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Lots of Nothing
| So, I figured the president’s major address on immigration might reveal something important. I’m at Cub Scout camp out in western Virginia, but I had to go to the laundromat anyway, so I watched the stream of the address using their free wi-fi while the clothes spun and tumbled. And what was the news that came out of it? Nothing. Bupkes. Zilch. Read more... |
Gaming the Border: a Report from Cochise County, Arizona
| Also view our most recent video, "A Day in the Life of an Arizona Rancher: Border Fences, Illegal Aliens, and One Man’s Watchtower" Read more... |
The Politics and Practicalities of Exit Controls: Report from a Center for Immigration Studies Symposium
| Download a pdf version of this Memorandum The 9/11 Commission recommended a biometric screening system for foreign visitors, upon both entry to, and exit from, the United States. Read more... |
A Gift to the Drug Cartels: Will New Mexico Become the New Arizona?
| [NOTE: In some versions of the press release, there is a reference to 125 miles of New Mexico border. That is incorrect; the release should refer to 25 miles.] The border area between New Mexico and Mexico is sparsely populated and has limited natural or man made barriers to illegal crossing. This, coupled with an extensive road network that traverses the state in all directions, makes New Mexico a haven for the transshipment of illegal drugs from Mexico to destination points throughout the United States. Read more... |
Census: Population Up 27 Million in Just 10 Years
| Contact: Steven A. Camarota, sac@cis.org, (202)466-8185 Read more... |
Reining in Zadvydas v. Davis
| Download a pdf of this Memorandum Jon Feere is the Legal Policy Analyst at the Center for Immigration Studies. Read more... |
Is There a Shortage of Skilled Foreign Workers?
| Download a pdf of this Backgrounder David North is a CIS fellow who has studied the interaction of immigration and U.S. labor markets for more than 30 years. There have been numerous recent proposals to increase the admission of skilled workers from abroad. This paper examines some of the issues surrounding the question of skilled immigration. The findings include: Read more... |
White House Embraces Administrative Amnesty After Failing to Get Congress on Board
| GWEN IFILL: Cecilia Munoz, of National Council of La Raza, you heard President Fox speak today in Milwaukee. Why is the idea of legalizing illegal immigrants who are already living here making their status legal, why is that a good idea? Read more... |
Ever Heard of Stratford University? DHS Loves its Foreign Graduates
| Have you ever heard of Stratford University? Or the University of Bridgeport? Well, you should have, because their students are the most numerous and second most numerous in a government subsidy program that is supposed to bring the world's "best and brightest" to our shores. Read more... |
California Limits E-Verify, Supports Illegal Hiring Practices
| 20 Municipalities Forced to Drop E-Verify Laws Read more... |
Stapling Green Cards to Diplomas, and Other Foolish Ideas You Might Have Missed in the GOP Debate
| Another debate, and another disappointing night for the Republicans on the immigration front. We've seen a total of 11 GOP debates to date, and I've yet to hear a candidate demonstrate a deep understanding of our immigration problem. The electorate is crying out for serious reform but all of the GOP hopefuls seem to offer little more than clichés and pandering. Read more... |
Secure Communities by the Numbers, Revisited (Part 1 of 3)
| Download a pdf of this Memorandum Read Part 2 Read Part 3 W.D. Reasoner (a pseudonym) is a retired government employee with many years of experience in immigration administration, law enforcement, and national security matters. Jessica M. Vaughan is Director of Policy Studies at CIS. Summary Read more... |
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Congress Acting Dumb
| The Washington Post documents Rep. Tim Griffin's (R-Ark) difficultly in deciding on a name for a new bill to give green cards to aliens simply because they get graduate degrees in the U.S. He apparently started with the NERDS Act (New Employees for Research & Development and STEM) but settled on BRAIN Act (Bringing and Retaining Accomplished Innovators for the Nation). Read more... |
Worrying About the Wrong Citizens
| Opponents of Secure Communities have opened up a new front in their campaign to have the program ended. The new rallying cry against SC is that it is leading to the wrongful arrest of some unknown but deeply disturbing number of U.S. citizens. It all started with the release of a deeply flawed study from a group of anti-SC activists, which I've written about with my colleague W.D. Reasoner. Read more... |
Secure Communities by the Numbers, Revisited (Part 2 of 3)
