Policy

New Report from Center for Immigration Studies on Deportation Data Misleads and Misinforms

Released on Mon, Mar 31, 2014

Washington D.C. – Today the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) released a new report that makes a range of false claims about deportation data. Following is a statement from Benjamin Johnson, Executive Director of the American Immigration Council, in response to “Catch and Release: Interior Immigration Enforcement in 2013”

“A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) makes a range of false claims about deportation data. First their claim that out of 722,000 “potentially deportable aliens” encountered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement only 195,000 were charged is completely misleading. As a result of dragnet programs like Secure Communities, any foreign-born individual that that comes into contact with law-enforcement likely falls into 722,000 number cited by CIS. Thus, this number includes immigrants (including long time permanent residents) whose interaction with law enforcement was so minor that they are not even legally subject to removal. In fact, that data likely includes U.S. citizens as well. CIS is essentially asserting that a legal-permanent resident or a recently naturalized citizen with a broken tail light should be charged by ICE and removed from the country although there is no basis in law for such action. Read more...

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IPC Data Cited in New York's Henrietta Post

Published on Mon, Mar 24, 2014

The Henrietta Post in New York titled "New state office helps immigrants" used data from the Immigration Policy Center report "New York: Immigrant Entrepreneurs, Innovation, and Welcoming Initiatives in the Empire State".

The article discusses the recent annoucement by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that more than 34,000 immigrants were helped by the New York State Office for New Americans (ONA) during its first year of operations.

"There are 4.2 million immigrants living in the state and one in four New Yorkers of working age are foreign- born, stated the release. Citing data from the Immigration Policy Center: In 2010, 31.2 percent of all business owners in New York State were foreign-born (36 percent in the New York City metropolitan area); these businesses had a total net business income of $12.6 billion, representing 22.6 percent of all net business income in the state; and New York’s immigrants are responsible for $229 billion in annual economic output."

Published in the Henrietta Post

AIC Infographic Highlighted in Huffington Post

Published on Fri, Mar 07, 2014

Recently, the Huffington Post featured an Infographic from the Immigration Policy Center's Fact Sheet "The Cost of Doing Nothing". The article, titled "Why Can't A Nation That Calls Itself A Melting Pot Sort Out Its Immigration System?" highlights the problems with the current U.S. immigration system:

"Detaining and deporting people is extremely costly, and even those who support more deportations admit that deporting everyone isn't feasible. Plus, some reports have found that enacting reform could improve the economy, which means the U.S. could be losing money in two ways by maintaining its current policies. The Immigration Policy Center, the research arm of the advocacy group American Immigration Council, breaks down some of the numbers:

Published in the Huffington Post

What’s on the Menu? Immigration Bills Pending in the House of Representatives in 2014

During the first session of the 113^th Congress, more than half-a-dozen immigration bills were introduced in the House of Representatives, but no major immigration-related legislation had made it to the House floor by the end of 2013. The following discussion outlines some of the significant immigration bills introduced in 2013 and 2014 and provides analysis of their key points.

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Published On: Wed, Mar 26, 2014 | Download File

The Growth of the U.S. Deportation Machine

More Immigrants are being “Removed” from the United States than Ever Before

Despite some highly public claims to the contrary, there has been no waning of immigration enforcement in the United States. In fact, the U.S. deportation machine has grown larger in recent years, indiscriminately consuming criminals and non-criminals alike, be they unauthorized immigrants or long-time legal permanent residents (LPRs). Deportations under the Obama administration alone are now approaching the two-million mark. But the deportation frenzy began long before this milestone. The federal government has, for nearly two decades, been pursuing an enforcement-first approach to immigration control that favors mandatory detention and deportation over the traditional discretion of a judge to consider the unique circumstances of every case. The end result has been a relentless campaign of imprisonment and expulsion aimed at noncitizens—a campaign authorized by Congress and implemented by the executive branch. While this campaign precedes the Obama administration by many years, it has grown immensely during his tenure in the White House. In part, this is the result of laws which have put the expansion of deportations on automatic. But the continued growth of deportations also reflects the policy choices of the Obama administration. Rather than putting the brakes on this non-stop drive to deport more and more people, the administration chose to add fuel to the fire.

IRCA and the New Era of DeportationsRead more...

Published On: Wed, Apr 09, 2014 | Download File

Misplaced Priorities: Most Immigrants Deported by ICE in 2013 Were a Threat to No One

No one can say with certainty when the Obama administration will reach the grim milestone of having deported two million people since the President took office in 2008. Regardless of the exact date this symbolic threshold is reached, however, it is important to keep in mind a much more important fact: most of the people being deported are not dangerous criminals. Despite claims by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that it prioritizes the apprehension of terrorists, violent criminals, and gang members, the agency’s own deportation statistics do not bear this out. Rather, most of the individuals being swept up by ICE and dropped into the U.S. deportation machine committed relatively minor, non-violent crimes or have no criminal histories at all. Ironically, many of the immigrants being deported would likely have been able to remain in the country had the immigration reform legislation favored by the administration become law.

