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Just the Facts

Immigration Fact Checks provide up-to-date information on the most current issues involving immigration today.

Top 5 Immigration Myths of this Campaign Season: Ending the Immigration Spin - Just the Facts

As the campaign season rolls onward and the intensity of the debate escalates, five recurring myths must be dispelled to clear the way for honest dialogue.

Published On: Thu, Jan 01, 2009 | Download File

The High Price of Being "America’s Toughest Sheriff": Crime and Spending Soar in Maricopa County

Over the past year and a half, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona has transformed his police department into an immigration-enforcement agency, gaining international publicity in the process.  Yet a growing number of elected officials, media outlets, and religious and civic leaders have criticized Sheriff Arpaio’s tactics and their impact on his community.  In addition, two independent reports by the East Valley Tribune and the Goldwater Institute describe a Sheriff’s department where crime-solving is down and racial profiling and budget expenditures are way up.

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Published On: Wed, Dec 17, 2008 | Download File

De-Romanticizing Our Immigrant Past: Why Claiming "My Family Came Legally" Is Often a Myth

Many people assume that their family immigrated to the U.S. legally, or did it “the right way.”  In most cases, this statement does not reflect the fact that the U.S. immigration system was very different when their families arrived, and that their families might not have been allowed to enter had today’s laws been in effect.  In some cases, claiming that a family came “legally” is simply inaccurate—undocumented immigration has been a reality for generations.

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Published On: Tue, Nov 25, 2008 | Download File

Latino New American Voters Wield Influence in New States: Immigrant Latinos Top Native-Born Latinos in Preference for Obama

Latinos weren't the only group that flexed its muscles this past Election Day. New Americans--naturalized citizens and the U.S.-born children of immigrants who were born during the current era of immigration that began in 1965--make up another important demographic group that demonstrated its ability to swing an election.

Published On: Wed, Nov 12, 2008 | Download File

IPC Report Reveals the Growing Political Power of Immigrants and Their Children

Examines the growing electoral clout of New Americans: naturalized immigrants and the U.S.-born children of immigrants raised during the current era of immigration that began in 1965.

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Published On: Mon, Nov 03, 2008 | Download File

IPC telephonic press briefing on the DREAM Act

IPC telephonic press briefing on the DREAM Act with Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Education Experts

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Published On: Thu, Oct 30, 2008 | Download File

Immigrants and Crime: Are They Connected? A Century of Research Finds that Crime Rates for Immigrants are Lower than for the Native-Born

Numerous studies by independent researchers and government commissions over the past 100 years repeatedly and consistently have found that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes or be behind bars than the native-born.

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Published On: Sat, Oct 25, 2008 | Download File

Dreams Deferred: The Costs of Ignoring Undocumented Students

The political debate over undocumented immigrants in the United States has largely ignored the plight of undocumented children who, for the most part, have grown up and received much of their primary and secondary education in this country. A new report from the Immigration Policy Center by Roberto Gonzales,   Wasted Talent and Broken Dreams: The Lost Potential of Undocumented Students, makes clear that without a means to legalize their status, these children are seldom able to go on to college, cannot work legally in the United States, and therefore cannot put their educations to good use. Moreover, at any time, they can be deported to countries they barely know (www.ailf.org/ipc/infocus/WastedTalent.pdf). This wasted talent imposes financial and emotional costs not only on undocumented students themselves, but on the U.S. economy and U.S. society as a whole.

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Published On: Sat, Oct 18, 2008 | Download File

The DREAM Act of 2007: Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to frequently asked questions about the DREAM Act. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act) is bipartisan legislation that provides qualified undocumented students the opportunity to secure legal permanent status. Also, listen to the IPC telephonic press briefing on the DREAM Act with Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Education Experts.

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Published On: Sat, Oct 18, 2008 | Download File

U.S. Latinos Slammed by Immigration Debate Gone Ugly

A new 2008 National Survey of Latinos by the Pew Hispanic Center reveals disturbing new evidence that Latinos – U.S. citizens as well as legal immigrants and undocumented immigrants—are feeling the effects of the immigration debate gone ugly.  Regardless of immigration status, Latinos are feeling anxious and discriminated against amid sanctioned public immigrant-bashing and stepped-up immigration enforcement measures.

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Published On: Thu, Oct 09, 2008 | Download File