Just the Facts

The Political and Economic Power of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in Alaska.

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Published On: Tue, Feb 16, 2010 | Download File

The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) reports that federal immigration prosecutions rose to record levels during fiscal year (FY) 2009.  In the past, federal court resources were appropriately allocated to pursue immigration-related prosecutions against individuals with criminal backgrounds.  Recently, however, priorities have shifted, and large numbers of federal immigration prosecutions have focused on non-violent border crossers, creating the appearance that immigrants are committing more crimes. However, the fact is -- the federal government’s shift in resources has meant spending billions of dollars prosecuting non-violent immigration violators while more serious criminals involved in drugs, weapons, and organized crime face a lower probability of prosecution.

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Published On: Thu, Feb 04, 2010 | Download File

One of the greatest challenges in immigration reform is the need to realistically assess our future employment-based immigration needs.  This includes permanent and temporary visas, high-skilled and low-skilled workers.  Many people agree that our current legal immigration flow is drastically out of sync with America’s labor needs and the global realities of the 21^st century. Meanwhile, some employers have been able to misuse the broken system to the detriment of U.S. and foreign workers.  Policymakers must recognize that if we create a legal immigration system that functions well, there will be less pressure on immigrants to come to the U.S. illegally and for employers to hire unauthorized workers.  Given the current weakened economy and high unemployment rates, it is difficult to estimate the U.S.’s future labor needs.  However, the economy will eventually improve, and a reasonable, flexible legal immigration system must be put into place to fill our future labor needs.  If the U.S. is to thrive in the globalized 21^st century economy, employment-based immigration must be seen as a strategic resource that can both meet labor market needs and foster economic growth and competition while still protecting U.S. workers and improving wages and working conditions.

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Published On: Mon, Feb 01, 2010 | Download File

Following the devastating earthquake which struck Haiti on January 12, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on January 15 announced “the designation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian nationals who were in the United States as of January 12, 2010.”  The “designation will allow eligible Haitian nationals in the United States to continue living and working in our country for the next 18 months.”  This means that the 100,000-200,000 Haitian immigrants whom the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimates are now in the United States on a temporary basis or without authorization will not be subject to removal as long as there is no functioning country to which they can return, and provided that they do not have criminal records.  However, Haitian nationals who qualify for TPS are not receiving permanent residence in the United States or an “amnesty” if they were unauthorized.  There are currently 535,000 Haitian immigrants in the United States, with most living in Miami and New York, as well as Boston, Orlando, and Atlanta.

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Published On: Fri, Jan 22, 2010 | Download File

The Political and Economic Power of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in Massachusetts.

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Published On: Wed, Jan 20, 2010 | Download File

The Political and Economic Power of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in Texas.

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Published On: Tue, Jan 19, 2010 | Download File

Reforming our broken immigration system will require us to transform our family-based immigration system, clear out the backlogs, recapture unclaimed family-based visas, reset numerical caps and allow law-abiding families to reunite with loved ones in a humane and reasonable timeline. This paper lays out the key principles for family immigration within the context of comprehensive immigration reform.

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Published On: Fri, Jan 15, 2010 | Download File

A new report, “Raising the Floor for American Workers: The Economic Benefits of Comprehensive Immigration Reform,” by Dr. Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda, finds that comprehensive immigration reform that includes a legalization program for unauthorized immigrants and enables a future flow of legal workers would result in a large economic benefit—a cumulative $1.5 trillion in added U.S. gross domestic product over 10 years. In stark contrast, a deportation-only policy would result in a loss of $2.6 trillion in GDP over 10 years.

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Published On: Mon, Jan 11, 2010 | Download File

As the year comes to a close, The Immigration Policy Center brings you its top 10 list of resources from 2009.  

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Published On: Fri, Dec 18, 2009 | Download File

The Political and Economic Power of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in Maryland.

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Published On: Thu, Dec 17, 2009 | Download File