Rhetoric
New Study Finds Low-Skilled Immigration Has Negligible Impact on Wages of Native-Born
Earlier today, Public Policy Professor at Georgetown University Harry J. Holzer presented his new report, Does Low-Skilled Immigration Hurt the US Economy? Assessing the Evidence. Contrary to the myth that “immigrants steal American jobs,” Prof. Holzer concludes that low-skilled immigration likely has little to no effect on most U.S. workers, though changes in immigration policy would obviously alter the effect. While admitting that wage depression is an issue for low-skilled native-born workers, Holzer insisted that immigration contributed very little, if at all, to this effect, and that “we’ve been scapegoating [low-skilled] immigrants for little reason.” Read More
Crossing the Line. Again.
The recent shooting of a U.S. Congresswoman, Federal Judge and other innocent bystanders in Arizona is both sobering and tragic. Because Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) was hosting a community event at the time of the shooting, the role of politics in this tragedy has led to significant soul searching. Regardless of the motives of the shooter, analyzing the impact of political discourse on the lives of others merits serious consideration. Whether it’s Rep. Joe Wilson shouting out, "You lie!" during President Obama's address to Congress or liberal and conservative media pundits calling each other names on a nightly basis, the lines that were once never crossed are increasingly being erased. Read More
Census Shows Population Gains Due to Growing Latino Population
The first 2010 Decennial Census data was made available this week, and the U.S. population rose 9.7% since 2000. As a result of population changes, reapportionment will likely shift the political balance in Congress. Some states (Texas, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina) will gain seats, in part due to the growth in their Latino populations over the past decade. While many media outlets have focused on the fact that the states gaining Congressional seats tend to be red states, and those losing seats are blue, immigrant advocates have pointed out that Members of Congress from those states with growing Latino populations, regardless of party affiliation, will have to be responsive to their Latino constituencies if they want to keep their seats. Read More
Not Without a Fight: DREAM Students Refuse to Back Down
Although the Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to achieve cloture on the DREAM Act on Saturday, DREAM supporters are refusing to go down without a fight. As disappointment turns to anger, DREAM Activists are again turning up the heat with statements aimed at “political leaders who chose to obstruct progress for personal gain” and messages such as “We Won’t Forget How You Voted.” Thousands of DREAM supporters—who participated in a massive mobilization effort for the bill’s passage—are also turning a critical eye to the administration as they look ahead toward the road to reform. Read More
Mainstream Media Exposes Anti-Immigrant Movement in America
The mainstream media is finally exposing “the man behind the curtain” of America’s anti-immigrant movement. This week, Village Voice Media published a piece entitled, “FAIR-y Tales” by Terry Greene Sterling, an award winning journalist and Writer-in-Residence at Arizona State University. Sterling’s in-depth investigative journalism blows the lid of off the John Tanton network and its anti-immigrant organizations—CIS, FAIR, IRLI (drafters of SB1070), Social Contract Press and Numbers USA. It even includes an interview with John Tanton, the unapologetic architect of the anti-immigrant movement in America. Read More
Will Local Lawmakers Take the Immigration Enforcement Bait?
As local lawmakers begin to lay the groundwork for next year’s legislative agenda, some are attempting to prioritize immigration enforcement ahead of efforts to jump-start flagging economies. In Oklahoma, for example, an internal storm is brewing between a House Republican and the Speaker-elect about where the party’s “social agenda” (read: immigration enforcement) fits on the legislative priority list. Similar battles over whether to pursue Arizona-esque immigration enforcement legislation are abound in Virginia, Nevada, Florida, Colorado and California. While the actual enforcement legislation may differ from state to state, legislators are weighing the same questions—cost of implementation, lengthy court battles, divisiveness, public safety concerns and economic priorities. The question remains, however, given the federal challenge to Arizona’s SB1070 and economic loss due to boycotts, whether other state legislators will take the immigration enforcement bait? Read More
How Much Conservative Muscle Will It Take To Lift the DREAM Act?
While some would have you believe that immigration reform is a liberal issue championed only by Democrats, past debates and prior attempts to pass immigration reform have shown us that Republicans and conservatives are champions as well. Granted some of the most stalwart Republican supporters have recently turned their back on reasonable debate (think John McCain’s “build the dang fence” and Lindsey Graham’s summer flirtation with repealing birthright citizenship), yet immigration reform still enjoys the support of important conservative leaders—leaders like Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana and the Diaz-Balart brothers of Florida. Congress can’t pass the DREAM Act without Republican support, but how much conservative muscle will it take to finally make this bipartisan legislation a reality? Read More
How to Talk Turkey on Immigration
My daughter had a knock-down drag out fight on the playground a few weeks ago over immigration. She was preaching immigration reform and another little girl said that immigrants steal American jobs. They reached no resolution and walked away furious. A couple of days ago, Rebecca told me how nice this girl was and that she had “decided to put political differences aside for the sake of friendship.” A lot of us will be sharing the Thanksgiving dinner table with people whose political and philosophical views differ. Like the kids, we may need to put political differences aside for the sake of family, friends, and pumpkin pie. But when you work in immigration, people inevitably bring the topic up and say things you feel compelled to rebut. Read More
Spin Control: Putting Myths about the DREAM Act Out to Pasture
As the DREAM Act continues to gather momentum during lame-duck, some conservative Congressional members are scrambling to brand the legislation as “amnesty” in an attempt to scare the American public. Among the myths is the idea that the DREAM Act’s passage would somehow cheat native born students out of opportunities. This tired effort to pit immigrants against native born is not only destructive, but has no basis in fact. It also ignores the economic benefits that come from legalizing a group of talented, hard working individuals who want nothing more than to contribute to America and repay the country for the opportunities they’ve been given. It’s hard to imagine, given the economic data and bipartisan support, how these hardliners can justify twisting the DREAM Act into a rhetorical ball of fear. Read More
Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce Continues Immigration Crusade Despite Budget Crisis
A cog in the wheel of local enforcement legislation, Arizona state Senator and now Senate President-elect, Russell Pearce, predictably said he will continue his immigration crusade to repeal part of the 14th Amendment despite the looming state budget crisis. A recent article points out that Pearce, in the throes of last minute campaigning, pledged that he would make boosting Arizona’s flailing economy his number one priority instead of pushing yet another immigration bill. Not surprisingly, however, Pearce told reporters today that “he never promised the 14th Amendment bills wouldn’t be heard, only that he wouldn’t sponsor it.” Sound fishy? That’s because it is. Sponsor of Arizona’s controversial enforcement law SB1070, Pearce has a history of not only prioritizing immigration enforcement legislation, but accepting campaign contributions from the prison lobby who helped write it. Read More
America's story is an immigrant story.
