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American Immigration Council

Despite ruling by federal judge on Arizona's anti-immigration law, we must keep pressure on

Published on Sun, Aug 01, 2010

"Now, the question is whether politicians at the state and federal level will stop playing politics and start solving problems," said Benjamin Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Council. "Arizona must start focusing on serious criminals and the federal government must assume its Constitutional duty of fixing the broken immigration system. America needs real solutions that make our communities safer, our border more secure, and finally fix our broken immigration system."

Published in the New York Daily News

Birthright Citizenship: The Big Republican Issue for 2010 Elections?

Published on Mon, Aug 02, 2010

Supporters of a change say the amendment adopted just after the Civil War was designed simply to make sure that former slaves became citizens, and wasn't intended to apply to illegal immigrants' kids. But the pro-immigration Immigration Policy Center offers a rebuttal, with scholar Elizabeth Wydra citing the "clear intent of the Reconstruction framers to grant U.S. citizenship based on the objective measure of U.S. birth rather than subjective political or public opinion."

Published in the San Francisco Chronicle

Arizona Immigration Shutdown

Published on Fri, Jul 23, 2010

WATCH the American Immigration Council's Benjamin Johnson speak about birthright citizenship:

 

 

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Published in the CNN

The Council Launches the 14th Annual Creative Writing Contest

Released on Tue, Aug 10, 2010

The Community Education Center of the American Immigration Council has launched its 14th Annual Creative Writing Contest for "Why I'm Proud America is a Nation of Immigrants".  The contest which is run by local chapters of the American Immigration Lawyers Association has more than 5,000 entries from around the country annually.  The contest is open to fifth graders during the 2010-2011 school year. 

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Immigration & the Constitution

Published on Mon, Aug 09, 2010

WATCH IPC's Senior Policy Analyst, Michele Waslin, debates immigration hawk Tom Tancredo on CNN.

 

Published in the CNN

Immigrants Impact on Idaho Economy

Published on Thu, Jul 29, 2010

BOISE, Idaho -- A new study shows how immigrants, both legal and illegal, effect Idaho's economy.

Numbers from the Immigration Policy Center show immigrants made up 7.2 percent of Idaho's workforce in 2008. Of that, 3.1 percent were illegal immigrants.

The study also says that if all undocumented immigrants were removed from the state, Idaho would lose nearly $430 million in economic activity. "These immigrants are an integral part of our economy, they're an integral part of our communities and if they were to leave, there would be huge economic repercussions. So if the Federal Government acts, people will be able to come out of the shadows and legalize and pay their fair share on the economy," said Tyler Moran of the National Immigration Law Center.

The study also showed the purchasing power of immigrants in Idaho. Latinos purchasing power totaled 2.5 billion dollars. That a more than 500 percent increase from 1990.

WATCH:

Published in the Fox News

Arizona Judge Delineates Between State and Federal Authority

Focus Must Now Return to Comprehensive Federal Solutions

Released on Wed, Jul 28, 2010

Washington, D.C. - Today, Phoenix district court judge Susan Bolton enjoined key provisions of Arizona's controversial immigration law, SB1070. The judge recognized that the federal government has primary authority over making and enforcing immigration law, and that while states have limited authority in this arena, they cannot interfere with federal enforcement or undermine federal priorities. The decision acknowledges the complex nature of immigration law and the harmful consequences of local police attempting to make immigration determinations. The judge also recognized the serious strain that the Arizona law would place on federal resources, which would detract from the federal government's ability to enforce immigration laws in other states and target resources toward serious criminals.Read more...

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The United States v. Arizona: Drawing a Clear Line Between Federal and State Immigration Authority

Released on Tue, Jul 06, 2010

Washington, D.C. - Today, the United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state of Arizona in federal court. The lawsuit, prompted by passage of SB 1070 in the Arizona legislature, will argue that federal law trumps the state statute and enforcing immigration law is a federal responsibility. The Department has requested a preliminary injunction to delay enactment of the law, arguing that the law's operation will cause "irreparable harm."
 
"The federal government is taking an important step to reassert its authority over immigration policy in the United States," said Benjamin Johnson, Executive Director of the American Immigration Council. "While a legal challenge by the Department of Justice won't resolve the public's frustration with our broken immigration system, it will seek to define and protect the federal government's constitutional authority to manage immigration."
 
Although states have always played a role in federal immigration enforcement, over the last 10 years more and more states have chosen to impose their local policies, priorities, and politics on our national immigration system. America can only have one immigration system, and the federal government must make clear where states' authority begins and where it ends. The federal government must assert its authority to establish a uniform immigration policy that it can be held accountable for. In the current environment it is unclear who is responsible for setting immigration enforcement priorities and who is responsible for their success or failure.Read more...

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FAIR's Distorted Fiscal Snapshot of Unauthorized Immigrants

New Report Ignores Economic Contributions of Unauthorized Workers and Consumers; Views the Education of Their U.S.-Citizen Children as Nothing More Than a "Cost"

Released on Tue, Jul 06, 2010

Washington D.C. -  Today, Fox News is reporting on data provided to them by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) which amounts to a highly misleading fiscal snapshot of the costs allegedly imposed on U.S. taxpayers by unauthorized immigrants.  However, in its rush to portray unauthorized immigrants as nothing more than a drain on the public treasury, FAIR completely discounts the economic contributions of unauthorized workers and consumers.  Moreover, FAIR inflates their cost estimate by indiscriminately lumping together native-born, U.S.-citizen children with their unauthorized parents.


FAIR's report suffers from three fatal flaws:Read more...

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President Obama’s Moment to Reassert Federal Leadership on Immigration Reform

Released on Wed, Jun 30, 2010

Washington, D.C. - Tomorrow, Thursday, July 1st, President Obama will make what is being described by the New York Times as “a major speech on immigration” at American University in Washington, D.C. The President is expected to step forward to reassert the leadership of the Federal Government on the issue of immigration.

While a federal lawsuit against Arizona’s SB1070 now seems imminent, the President must address the underlying issues that led to passage of the Arizona law. We hope the President will squarely address the public’s frustration with a lack of workable solutions on immigration.  He must place this frustration in context—lack of federal action leads to growing impetus in the states to pass laws, no matter what their cost, simply to try to resolve the impasse. The President should address this frustration, but should also address the undisputed polling that shows that Americans want comprehensive immigration reform. This can be his moment to bring people together by laying out a framework that will actually move Congress to complete workable legislation.Read more...

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