USCIS
Senators Introduce Military Families Act
The week before the Memorial Day holiday, several senators honored U.S. military families caught up in our broken immigration system by introducing The Military Families Act. Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Harry Reid (D-NV), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced the bill. Read More
CIS Report Marred by ‘Deception and Disorder’
By Anam Rahman In a report issued earlier today, the restrictionist Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) took aim at problems facing the U.S. immigration court system—a topic worthy of serious discussion. Unfortunately, as with many of CIS’ publications, today’s report combines dramatic rhetoric and unsubstantiated data with ill-conceived solutions. While it is unlikely the report will gain traction in Congress or the media, a few of its—and its author’s—shortcomings remain worth pointing out. Read More
Press Release: Utah Leaders Support Smart Immigration Reform
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, Utah Rep. Brad Daw (R-Orem), Partnership for a New American Economy representatives, and 60 business leaders and politicians discuss how to harness the job-creating power of immigrants at two events hosted by Partnership for a New American Economy members Lane Beattie, CEO of the Salt… Read More
DHS Removes Countries from Special Registration List, But Leaves Door Open for Future Placements
This week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it will remove all countries from the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS). Previously, nonimmigrant travelers from Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen were forced to comply with special registration requirements, including providing fingerprints, a photograph, and any additional information required by DHS to DHS officials at the time the nonimmigrant applies for admission at a U.S. port of entry. Read More
Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren Demands Investigation into ICE’s Secure Communities Program
Some would argue that ICE’s Secure Communities program has been fraught with problems ever since it launched in 2008—from concerns over the lack of federal oversight to questions regarding the criminality of immigrants targeted. But after months of back and forth over how and whether jurisdictions are able to opt-out of this immigration enforcement program (which shares the fingerprints of individuals booked into jails with federal databases), California Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) has had enough. This week, Rep. Lofgren called for an investigation into the actions of federal immigration officials whom she said lied about whether states and localities had the right to opt-out of the program. Read More
Press Release: Partnership Members Attend White House Meeting to Talk Economics of Immigration
Today, President Barack Obama invited leaders from across the country to the White House to discuss immigration. Meeting attendees included leaders in business, law enforcement, labor and faith and current and former elected officials from both sides of the aisle. Partnership Co-Chairs Mayor Bloomberg and Mayor Castro and Partnership members… Read More
Two Years Under the Obama Administration, How Does DHS Measure Up?
Nearly two years ago, expectations ran high as President Obama took office and Secretary Napolitano took the reins of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In review of DHS’s first year under the Obama Administration, the Immigration Policy Center (IPC) found that while many promising changes were initiated, few were successful due to limiting political constraints. Today, two years out, we find a department still struggling to balance priorities, entrenched in an enforcement-heavy debate, claiming that without Congressional action, its hands are tied on administrative reforms. That claim, however, is inconsistent with the wide range of executive branch authority available to DHS and the President. Read More
Group Highlights Administrative Fixes to the Immigration System Absent Federal Reform
Virtually every time anyone proposes administrative reforms to the immigration system, someone in Congress calls it amnesty. The discussion at the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) today, in which immigration policy experts discussed six administrative fixes that the Obama team could implement without legislation, shows just how much can be done with executive branch authority. The report, Executive Action on Immigration: Six Ways to Make the System Work Better, authored by Donald Kerwin, Doris Meissner, and Margie McHugh, suggests specific policy measures which could, during a period of congressional inaction, help “improve and strengthen the performance of the nation’s immigration system.” The MPI authors recommend that the Obama administration: Read More
House Subcommittee Tries to Propagate Myth that Immigrants Steal Jobs
Today’s House Subcommittee hearing on Immigration Policy and Enforcement, clumsily entitled “New Jobs in Recession and Recovery: Who Are Getting Them and Who Are Not,” was clearly intended to sow fear. In his opening statement, Subcommittee Chairman Elton Gallegly (R-24th/CA) wasted no time in sounding the alarm that unemployed native-born workers are being left to twist in the wind as immigrants gobble up the few new jobs which have become available since the end of the Great Recession. Yet the preponderance of the evidence presented during the hearing failed to support that conclusion. Read More
Why Cutting Immigrant Integration Programs Hurts All of Us
Among the many spending cuts recently passed by the House was funding for the Office of Citizenship’s immigrant integration programs. The importance of these programs, however, cannot be overstated. Immigrants who integrate into U.S. society go on to become innovators, entrepreneurs and future job-creators. Although a new study released today by the British Council, Migration Policy Group and Immigration Policy Center ranks the U.S. nine among 31 countries in promoting full integration of legal residents (a relatively good score), cutting these programs can only hurt us in the long run. As the Senate prepares to take up the Continuing Resolution, restoring $11 million to the budget of the Office of Citizenship should be a no brainer given that this relatively small investment in the potential of aspiring Americans can pay huge dividends for the United States. Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
