Immigration Policy Center

Published on Wed, Sep 22, 2010

Mary Giovagnoli, director of Immigration Policy Center, told TWI the vote showed “a lack of leadership” by Republican senators. “This was clearly putting procedural wrangling and partisan politics over social issues that are clearly something the American public wants action on,” she said.

Published in the Michigan Messenger

Published on Wed, Sep 22, 2010

Mary Giovagnoli, director of Immigration Policy Center, says Tuesday’s vote could indicate Republicans would be unwilling to support the DREAM Act in the future. “It’s pretty clear that it was a party line vote,” she said. “Consequently, unless some Republicans are brave enough to step over the line, it’s going to remain gridlocked.”

Published in the Iowa Independent

Published on Tue, Sep 21, 2010

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 the Washington Post

Published on Wed, Sep 15, 2010

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 the St. Louis Beacon

Published on Wed, Sep 15, 2010

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 The Washington Independent

Published on Sun, Sep 12, 2010

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 the Arizona Central

Published on Thu, Sep 09, 2010

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 the New Mexico Independent

Published on Tue, Sep 07, 2010

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 the Santa Fe New Mexican

Published on Thu, Sep 02, 2010

The report findings closely mirror results released in July by the Immigration Policy Center that said illegal immigrants make up about 2.2 percent of Oklahoma's work force, contributing $580.3 million in economic activity and $257.8 million in gross state product.

Published in the Tulsa World

Published on Sat, Sep 04, 2010

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 the New County Times