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Our Jobs, Our Lives

Published on Fri, Mar 05, 2010

On Thursday, March 4, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) expressed confidence that the so-called jobs bill will be passed as early as next week. A tweaked version of the Senate measure has already passed the House. This latest attempt to address the economy which has been hailed as a rare bipartisan effort, is a welcome development, especially in places like Los Angeles, where double-digit unemployment has contributed to the city's worsening budget problems.

Published in the The Huffington Post

Arizona Immigration Law Critics Split On Court Ruling

Published on Mon, Jun 25, 2012

American Immigration Council director Ben Johnson was quoted in an article discussing reactions to the SB 1070 ruling:

Benjamin Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Council, said it "makes clear that the federal government — and only the federal government — has the power and authority to set the nation's immigration policies."

IPC staff lawyer Ben Winograd was also quoted in the article:

"The fact that Kennedy wrote the majority opinion is itself kind of a firewall," said Ben Winograd, an attorney with the American Immigration Council. Kennedy is widely recognized as the court's key swing vote.

Published in the Investor's Business Daily

Steve King: Immigrants Aren’t ‘Real Americans If They Love Taxes’

Published on Fri, Apr 16, 2010

This week, crowds of peaceful immigration reform supporters gathered outside post offices in several cities bearing signs with slogans stating “We Love Taxes!” and “Viva Taxes!” in an effort to demonstrate that there are millions of undocumented immigrants who are eager for a chance to be brought into American civil society and pay taxes as part of their civic duty. Advocates also submitted thousands of blank tax forms to federal lawmakers that could’ve been filled out to by undocumented immigrants who have the capacity to generate billions in tax revenue.

Published in the Think Progress

Roberto G. Gonzales Ph.D.

Roberto G. Gonzales Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at the University Of Washington School Of Social Work. He earned his Ph.D. in the department of sociology at the University of California. His research focuses on the ways in which legal and educational institutions shape the everyday experiences and the transitions to adulthood of poor, minority, and immigrant youth. Current projects include a four and a half year study of undocumented immigrant young adults in Los Angeles, a companion study in Seattle, and comparative projects on immigrant youth in the U.S. and Europe. Gonzales is the author of When Do Papers Matter? An Institutional Analysis of Undocumented Life in the United States (forthcoming), Young Lives on Hold: The College Dreams of Undocumented Students and Why Integration Matters: Undocumented Immigrant Youth and Making a Case for Moving Beyond Enforcement and his work appears in numerous publications.

Supreme Court Injects Reason into Immigration Felony Definition

Released on Tue, Jun 15, 2010

On June 14, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court voted unanimously in Carachuri-Rosendo v. Holder that a lawful permanent resident who is convicted of minor drug possession offenses does not warrant classification as having been convicted of an "aggravated felony." As a result, the Court held that Mr. Carachuri-Rosendo cannot be deported without an opportunity to make a case for why he should be allowed to remain in the United States. Please view the press release directly below, and you can also read about this case on our Supreme Court Update page.

View Release

DHS Announces Application Process for Deferred Action, IPC Provides Data on Where Eligible Individuals Reside

Released on Fri, Aug 03, 2012

August 3, 2012

Washington D.C. - Today, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released important details about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) process, which will temporarily allow some eligible youth to go to school and work without fear of deportation. A recent Immigration Policy Center (IPC) report, Who and Where the DREAMers Are: A Demographic Profile of Immigrants Who Might Benefit from the Obama Administration’s Deferred Action Initiative, provides the most detailed look to date at who is likely to benefit from the new program and where they are located in the country.

The IPC estimates that roughly 936,930 undocumented youth between the ages of 15 and 30 might immediately qualify to apply for the new program. The new report breaks down the deferred action-eligible population by nationality and age at the national and state level, as well as by congressional district.

Because potential applicants reside in all states and every congressional district, today’s announcement clarifying the application process sets the stage for an intense period of preparation around the country, as communities wait for the request form to be released on August 15. The DACA program is designed for young people who are under the age of 31; entered the United States before age 16; have resided in the country for at least five years as of June 15, 2012; have not been convicted of a felony, a “significant” misdemeanor, or three other misdemeanors; and are currently in school, graduated from high school, earned a GED, or served in the military.

Among the key points shared by USCIS:
Read more...

View Release

Brown Vetoes Limits on Law Enforcement Cooperation with Immigration Authorities

Published on Mon, Oct 01, 2012

IPC's own Michele Waslin was quoted in yesterday's KQED article about the vetoed California bill that would have limited local law enforcement's ability to work with federal immigration authorities: 

“The problem with [Secure Communities] is that the research that’s been done so far has shown that a lot of the people that are being held under these detainers, the people that are being identified by ICE, are not serious criminals, violent criminals,” said Michele Waslin of the Immigration Policy Center, a research and analysis group based in Washington, D.C.

 

Published in the KQED News

Nebraska Town: Is Illegal Immigration Crackdown Worth The Cost?

Published on Tue, Jul 27, 2010

Others say the Fremont City Council is right to look at the costs associated with enacting any kind of legislation.

“Good public policy involves weighing all the costs and benefits of enacting legislation," says Mary Giovagnoli of the American Immigration Council's Immigration Policy Center. "While Fremont may be motivated in this case to suspend the law because of the fear of litigation costs, there are numerous other costs to consider," she says, "including the loss of revenue to the town when people leave, stop supporting local businesses and paying taxes, as well as the psychological impact when a town goes down the road of driving people away."

Published in the Christian Science Monitor

IPC's Mary Giovagnoli in Mother Jones

Published on Tue, Jan 15, 2013

The Director of the Immigration Policy Center, Mary Giovagnoli, was quoted in this recent Mother Jones article on Marco Rubio's immigration plan:

"Rising conservative star and tea party favorite Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is "riding to the immigration rescue," according to the Wall Street Journal editorial page. While a bipartisan group of senators is at work on a comprehensive immigration reform proposal, Rubio is touting ideas of his own, which Journal editorial writer Matthew Kaminski says will seek to "triangulate, if you will—the liberal fringe that seeks broad amnesty for illegal immigrants and the hard right's obsession with closing the door.""

Published in the Mother Jones

New Government Regulations for J-1 Programs

Final regulations for the J-1 Trainee and Intern programs will take affect on September 10, 2010.

New regulations clarify the eligibility requirements for J-1 trainees, interns, and host organizations. Additional changes include:

  1. Elimination of the requirement that sponsors secure a Dun & Bradstreet report on all host companies.
  2. Clarification that social work falling under Public Administration and Social Service Professions is allowed; clinical social work is not allowed.
  3. Clarification that telephone interviews are appropriate when video conferencing is not available for the purpose of screening English language proficiency.

Final regulations are posted here.