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Daily Border Bulletin: Simon Op-Ed Administration’s Border Strategy Is Working, Cornyn Amendment, Border Apprehensions Up

Your Daily Border Bulletin is up:

Simon Op-Ed in Huffington Post: "The Administration's Border Strategy Is Working" Ahead of next week’s Senate floor debate on immigration reform, NDN and New Policy Institute President Simon Rosenberg published a timely op-ed in The Huffington Post today in which he addresses ongoing questions about border security strategy.

Breaking: Cornyn Presents Solution for Gang of Eight Action is heating up as next week’s Senate floor debate on immigration reform fast approaches. Supported by Gang of Eight member Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), Senator John Cornyn (R-Tex.) announced today that he would be offering an amendment entitled the RESULTS (Requiring Enforcement, Security and Safety, & Upgrading Legitimate Trade and Travel Simultaneously) Amendment. Cornyn says he wants to solve the problem of border security, and if the amendment passes, he will support the Gang of Eight bill.

Border Apprehensions Up Again. Big Blow to Immigration Reform Efforts? Recent CBP data shows an uptick in apprehensions at the border in the last year, though they remain at historic lows, evidencing progress made on both sides of the border in the last decade. While the US has increased its border security, Mexico has continued to modernize and improve its economy. 

Simon Op-Ed in Huffington Post: "The Administration's Border Strategy Is Working"

Simon published a timely op-ed in The Huffington Post today.

"As immigration reform moves to the Senate floor, Senator Marco Rubio has raised new questions about whether the border security strategy in the current Senate bill can be effectively executed by the Obama and future administrations. The experience of the past several years indicates that DHS can, in fact, despite rancorous politics, manage the complex border region and improve the immigration system. Let's review how:

The Border Is Safer, While Trade Has With Mexico Has Exploded -- Despite a very real rise of violence on the Mexican side of the border, the situation on the US side of the border has improved dramatically in recent years. Due to a bi-partisan commitment in recent years to improve security, violent crime on the U.S. side of the border has dropped precipitously, from 19,000 violent crimes in 2004 to just 14,000 today. Major border cities like San Diego and El Paso have violent crime rates just a third of what they were a decade ago. With the increase in border security and improvements in the Mexican economy, total immigration from Mexico to the U.S. decreased from 770,000 in 2000 to 140,000 in 2010, resulting in a current net migration of zero.

Additionally, while we have toughened up on the border, trade between the U.S. and Mexico has exploded, increasing from $300b in 2009 to $536b in 2012. During this time Mexico has become the U.S.'s second largest export market, and third largest overall trading partner. Because of this trade boom, 70 percent of which flows over the 47 U.S.-Mexico border crossings, we now trade more with Mexico than we do with the UK, Japan and Germany combined, and Mexico now buys twice as much from the U.S. than China's billion-plus people do.

It is important to note that the successful management of these complex challenges has been led by a deeply experienced veteran of the region, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, a former border state governor, state attorney general and native of the region. Her experience has allowed her to put together a team, and a strategy, which have made our border much safer while also allowing an enormous increase in border trade flows, something which has created many new jobs in recent years on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border.

The Immigration System Is Better -- In the past few years, while Congress has debated immigration reform, the administration did not stand still. It has taken a series of steps to improve the current immigration system. Actions like the prioritization of criminal migrants for deportation (while maintaining higher levels of deportation than ever before), a significant expansion and improvement in the nation's worker verification system, the replacement of large work place raids with the much more targeted and effective I-9 audits to go after exploitive employers, and the limited legalization of DREAM-act eligible youth, together have all made the immigration system better today.

The Senate Bill Makes Smart Moves Towards Making All This Better Still -- Building on this track record, the border and immigration bill passed by the Senate would make additional improvements in border safety and in the immigration system. Border enforcement would receive billions in additional dollars in the coming years, giving DHS the resources it needs to hit the new target of 90 percent apprehension rates of undocumented migrants along the border. Our nation's worker verification system would become universal, and a new and more comprehensive method of tracking the exit of people temporarily in the U.S. would be adopted. The legal immigration system would become much more focused on skilled workers, which will give a very real boost to U.S. productivity. We would of course offer legalization to millions of undocumented immigrants, with a clear path to citizenship. And critical investments in our ports of entry and an increase in U.S. customs agents will expand U.S.-Mexico trade while allowing for more tourists to visit the U.S. each year -- investments that will lead to the creation of hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the US in the coming years.

