Immigration reform is the #1 (non-fiscal) legislative priority this year, and everyone’s getting onboard–including business interests and the Chamber of Commerce. From the Associated Press today: The president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says the organization is joining forces with labor, faith organizations, law enforcement and ethnic groups to push for comprehensive immigration reform.… Continue »
Mississippi, well-aware of how HB 56 in Alabama turned out, is wary of proceeding with its own anti-immigrant bills. Texas is backing away from last year’s push to crack down on immigrants. Even Georgia is seeking to make changes to its current legislation. Kansas, however, it seems is another matter. The home state of Kris… Continue »
January 9, 2013
A Migration Policy Institute report on the expansion of immigration enforcement has received much attention this week, with its findings that the government spends more on immigration enforcement than on all other federal law enforcement combined, and that it has spent $187 billion on immigration enforcement since 1986 (the last time comprehensive immigration law was… Continue »
January 9, 2013
The Illinois General Assembly passed a bill yesterday that will grant temporary drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants, moving the bill to the desk of Gov. Pat Quinn (D-IL) who plans to sign it into law. The legislation passed due to the tireless work of advocates like the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), the support… Continue »
Two new studies on immigration enforcement show that the border first/border only immigration policy is not enough. After spending more on immigration enforcement than all other federal law enforcement agencies combined, and achieving record levels of enforcement, the immigration system remains broken. The missing piece—and the centerpiece of the reform we need to see in… Continue »
BREAKING: The Illinois State House has just passed the state’s immigrant driver’s licenses bill, 65-46. Today is the last day of the legislative session and the last chance to pass the bill in the current term. The bill, which has already been passed by the Senate, now goes to Governor Pat Quinn, who has already said… Continue »
Young students coming together to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day—a national holiday set aside to recognize freedom, equality, democracy, and activism—usually, are applauded and encouraged. Not so in the case of conservative shock jock Mark Belling and the Racine Unified School District (RUSD) versus a Wisconsin youth group called Youth Empowered in the Struggle… Continue »
As momentum grows for a real debate on immigration reform with a path to citizenship, we expect the usual suspects (mostly Republicans) to adhere to their worn out “border security first” talking point as a way to thwart progress. Today, the Migration Policy Institute is releasing a new report, Immigration Enforcement in the United States: The… Continue »
Vice President Joe Biden appeared at a ceremonial swearing-in for Latino lawmakers sponsored by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute yesterday, and used the opportunity to express his confidence that immigration reform could and would pass through Congress. “It’s your time,” he told the audience of Latino elected officials, according to ABC News. In Biden’s other… Continue »
Immigration reform is next on the national agenda in 2013. In the video below, Comcast NewsMakers with Robert Traynham speaks with Rep. Mario Diaz Balart (R-FL) about the prospects for real immigration reform in the 2013 Congress. Watch: As Diaz-Balart says, there is both a “window of opportunity—in the first year of the next Congress” and “enough… Continue »
