Immigration Policy Center

Published on Fri, May 14, 2010

Boosted by the attention from other bloggers and KFI-AM's John and Ken, our online poll about the City Council's boycott of Arizona drew an overwhelming response from supporters of the Grand Canyon State's latest crackdown on illegal immigrants. Take the results with a grain of salt; the poll wasn't scientific. But the clear message from legions of commenters was that council members and other opponents of the law had it misconstrued; it is, as one put it, "the already established federal law!"

That's close to the truth, but not quite.

Published in the L.A. Times

Published on Mon, May 17, 2010

But the Immigration Policy Center, a major opponent of the new law, says FAIR's data do not accurately portray SB1070's potential outcome. “They count the costs and don’t look at the benefits. We tend to look at the benefits more closely,” said Council spokeswoman Wendy Sefsaf.

“It is like having a roommate and counting how much they cost in toilet paper and incidentals without looking at the benefits of having help with the rent,” she said.

“Overall, every comprehensive study has shown that immigrants are a net benefit to states. If you add their children, they are a very great benefit.”

The Center’s cost crunching found that "if all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Arizona, the state would lose $26.4 billion in economic activity, $11.7 billion in gross state product and approximately 140,324 jobs,” -- a disaster for the Grand Canyon State.

Published in the Fox News

Published on Thu, May 13, 2010

Fewer U.S.-born teenagers are working or looking for summer jobs. Most analysts can agree on this statement.

However, as the summer nears and jobs are scarce, the debate over the factors contributing to the decade-long decline is heating up – especially among activists and analysts embroiled in the immigration movement.

"The decline in teenage employment is very worrisome because a large body of research shows that those who do not work as teenagers often fail to develop the work habits necessary to function in the labor market later in life," said Steven Camarota, the director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies who co-authored a study about the issue.

Published in the O.C. Register

Published on Thu, May 06, 2010

Arizona's controversial new immigration law reflects a sharp political response to long-simmering conflict over immigration policy in a nation that takes pride in its history as a society built with the help of people from many lands.

Wharton faculty say the timing of the legislation is in part a reaction to stress brought on by the economic downturn, even as declining demand for labor has slowed immigration into the United States. While the statute has drawn widespread attention, faculty contend that it is unlikely to spur major change in broader immigration policy, at least in the near term. "It seems odd to me that this issue came up in Arizona now, given that the economy is so flat," says Wharton management professor Peter Cappelli, who suggests that Arizona politicians are looking for a "scapegoat" by "saying there are no jobs because of illegal workers. It's easy to blame immigrants."

Published in the UPenn's Wharton School

Published on Tue, May 11, 2010

While officials, state and national lawmakers and citizens line up on either side the immigration reform debate, the leader League of United Latin American Citizens of Ohio has sent a strong message to Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones who is vowing to take a Arizona-like immigration law to the ballot.

A week after Jones gathered national media attention stating he and state Rep. Courtney Combs, R-Hamilton, called for legislation that “mirrors” the controversial Arizona law that makes being in the country illegally a state violation, Jason Riveiro, state director of the LULAC, sent a letter to the sheriff stating his support of the Arizona law “can only be described as a cynical and self-serving political ploy. Such actions are inappropriate. You take advantage of not merely immigrant populations, but also of the trust granted you by the very people who elected you into office.

Published in the Oxford Press

Published on Fri, May 07, 2010

When Arizona passed a law that handed local police unprecedented authority to investigate and arrest suspected illegal immigrants, the state ignited a firestorm in a midterm election year. And for Kris Kobach, the former Bush administration lawyer who helped draft the legislation, the crackdown in Arizona is just the beginning.

Published in the Mother Jones

Published on Thu, May 06, 2010

Here we go again. It seems like an eternity since immigration reform was part of the national dialogue: Back in 2006-2007, George W. Bush was president, and Senator Ted Kennedy was leading the push for a bipartisan immigration reform package in the Senate with the collaboration of Senator John McCain of Arizona. Their proposal ultimately failed, and the 2008 presidential campaign halted all forward movement to reform our outdated immigration system.

Published in the Memphis Flyer

Published on Wed, May 05, 2010

Once again U.S. immigration policies are in the national spotlight. Arizona Gov. Brewer signed legislation on April 23 to authorize the arrest of Arizona residents if a police officer has reasonable suspicion that the person is in the United States without immigration documents. Her decision to sign this legislation has catapulted comprehensive immigration reform from the end of a long list of important Congressional legislation to competing for first place with financial reform.

Published in the Anchorage Daily News

Published on Wed, May 12, 2010

New Mexico's governor says it is a step backward. Texas isn't touching it. And California? Never again.

Arizona's sweeping new law empowering police to question and arrest anyone they suspect is in the U.S. illegally is finding little support in the other states along the Mexican border.

Among the reasons given: California, New Mexico and Texas have long-established, politically powerful Hispanic communities; they have deeper cultural ties to Mexico that influence their attitudes toward immigrants; and they have little appetite for a polarizing battle over immigration like one that played out in California in the 1990s.

Published in the Associated Press

Published on Wed, May 12, 2010

Sir, David Pinsen’s unfounded and inaccurate accusations against Mexican and unskilled immigrants should not be allowed to go unanswered (Letters, May 10). Contrary to the myth that unskilled immigrants consume more in government resources than they pay in taxes, an April 21 study by the Immigration Policy Center shows that Arizona’s immigrant workers contributed $2.4bn in state tax revenue in 2004. One can assume that not many of these workers had PhDs.

The same study shows that Latinos and Asians in that state wield nearly $37bn in consumer purchasing power, the businesses they own had sales of $12.2bn and employed nearly 65,000 people. Studies by the same organisation of many other states show similar results. For every study by an anti-immigrant group alleging that Mexicans cannot assimilate, there is a more objective study.

Published in the Financial Times