Immigration Policy Center

Legalizing 11 Million Aspiring Americans

Day Four of Senate Mark-Up Will Address New Legalization Program

Released on Mon, May 20, 2013

Washington D.C. - Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee continues mark-up of S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. The Committee is expected to complete work on Title Three and then begin considering amendments related to the legalization component of Title Two.

Creating a pathway to citizenship is one of the fundamental principles of S. 744, but many of the amendments offered in Committee appear designed to weaken the bipartisan program put forth in the bill by limiting eligibility, creating more hoops to jump through, and undermining procedural safeguards. The Senate Judiciary Committee should evaluate such proposals by asking what is necessary to achieve a workable plan for legalization of 11 million people—one that ensures the program has integrity, but that is also designed to succeed. The Gang of 8’s proposal is not perfect, but it was crafted with this goal in mind.

Amendments that would deter many of the 11 million undocumented immigrants from applying for or remaining in the program, or that would make it a bureaucratic nightmare to implement, must be avoided. Instead, if we wish to ensure that we are not repeating the mistakes of the past, we must strive for a generous and fair program that recognizes the contributions already being made by undocumented immigrants to this country.

In order to create a successful legalization program, Senators should keep in mind the following principles when considering the amendments offered under Title Two:Read more...

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Creating a Workable Future Flow Program in Senate Immigration Bill

Day Two of Senate Mark-Up Will Tackle Trickiest Part of Reform

Released on Mon, May 13, 2013

Washington D.C. - Tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary Committee continues “mark-up” of S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. The Committee will take up amendments related to Title Four, which addresses the majority of non-immigrant, temporary visas including those for high and less skilled immigrant workers, entrepreneurship and innovation programs, and a range of miscellaneous visitor visas. Title Four became one of the most intensely negotiated portions of the Gang of 8 bill, in part because issues regarding the future flow of immigrant workers strike at the heart of broad differences in opinion about how we supplement the American workforce through immigration.

Inherent in this debate are deeply nuanced questions about the best way to create a competitive business climate that does not undermine worker rights and protections, as well as the need to promote and encourage innovation and growth through immigration. The Gang of 8 should be applauded for tackling this enormous challenge and crafting solutions that attempt to address these concerns. This makes the bill significantly different from what was adopted in 1986—when a legalization program went forward without tackling the question of how to regulate the future demand for workers.

In this section of the bill, perhaps more than anywhere else, there will be disagreement about the best way to achieve a balance in S. 744 as it is readied for debate before the full Senate. In order to develop a smart and fair future flow program, Senators should keep in mind the following principles:Read more...

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IPC Cited in NBC Latino Article

Published on Mon, May 13, 2013

A recent article on NBC Latino drew attention to a recent IPC Fact Sheet, Lost in the Shadow of the Fence. In the Fact Sheet, we pointed out the importance of the economic relationship between Mexico and the United States, and how that should be remembered during the debates around border enforcement. Here's a clip of the NBC Latino article:

"The American public is not getting the full picture of the current state of Mexico’s economy and its increasing importance as a trading partner. Mexico is the world’s 12th largest economy and America’s second largest export market...

The Immigration Policy Center’s “Lost in the Shadow of the Fence” states there was a 9.1 percent increase in goods exported to Mexico from the U.S. in just one year, from 2011 to 2012."

Published in the NBC Latino

Senate Legislative Process Must Maintain Spirit of Compromise

The Process Must Adhere to Certain Principles to Ensure A Workable System

Released on Thu, May 09, 2013

Washington D.C. - Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee begins “mark-up” of S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. In an unprecedented move by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy and Ranking Member Charles Grassley, all amendments have been made publicly available in order to make the process more transparent and inclusive. Although nearly 300 amendments have been filed, the Committee will only take up a limited number over the course of the mark-up. It’s important that the amendments considered are those that really seek to improve and perfect the bill, rather than attempt to undermine it.

The point of a committee mark-up process is to expose a bill to careful scrutiny and debate. It is not the place for political grandstanding. Now more than ever, the Senate Judiciary Committee must use its authority to ensure that the immigration bill is workable, fair, and practical.

The United States needs a workable, efficient, and flexible immigration system that responds to the rapidly changing demands of a 21st century economy, technologies, and migration patterns. People live and work and create in ways that are different than they were twenty years ago, and yet our immigration system continues to operate on a series of static quotas and rigid requirements that ignore advances in every sector of our economy and the way we live today.

Additionally, we cannot wall ourselves away from the world. Many of the amendments that will be offered today will deal with border security and revisit the oft-repeated attempts to build a wall around this country—either through border fencing or by adding layers of national security screenings. We need to do what is smart, secure, and effective for immigration policy, but we should not revert back to the period of fear and suspicion that dominated immigration reform in the last decade. To be clear:
Read more...

