Immigration Policy Center

Published on Tue, Jun 01, 2010

The new law, which won't take effect until the summer, compels police to seek identification of individuals they suspect might be in the country illegally - something civil rights advocates believe will lead to racial profiling and other abuses. Despite those concerns, 12 state legislatures have introduced, or are considering, similar legislation, according to a recent analysis by the Immigration Policy Center, the research arm of the American Immigration Council, an advocacy group.

Published in the Government Executive

Published on Wed, Jun 23, 2010

“There are many reports that confirm immigrants contribute to the economy,” said P.U.E.B.L.O. Executive Director Belen Seara, referring directly to studies from the Immigration Policy Center and the University of Southern California.

The Immigration Policy Center reported via the Texas-based Perryman Group, “If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from California, the state would lose $164.2 billion in expenditures, $72.9 billion in economic output, and approximately 717,000 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time.”

These figures are based in part on income and sales tax revenues and Social Security revenues.

Published in the New Times

Published on Mon, Jun 28, 2010

A January report by the liberal Center for American Progress and Immigration Policy Center noted that a large population of unauthorized immigrants — 10 to 12million, per most estimates — depresses wages for low-skilled jobs. Unscrupulous employers can hire and underpay unlawful workers, who have no ability to unionize or push back politically. In other words, the larger the undocumented population, the smaller the clout of organized labor.

Legalizing unlawful immigrants and ensuring the rights of all workers, the CAP and IPC study concluded, would “help American workers” by “rais[ing] the ‘wage floor’ for the entire U.S. economy.” Newly naturalized workers could also give unions a boost, particularly if they view them as allies early on.

Published in the New Mexico Independant

Published on Sun, Jun 27, 2010

A report by the Immigration Policy Center pointed out that "all American parents would, going forward, have to prove the citizenship of their children through a cumbersome bureaucratic process."

This obligation is not something "we" are going to impose on "them." It would be a burden on all new parents, including those whose ancestors debarked at Plymouth Rock.

Published in the Chicago Tribune

Published on Mon, Jun 21, 2010

“There is a concern that police officers working in areas that have secure communities in their local jails may have an incentive, or at least the ability, to make arrests based on race or ethnicity, or to make pretextual arrests of persons they suspect to be in violation of immigration laws, in order to have them run through immigration databases once they are jailed,” according to a 2009 by the Immigration Policy Center on the Secure Communities program and a similar effort, the Criminal Alien Program.

Published in the Texas Tribune

Published on Mon, Jun 21, 2010

"Migrants come here for a reason," says Michele Waslin, a senior policy analyst at the Immigration Policy Center. "They will continue to exist even if their life is made more difficult for them in the U.S. They have to weigh their lives here with their lives back home."

Published in the Salon

Published on Mon, Jun 21, 2010

Benjamin E. Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Council, which advocates comprehensive immigration reform, said many grass-roots groups have been responsible for pushing immigration legislation at the local and state levels. But he questioned some of the groups' tactics, saying that at times they capitalize on communities' fears and anxiety and use immigrants as scapegoats.

Published in the News Journal

Published on Thu, Jun 10, 2010

Much has been said about Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070, allowing state law enforcement officials to stop, question, detain and report individuals based on suspicion of undocumented status. Outrage against this bill is pervasive. Some say it hearkens back to Jim Crow, others say it legalizes racial profiling.

Published in the Hill

Published on Mon, Jun 07, 2010

"Since the Calderon administration has taken office, you have around 20,000 homicides that have occurred, many of those from U.S. weapons," said Dr. David Shirk, Director of the Trans-Border Institute at the University of California, San Diego, during a conference call on border security arranged by the Immigration Policy Center. "It's really hard to deal honestly with Mexico and say we want you to help us continue this effort but we're not going to stop arming the people that you're fighting by clapping down a little bit more on our own southbound flow of guns."

Published in the Security Management News

Published on Tue, Jun 15, 2010

But the next target is not kids. It is babies. The next idea is to deny birth certificates to children born here to illegal immigrant parents. It’s not a new idea, but its one that keeps being coughed up by those who haven't found a problem they can't blame on illegal immigrants.

Call them bullies without a clue.

The Immigration Policy Center prepared a fact sheet for those who want to understand this a little better.

Published in the Arizona Republic