Just the Facts

Immigration Fact Checks provide up-to-date information on the most current issues involving immigration today.

African Immigrants in America: A Demographic Overview

Immigrants from Africa constitute a highly diverse and rapidly growing group in the United States. As Census data demonstrate, the African foreign-born population doubled in size between 2000 and 2010. Nearly half of African immigrants are naturalized U.S. citizens, and seven-in-ten speak only English or speak it “very well.” Just under three-quarters of African immigrants are black, while roughly one-fifth are white. The largest numbers of African immigrants are found in California, New York, Texas, Maryland, and Virginia. The top countries of origin for African immigrants are Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Ghana, and Kenya. Two-fifths of African immigrants have at least a bachelor’s degree, and more than one-third work in professional jobs. Read more...

Published On: Thu, Jun 28, 2012 | Download File

Economic Benefits of Granting Deferred Action to Unauthorized Immigrants Brought to U.S. as Youth

There are an estimated 1.4 million children and young adults in the United States who might benefit from President Obama’s announcement that the Department of Homeland Security would begin granting deferred action (and Employment Authorization Documents) to unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the United States as minors. For many of these young people, the United States is the only home they know and English is their first language. Each year, tens of thousands of them graduate from primary or secondary school, often at the top of their classes. They have the potential to be future doctors, nurses, teachers, and entrepreneurs, but their lack of legal status has prevented them from attending college or working legally. The President’s deferred action initiative will provide an opportunity for them to live up to their full potential and, in the process, make greater contributions to the U.S. economy. Read more...

Published On: Fri, Jun 22, 2012 | Download File

Strength in Diversity: The Economic and Political Power of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians

The Political and Economic Power of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in the United States (Updated January 2012)

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Download the Fact Sheet (2010 Census Data)

Download the Previous Fact Sheet (2008 Census Data)

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Published On: Tue, Jun 19, 2012

Public Education for Immigrant Students: States Challenge Supreme Court’s Decision in Plyler v. Doe

In June 1972, the Supreme Court issued Plyler v. Doe, a landmark decision holding that states cannot constitutionally deny students a free public education on account of their immigration status. By a 5-4 vote, the Court found that any resources which might be saved from excluding undocumented children from public schools were far outweighed by the harms imposed on society at large from denying them an education. Read more...

Published On: Fri, Jun 15, 2012 | Download File

Fatally Flawed: FAIR Blames Immigrants and Children for Maryland’s Financial Problems

In a case of very creative accounting, the nativist Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is blaming immigrants and children for Maryland’s fiscal woes. In a new report, FAIR lumps together unauthorized K-12 immigrant students with U.S.-born students who have unauthorized parents and claims that they are all costing Maryland taxpayers astronomical sums in educational expenditures. However, the report, entitled The Cost of Illegal Immigration to Marylanders, suffers from several fatal flaws. Read more...

Published On: Tue, Jun 12, 2012 | Download File

Prosecutorial Discretion: A Statistical Analysis

In August 2011, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it would review more than 300,000 pending removal proceedings to identify low-priority cases meriting favorable exercises of prosecutorial discretion. The initiative was officially launched in November 2011 and is expected to continue for much of 2012. To date, DHS has released statistics on three occasions measuring the progress of the initiative. This fact sheet provides background information about the case-by-case review process and a statistical assessment of those figures. Read more...

Published On: Mon, Jun 11, 2012 | Download File

A Comparison of the DREAM Act and Other Proposals for Undocumented Youth

Each year, approximately 65,000 undocumented students graduate from American high schools. While many hope to pursue higher education, join the military, or enter the workforce, their lack of legal status places those dreams in jeopardy and exposes them to deportation. Over the last decade, there has been growing bipartisan consensus that Congress should provide legal immigration status for young adults who came to the country as children and graduated from American high schools. Read more...

Published On: Tue, Jun 05, 2012 | Download File

Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Provides Protections for Immigrant Women and Victims of Crime

With approximately 19 million immigrant women and girls in the United States, nearly half of the foreign-born population is female. Unfortunately, many of these immigrant women, particularly those who are unauthorized, are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Immigrant women are more likely to experience exploitation while entering the country, while working, and even within their homes. For these and other reasons, federal law provides numerous forms of protection for immigrant women. This fact sheet provides basic information about three of the these forms of protections: “U” visas for victims of crime, “T” visas for victims of severe forms of trafficking, and “self-petitioning” under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Read more...

Published On: Mon, May 07, 2012 | Download File

The Border: A Resource Page

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Published On: Fri, May 04, 2012

Asians in America: A Demographic Overview

Asians in the United States are a highly diverse group that is growing fast not only in size, but in political and economic power as well. As data from the 2010 Census and other sources demonstrate, Asians comprise the fastest growing race group in the country. Two-thirds of all Asians are immigrants, the majority of whom have put down firm roots in this country. Nearly three-fifths of foreign-born Asians are naturalized U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote, and over half speak English “very well” or better. Asians as a whole (both foreign-born and native-born) are sizeable shares of the population and electorate in Hawaii and California, although their numbers are growing most rapidly in Nevada and Arizona. Of the major Asian groups, the Chinese population is the largest in size, but the number of Asian Indians is increasing the fastest. Asians tend to be well-educated, to work in professional jobs, and to own their own homes. They also wield significant economic clout. Asian businesses and consumers sustain millions of jobs and add hundreds of billions of dollars in value to the U.S. economy. Read more...

Published On: Thu, Apr 26, 2012 | Download File