| Download a pdf of this Memorandum Read Part 1 Read Part 3 Jessica M. Vaughan is Director of Policy Studies at CIS. W.D. Reasoner (a pseudonym) is a retired government employee with many years of experience in immigration administration, law enforcement, and national security matters. Read more... |
Panel Transcript: Summer Work Travel Program
| Related Publications: Report, Panel Video Moderator: Mark KrikorianExecutive Director, Center for Immigration Studies Speakers: Jerry KammerSenior Research Fellow, Center for Immigration Studies Sarah Ann SmithFormer State Department Foreign Service Officer Jeff CollinsVice President, Crystal Aquatics Read more... |
Massachusetts Senate Attempts to Stop Illegal Alien Access to Driver's Licenses
| According to an article in the Boston Globe, the Massachusetts Senate seems to be locking horns again with the state's traditionally more liberal House over illegal immigration. The House for years has leaned toward supporting illegal immigration, and the state has not complied with federal driver's license standards or required verification that people are authorized to work. Read more... |
USCIS Opens New EB-5 Entity AND Predicts Sharp Decline in Applications
| USCIS has nearly simultaneously announced, with great fanfare, the creation of a new office to handle immigrant investor (EB-5) applications and (a little more obscurely) has predicted a sharp decline in one of the three basic applications used in that program. Read more... |
The Migrant's Prerogative
| Peter Sutherland, the UN's Special Representative for Migration and Development, recently argued that "at the most basic level individuals should have a freedom of choice" as to where they wish to live. To this end, he wants the European Union to "do its best to undermine" the sense of homogeneity held by the citizens of its member states so that a global approach will be adopted on immigration. Read more... |
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DACA Eligibility Widens Again, Mayorkas Confirms
| The definition of just who is eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) amnesty was opened a little more broadly yesterday by USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas during a stakeholders' teleconference. This is the program of delayed (perhaps forever) deportations for aliens who arrived illegally in the States prior to their 16th birthdays and who meet other criteria. Read more... |
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AAO Records Show that Amnesty Is Forever — or at Least 29 Years
| A close look at the records of an obscure immigration-control agency suggest that the current Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) amnesty created (seemingly out of whole cloth) by the White House will be neither relatively brief nor without appeals, as currently promised. Read more... |
Projecting the 2012 Hispanic Vote
| Using Census Bureau data, this report projects the share of Hispanic voters nationally and in battleground states for the upcoming 2012 election. Based on past trends, including growth in the adult Hispanic citizen population, we project that the Hispanic share of the nation's electorate will increase by 1.5 percentage points, from 7.4 percent in 2008 to 8.9 percent in the 2012 election. Read more... |
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The Career of Vernon Briggs, Jr.
| Cornell University labor economist Vernon Briggs has made a progressive case for immigration reform in the broad national interest, he has demonstrated an encyclopedic knowledge of immigration history and a sophisticated understanding of the dynamics of labor markets. As liberal Democrat, he has been energized by a passion for defending the interests of American workers. Read more... |
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Law Profs: Obama's Deferred Action Not Supported by Constitution
| A new paper by John Yoo (UC Berkeley School of Law) and Robert J. Delahunty (University of St. Thomas School of Law, Minnesota) raises many questions about President Obama's decision to grant legal status to nearly two million illegal aliens under deferred action and concludes that the president's act "threatens to vest the executive branch with broad domestic policy authority that the Constitution does not grant it." If taken to its logical conclusion, President Obama's lawless action has the power to undermine the entirety of immigration law, while expanding the presidential power in all domestic policy areas. Read more... |
What Are They Thinking?
| It takes little effort to notice and to conclude that the Roman Catholic Church has, in the past few years, intensified its lobbying on behalf of immigrants and thus has intensified its lobbying on behalf of "comprehensive immigration reform". Indeed, it can be argued that "comprehensive immigration reform", as envisioned by the Church and by those who stand in agreement with her, is designed primarily to benefit immigrants, especially illegal immigrants, more than it is designed to benefit the current national population. Read more... |