Immigration Policy Center

Published on Thu, Jul 29, 2010

Immigrants — both legal and illegal — are surprisingly important to Utah's economy and future, according to a new compilation of data about them.

The Immigration Policy Center, a Washington-based research group, spent a year looking at academic studies and U.S. Census Bureau data about immigrants in each state, and released fact sheets for each on Wednesday.

"Facts are sadly lacking in the immigration debate," said Mary Giovagnoli, director of the center. She said too many people "seek to manipulate information to project an image of immigrants — both those here legally and illegally — as drains on society who make no positive contributions. The facts demonstrate something entirely different."

Published in the Desert News

Published on Wed, Jul 28, 2010

"The consensus from most of my colleagues is that it probably will go to the Supreme Court," said Mo Goldman, an immigration attorney in Tucson, Ariz., and a board member of the American Immigration Council.

AIC's Goldman, who applauded the decision, conceded the law was popular but said a backlash "remains to be seen."

"I think the majority of people just want to see our immigration system fixed by Congress and maybe this law ... will put additional pressure on Congress to get the job done, finally," he said.

Published in the Investors Business Daily

Published on Tue, Jul 27, 2010

Others say the Fremont City Council is right to look at the costs associated with enacting any kind of legislation.

“Good public policy involves weighing all the costs and benefits of enacting legislation," says Mary Giovagnoli of the American Immigration Council's Immigration Policy Center. "While Fremont may be motivated in this case to suspend the law because of the fear of litigation costs, there are numerous other costs to consider," she says, "including the loss of revenue to the town when people leave, stop supporting local businesses and paying taxes, as well as the psychological impact when a town goes down the road of driving people away."

Published in the Christian Science Monitor

Published on Wed, Jul 28, 2010

Of course, that’s not counting illegal immigrants — DHS estimated 10.8 people were living in the U.S. illegally in 2009. But advocates of higher quotas argue that increasing the number of people who could legally enter the U.S. would also decrease illegal immigration. “We have a fundamental problem as a country accepting the idea that we need immigration numbers,” Mary Giovagnoli, director of Immigration Policy Center told TWI. “If we had a legal immigration system that worked, it would reduce the incentive for illegal immigration.”

Published in the Washington Independent

Published on Mon, Jul 26, 2010

"I think that [Arizona's law] has created an imperative for the federal government," to push for the overhaul, said Wendy Sefsaf, communications director at the Immigration Policy Center.

With more than 20 states considering legislation similar to Arizona's law, it would not be in the federal government's interests to challenge each one individually, she said.

Published in the International Business Times

Published on Wed, Jul 28, 2010

"Immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born citizens," said Ben Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Council.

Johnson said the share of immigrants in federal prisons may seem alarming but that only 8 percent of all U.S. prisoners are in such facilities. Most are in state and local prisons, where incarceration rates for immigrants are lower than average.

He also pointed out that many immigrants in the federal system may simply be there because they lack legal immigration status -- not for having committed flagrant criminal offenses.

"No community is immune from the ravages of drugs and sexual violence. But the overwhelming majority of those crimes are not done by immigrants," Johnson said. "We don't ask criminals about their political affiliation or their religion. So why should we focus on their immigration status?"

Published in the ABC News

Published on Wed, Jul 21, 2010

Mary Giovagnoli, director of the Immigration Policy Center, said that bipartisan support for the bill has been much harder to achieve this year. In addition to pressure leading up to the midterm elections, she said, "there seems to have really been a sense that one of the most effective ways to undermine the Obama administration was just to be pretty negative or to block pretty much anything that was seen as an administration priority -- and immigration falls into that category. In some ways, I think the fight for the soul of the Republican party is being fought out on immigration issues."

But if Congress cannot muster the force for comprehensive immigration reform, Giovagnoli thinks the DREAM Act could have a good shot at passing on its own. In addition to Lugar, she identified "easily ten" Republican senators whom she believes could be convinced to support the bill.

Published in the Atlantic

Published on Tue, Jul 27, 2010

The procedures followed by individual police agencies are not dictated by the board or the governor, however, and as a new study by the Immigration Policy Center shows there will be a wide variety of enforcement policies within Arizona, even with the law’s heavy-handed language about officers being required to do one thing or another and citizens being able to sue those they don’t believe to be enforcing the law.

Published in the Arizona Republic

Published on Wed, Jul 28, 2010

Now, unless a federal judge decides otherwise, law enforcement officers will be required starting Thursday to check the status of anyone they have “reasonable suspicion” to be in the United States illegally.

In a report released this month by the Immigration Policy Center in Washington, D.C., an Arizona attorney voiced concerns about how the law could be interpreted and carried out throughout the state.

Published in the East Valley Tribune

Published on Tue, Jul 27, 2010

You don't have to be an evangelical Christian to realize that immigration reform is in the U.S.'s self-interest. According to a report earlier this year from the Campaign for American Progress and the American Immigration Council, an amnesty program affecting the more than 11 million undocumented people in the United States would add $1.5 trillion to the GDP over a decade. That's a lot more folks generating government revenue and keeping U.S. businesses afloat.

Published in the Huffington Post