Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Washington Post Lists Treating “Immigrants as People” as “In” for 2012
You wouldn’t know it from listening to the ridiculous anti-immigrant rhetoric over the past year, but treating immigrants like actual human beings is a concept some hope catches fire in 2012. The Washington Post recently added “immigrants as people” on “The List: 2012”—their annual zeitgeist-inspired list of ins and outs for the new year. Granted, “peacock feathers” and “Margaret Thatcher” also made the “in” column, but dialing down the immigrant bashing—a message Republican presidential candidates clearly missed during previous debates—is an idea that GOP political strategists are now embracing. Read More
New Report: Immigration and American Jobs
The U.S. labor market has been slow to recover from the deep recession of 2007–2009. Policymakers have debated numerous ways to increase employment, from government spending to tax policy to training and education initiatives. But relatively little consideration has been given to immigration reform as a way to boost the… Read More
Prosecutorial Discretion Survey Demonstrates Need for More Training, Consistency Across ICE Field Offices
It’s been almost six months since ICE Director John Morton issued new guidelines on prosecutorial discretion to help ICE agents, attorneys and other officials distinguish between high priority cases (national security threats and serious criminals) and low priority cases (DREAM Act students). A recent survey released by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the American Immigration Council takes a look at how well those guidelines are translating into actual practice at ICE offices around the country. While the results show that prosecutorial discretion was applied in some cases, the majority of cases show that ICE field offices are confused and hesitant to make decisions, demonstrating the need for more guidance and training from DHS headquarters. Read More
How Will DHS Continue to Partner on Existing State Enforcement Programs Given Legal Challenge to Alabama’s Law?
Today, several newspapers reported on DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano’s statement that the federal government is not going to help Alabama implement its new immigration law, leaving many to wonder how the federal government will continue running existing state and local immigration enforcement programs like Secure Communities. On one hand, the federal government has sued Alabama claiming that its immigration law (HB 56) is unconstitutional. On the other, the federal government regularly partners with state and local police agencies to identify unauthorized immigrants for potential deportation. Secretary Napolitano now faces the difficult decision of what DHS will do with unauthorized immigrants in Alabama who may have been picked up under the new law. Read More
Restrictionist GOP Members Rely on Scare Tactics in Hearing on Prosecutorial Discretion
The luster may be wearing off Republican attacks on DHS’s prosecutorial discretion policies. Efforts to paint the prioritization of cases as “backdoor amnesty” didn’t seem to go anywhere in yesterday’s hearing on immigration enforcement in the Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement. ICE Director John Morton defended the prosecutorial discretion guidance he issued earlier this year as “trying to make good calls and good judgments” within a series of tough choices and finite resources. Members opposed to the Administration’s policies had a hard time rebutting the resource point, deciding instead to rely on scare tactics and hyperbolic comparisons to attack the guidance. Read More
Press Release: Statement of the Partnership for a New American Economy on New Obama Administration Immigration Policies
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 2, 2011 The Obama Administration today announced that it would promote several tools, all available under existing immigration laws, designed to attract immigrant entrepreneurs seeking to build new businesses in the United States. These efforts are a first step towards the broader, permanent immigration reforms… Read More
Mayor Bloomberg Delivers Speech at the Council on Foreign Relations
The following are Mayor Bloomberg’s remarks as prepared for delivery today at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC. Please check against delivery. “Thank you, Julia, and good afternoon. It’s always nice to come to a city with a baseball team that is below the Mets in the standings. Read More
Press Release: Statement on House Republican “Plan for America’s Job Creators”
In their “Plan for America’s Job Creators” House Republicans joined the Partnership’s mayors and CEOs from across the country in recognizing that smarter immigration reforms will create American jobs. The suggested examples – better visas for both entrepreneurs and graduates with essential degrees – are important parts of modernizing our… Read More
America's story is an immigrant story.
