Elections
Power of New American, Latino, and Asian Voters Continues to Grow
The U.S. electorate is undergoing a seismic shift that is playing itself out over the course of decades. As the American Immigration Council describes in a new report, “New Americans”—immigrants who are naturalized U.S. citizens, as well as the native-born children of immigrants—comprise a growing share of voters in… Read More
Anti-Immigrant Group Runs Ad in States with Key Senate Races
Many opponents of immigration reform view the U.S. job market as a playing field upon which two teams compete: the native-born and immigrants. From this perspective, every job gained by one side amounts to a job lost by the other. And so every immigrant worker who enters the U.S. labor… Read More
New Americans in the Voting Booth: The Growing Electoral Power of Immigrant Communities
Together, New Americans, Latinos, and APIs are the fastest growing segments of the electorate. In the coming years, politicians who alienate these voters will find it increasingly difficult to win national and many state and local elections—especially in close races. Read More
What This Primary Season Teaches Politicians About Leaning-In To Immigration
Within minutes of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s historic primary defeat to an obscure Tea Party candidate on Tuesday, political strategists and media pundits began to weigh the role immigration reform played in his loss. Some even began to sound the death knell for immigration legislation this year. Read More
Politics is Personal for Young Undocumented Immigrants
Young undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children—often referred to as DREAMers—have grown up here, gone to school here, and formed deep roots in local communities. And while their immigration status prevents them from voting or even accessing affordable higher education in some states, DREAMers are… Read More
Report Documents Dramatic Shift in State Immigration Policies
For more than 100 years, the federal government has had authority over U.S. immigration policies while states possessed only limited power to regulate the “lives and livelihoods” of immigrants living within their borders. However, the past decade has seen an increase in immigration-related legislation including anti-immigrant laws, which have… Read More
Fremont’s Anti-Immigrant Ordinance Out of Step with Other Cities in Nebraska
Last week, the residents of Fremont, Nebraska voted to keep a 2010 anti-immigrant housing ordinance on the books. While the small town, with a seven percent foreign born population, has chosen to continue down its current path of exclusion, other places in Nebraska are pursuing inclusive strategies… Read More
¿Es Cierto Que los Inmigrantes Están Destinados a Darle la Espalda al Partido Republicano?
El último pronóstico catastrófico sobre la política inmigratoria viene de la mano de un informe publicado por el grupo conservador Eagle Forum. En el mismo, los autores advierten a los sectores conservadores sobre el terrible impacto que la llegada de nuevos inmigrantes tendrá en el futuro… Read More
Are Immigrants Really Destined to Give the GOP the Cold Shoulder?
The latest catastrophic forecast on immigration policy comes in the form of a report released by the conservative Eagle Forum warning Republicans about the presumed dire impact that the arrival of new immigrants through legal channels will have on the GOP’s electoral future. While this idea is far from… Read More
Are GOP Immigration Standards Enough to Shake Up the Conversation?
Reactions to the release of the House GOP leadership’s principles for immigration reform ranged from ecstatic to furious yesterday—and that was just within the Republican Party. Outside the tortured world of House politics, reactions tended more toward cautious praise for releasing something as a starting point, but with serious doubts about the shortcomings of the actual policy proposals. Because these principles are guidelines—without specific detail—“cautious optimism” is probably the healthiest approach to take in understanding what the document means for reform. Summarizing what the document says doesn’t take long; understanding its nuances, particularly its omissions and departures from the past, requires a bit more digging. Read More