ICE’s skewed priorities are apparent from the agency’s most recent deportation statistics, which cover Fiscal Year (FY) 2013. However, it takes a little digging to discern exactly what those statistics mean. The ICE report containing these numbers is filled with ominous yet cryptic references to “convicted criminals” who are “Level 1,” “Level 2,” or “Level 3” in terms of their priority. But when those terms are dissected and analyzed, it quickly becomes apparent that most of these “criminal aliens” are not exactly the “worst of the worst.”

The agency defines three “priorities for the apprehension, detention, and removal of aliens”:Read more...

Published On: Fri, Mar 28, 2014 | Download File

Immigration Reform and the State of the Union

Released on Tue, Jan 28, 2014

Washington D.C. - Tonight, President Barack Obama pressed the reset button and laid out his priorities for 2014—and, ultimately, the final leg of his presidency. During the State of the Union address, the President discussed the need to create jobs and greater opportunity for all. He also made it clear that immigration reform and economic recovery go hand-in-hand, and he expects the House of Representatives to make the next move on immigration reform. The President said:

“Finally, if we are serious about economic growth, it is time to heed the call of business leaders, labor leaders, faith leaders, and law enforcement – and fix our broken immigration system. Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have acted. I know that members of both parties in the House want to do the same. Independent economists say immigration reform will grow our economy and shrink our deficits by almost $1 trillion in the next two decades. And for good reason: when people come here to fulfill their dreams – to study, invent, and contribute to our culture – they make our country a more attractive place for businesses to locate and create jobs for everyone. So let’s get immigration reform done this year.”Read more...

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IPC's Mary Giovagnoli in U.S. News & World Report

Published on Tue, Jan 28, 2014

A recent article in U.S. News and World Report, quoted Mary Giovagnoli, Director of the IPC. The article, titled, "The Republican Party's Impossible Immigration Balancing Act," said:

"When it comes to immigration reform, House Republicans are in an impossible spot: Members are left balancing congressional elections with the GOP's larger 2016 interests, reluctant to hand a Democratic president a victory while hoping to make up ground with the Latino community...

"In order to gain traction with Latino voters, they will have to do more than simply talk about a plan. They will have to enact one, take a comprehensive approach, shed the party's enforcement-only rhetoric and openly consider a path to legalization for the 11 million, an option that many lawmakers have struggled to publicly support. While Republicans nationally need Latino support to win elections, few members from GOP-controlled districts face a high volume of Latino voters back home to put pressure on them. Instead, it's anti-immigration reform activists who pressure sitting members to stay away from anything that resembles legalization for the 11 million.

"The policy solutions to the problem and the political viability of them are potentially miles apart," says Mary Giovagnoli, director of the Immigration Policy Center, a nonpartisan immigration research group."

Published in the U.S. News and World Report

Maine: Immigrant Entrepreneurs, Innovation, and Welcoming Initiatives in the Pine Tree State

In Maine, there is no doubt that immigrant entrepreneurs and innovators play an important role. Immigrant entrepreneurs bring in additional revenue, create jobs, and contribute significantly to the state’s economy. Highly skilled immigrants are vital to the state’s innovation industries, and to the metropolitan areas within the state, helping to boost local economies. Furthermore, local government, business, and non-profit leaders recognize the importance of immigrants in their communities and support immigration through local “welcoming” and integration initiatives.

Immigrant entrepreneurs contribute significantly to Maine’s economy.

From 2006 to 2010, there were 2,711 new immigrant business owners in Maine, and in 2010, 3.2 percent of all business owners in Maine were foreign-born.

In 2010, new immigrant business owners had a total net business income of almost $120 million, which is 3.3 percent of all net business income in the state.

Maine is home to many successful companies with at least one founder who was an immigrant or child of an immigrant, including well-known companies such as Fairchild Semiconductor International, which employ nearly s 8,000 people and produces more than $1.5 billion in revenue.

Highly skilled immigrants are vital to Maine’s innovation industries, which in turn helps lead American innovation and creates jobs.Read more...

Published On: Mon, Jul 15, 2013 | Download File

Revitalization in the Heartland of America

A potent combination of declining population growth and economic stagnation has led many cities and metropolitan regions to rethink how to reinvigorate their communities. The Midwest is a prime example of this trend. According to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, “the Midwest cannot hope to keep up with other regions or international competitors without a vital entrepreneurial sector.” The Council notes that “immigrants, risk takers by nature, are unusually successful entrepreneurs, more than twice as likely as native-born Americans to start their own firms.” As a result, immigration is one of the strategies to which communities are repeatedly turning to fuel economic growth.

A budding place-based awareness of the important contributions that new and existing immigrants make to neighborhood revitalization is seen in the increasing number of cities pursuing a nexus of immigrant welcoming, integration, and economic development initiatives. In this report, we focus on the journeys of three places—two cities and one state—in their efforts to implement strategies for future economic success that depend on immigration. The initiatives are taking place against a backdrop of tepid progress toward comprehensive federal reform of the U.S. immigration system.

Published On: Wed, Jan 15, 2014 | Download File