published on Sat, Apr 05, 2014

The IPC's March 2014 report "Misplaced Priorities: Most Immigrants Deported by ICE in 2013 Were a Threat to No One" was recently featured in a Latin Post article "Immigration News 2014: Hispanic Community Unites On Saturday For Nationwide Anti-Deportation Rally".

Published in the Latin Post

Published on Tue, Feb 11, 2014

The IPC report "Who and Where the DREAMers Are, Revised Estimates" was cited by the Long Beach Post in an article titled "LBCC, CSULB Participate in Largest Scholarship Fund for 'DREAMer' Students". 

"Anissa—then a young history student at Cal State Long Beach who happens to also be undocumented—posed a rhetorical question to Post readers: 'I don't even recollect being in Mexico—where does that put me?'

Anissa is one of an estimated 1.8M undocumented persons living in the United States, the vast majority of whom were brought here illegally from Latin America while they were babies or young children. According to the Immigration Policy Center, nearly half of those individuals live in California and Texas."

Published in the Long Beach Post

Published on Thu, Feb 20, 2014

Guillermo Cantor, senior analyst at the Immigration Policy Center, was recently featured in Voice of America's article titled "Experts Debate Economic Impact of US Immigration Reform".

Cantor provided insight on how deportations are impacting immigrant communities and the economic benefits of fixing our nation's broken immigration system.

"Experts said communities paid a heavy price when 11 million undocumented immigrants live in the shadows.  And for a country that prides itself in its humanitarian beliefs - fixing a broken immigration system should be a high priority. 

'I think that each day that Congress delays this decision people are getting hurt, are getting hurt by the deportation machine, that is as I said before, separating families every day,' said Guillermo Cantor, a senior analyst at the Immigration Policy Center.

Cantor said there were other reasons why Congress should act.

'And one of them that sometimes gets overlooked is that it would result in enormous economic benefits for this country,' he said."

Published in the Experts Debate Economic Impact of US Immigration Reform

Published on Thu, Feb 20, 2014

An IPC report titled "Bordering on Criminal: The Routine Abuse of Migrants in the Removal System" was recently cited by Al Jazeera America in an article titled "In El Paso, Residents Aren't Waiting for Congress to Fix Immigration".

The article higlights grassroots efforts to hold law enforcement accountable for abuse and mistreatment.

"A New Mexico woman recently filed a lawsuit after she experienced a six-hour search trying to cross legally from Ciudad Juarez into El Paso. The search, which included anal and vaginal probes, found no drugs.

Nationally, of those who come into contact with CBP, 11 percent report experiencing varying degrees of physical abuse and 23 percent say they received verbal abuse, according to a recent report by the Immigration Policy Center.

Far from being isolated incidents, the report’s authors argued, the mistreatment they recorded corresponds to a well-documented pattern of behavior. Of deportees interviewed for a 2011 report by the humanitarian border organization No More Deaths, 10 percent said U.S. authorities physically abused them. A separate report looking at Salvadorans deported between 1999 and 2000 found that 16 percent experienced physical abuse.Read more...

Published in the Al Jazeera America