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Bloated Estimate of Legalization Costs Ignores Immigration Reform's Broader Economic Benefits

Released on Mon, May 06, 2013

Washington D.C. – Today, the Heritage Foundation released a report which attempts to assess the fiscal costs associated with legalizing the 11 million unauthorized individuals living in the United States. The new report is similar to a 2007 study, which was widely criticized at the time of publication and continues to be re-rejected today by conservatives. As such, this report serves as a reminder of why fiscal cost analyses cannot replace broader economic analyses.

The following is a statement by Benjamin Johnson, Executive Director of the American Immigration Council:Read more...

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AIC Communications Director Wendy Feliz Featured in ABC News

Published on Thu, May 02, 2013

Wendy Feliz, the Communications Director at the AIC, was featured in an article on ABC News about the recent positive trend in state immigration laws:

As recently as few years ago, lawmakers around the nation were passing strict regulations that made immigrants in the U.S. without legal permission the subject of police crackdowns and raids.

"The last few years were so harsh at the state level," said Wendy Feliz, a spokeswoman for the American Immigration Council.

Published in the ABC News

The IPC's Mary Giovagnoli in the Christian Science Monitor

Published on Thu, Apr 25, 2013

The IPC's Director, Mary Giovagnoli, was quoted in a recent article in the Christian Science Monitor on what could be expected from the new reform package from the Senate:

"Pro-reform analysts say that’s a good thing: The bill is replacing illegal workers with legal ones, these advocates argue, thus allowing American employers legally to meet legitimate business needs and uniting families kept apart by poorly fashioned immigration laws.

“You’re having to play catch-up for 20 years of neglect of this system,” says Mary Giovagnoli, director of the Immigration Policy Center and a former aide to the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D) of Massachusetts during the 2007 immigration reform effort.

Without creating a functional (and larger) legal immigration system, they say, the lures for illegal immigration will remain."

Published in the Christian Science Monitor

The IPC's Mary Giovagnoli in Talking Points Memo

Published on Wed, Apr 24, 2013

Mary Giovagnoli, the Director of the IPC, was quoted in a Talking Points Memo article discussing the effect that the Boston marathon bombing would have on the current immigration debate:

"Mary Giovagnoli, director of the Immigration Policy Center and a former immigration adviser to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), told TPM that she saw nothing in the law that would affect the screening side of the process. She noted that procedures had been tightened significantly over the last decade already, especially in regards to “high risk” countries.

“The changes are not changes that implicate national security or have any connection to Boston,” she said."

Published in the Talking Points Memo

The IPC Cited in the Guardian

Published on Wed, Apr 17, 2013

The IPC was cited in an article discussing Florida Senator Marco Rubio's attempts to promote the new Senate "Group of Eight" immigration bill. Here's an except:

"'Right now nobody benefits from the status quo,' Rubio told Univision's Jorge Ramos in an interview in Spanish. 'The only people who benefit right now are the criminals abusing the people who cross [the border] and the employers who abuse their workers by paying their workers less.'

Rubio is right but he has to make a stronger case. He should explain that immigrants are not a drain but a net benefit for the United States, if there is a pathway to green cards and citizenship for the 11 million undocumented living in the United States.

What Rubio didn't detail is how the undocumented contribute to the economy by paying taxes. If they are given legal residency and citizenship, they will be able to contribute more over time. According to the Immigration Policy Center, households headed by undocumented immigrants paid a combined $11.2bn in state and local taxes in 2010."

Published in the Guardian

The American Immigration Council Welcomes Bi-Partisan Senate Immigration Bill

Released on Wed, Apr 17, 2013

Washington D.C. – The American Immigration Council applauds the “Gang of Eight” Senators who have introduced the "Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act." The Senators and their staff have been working tirelessly, for months, to create a bi-partisan solution that attempts to fix our broken immigration system. The Senate is to be commended for having the courage to lean into this difficult issue and bring forth a detailed and comprehensive proposal. In addition, labor and business groups should be acknowledged for their role in negotiating, in advance, some of the toughest sticking points to help ensure a smooth path through Congress.

In the coming days and weeks as the bill is analyzed and debated, there will be many who criticize both the policy remedies in the bill, as well as the sheer length of the legislation. It is important to keep in mind, however, that developing a comprehensive solution requires striking a delicate balance between a diverse cross section of stakeholders and impacted constituencies. Furthermore, the dysfunctional system that we have developed over the past two decades is in dire need of deep and precise reforms. While there will be fair criticisms of some of the bill’s contents it is important to keep the spirit of the debate productive and to ensure room for compromise. Read more...

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