The concerns voiced in recent days about the ability of the federal government to effectively manage the immigration system, while legitimate, need to be tempered by both the very real progress made in recent years, and the intelligence of the current Senate bill. It has clear that with better strategies, more money and greater cooperation with our Mexican partner, the U.S. government has made the border safer, the immigration system better while also facilitating an enormous expansion of our trade and commercial relationship with Mexico, creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs here in the U.S. By any measure the U.S. government's policy towards the border in recent years has been successful, and with the passage of the well-crafted and thoughtful Senate bill, the border can become safer still. Doing nothing would of course guarantee that the U.S.-Mexican border does not take the next steps in bringing about a safer border region, and would be tantamount to a vote for less rather than more border security."

Read the complete article

Also see: Simons Power Point Presentation: "How Improvements Along the Border, In Our Immigration System and In Mexico Are Impacting the National Immigration Debate"

NDN and NPI 21st Century Border Initiative Report: “Realizing the Strategic National Value of our Trade, Tourism and Ports of Entry with Mexico”

Simon's Statement on the Passage of the Border/Immigration Bill out of the Judiciary Committee

The Monitor: "Mexican Trade — and Tourists — Are Boon for U.S. Businesses"

The Brownsville Herald: "Mexico Trade, Tourism a Boon"

Valley Morning Star: "Mexican Trade, Tourists Are Boon for U.S. Businesses"

Daily Border Bulletin: IR to Improve Economic Productivity, Economic Effects of Legalization, Border Bridge Stalls US-Mex Plan

Your Daily Border Bulletin is up:

Immigration Reform Would Improve Economic Productivity A report from the Fiscal Policy Institute shows that legalizing undocumented immigrants, while enforcing labor standards and providing for future legal immigration, would increase economic productivity in New York State and the entire US. Immigration reform with legalization would remove barriers to advancement for currently undocumented immigrants, level the playing field for businesses and workers, and better align taxes, social services, and social insurance. As David Dyssegaard Kallick, Director of the Fiscal Policy Institute’s Immigration Research Initiative, said, “Immigration reform, done right, would be good for immigrants, but it would also be good for all Americans.” 

The Economic Effects of Granting Legal Status and Citizenship to Undocumented Immigrants This Center for American Progress report analyzes the potential economic boon of granting legal status and citizenship to undocumented immigrants. “Legal status and a road map to citizenship for the unauthorized will bring about significant economic gains in terms of growth, earnings, tax revenues, and jobs—all of which will not occur in the absence of immigration reform or with reform that creates a permanent sub-citizen class of residents.” Also important as immigration reform legislation makes its way through Congress, the study concludes that the sooner legal status is provided, the greater the economic gain for the nation.

Border Bridge Stalls U.S., Mexico Border Plan Proponents of the construction of a new bridge over the Rio Grande see the potential for long-term economic growth through the more efficient transportation of people and goods across the border as well as potential industrial development in an area covered with struggling farms. The new port of entry located near Ciudad Juarez and El Paso is designed to alleviate the long lines for crossing from Ciudad Juarez, a huge manufacturing center. However, since the groundbreaking two years ago, construction on the Mexico side has stalled and US counterparts are waiting for a reciprocal response to their progress.

 

Invite: Mon, June 10th - Immigration Reform: Bipartisanship's Improbable Poster Child

Washington is broken, you may have heard, a victim of scorched-earth partisanship.  Congress can't get anything done because its members have abandoned the art of the compromise, opting instead for a zero-sum politics that incentivizes gridlock, lest the other side get any credit for getting things done.

And yet... this year the Senate's bipartisan Gang of Eight has advanced an ambitious comprehensive immigration reform bill, never something to rank high on anyone's list of low-hanging fruit to jumpstart comity between the parties. Almost as ambitious as the particulars of the bill recently voted out of the Senate Judiciary committee are the particulars that Democrats and Republicans each left out to make the package palatable to the other side.

Join us at New America as a prominent Republican and Democratic supporter of immigration reform come together to discuss this exceptional outbreak of bipartisanship and what it will take to keep it alive as immigration reform moves beyond the Senate and into the House, and onto most Americans' radar screen.

PARTICIPANTS

Tamar Jacoby
Bernard L. Schwartz Fellow, New America Foundation
President and CEO, ImmigrationWorks USA

Simon Rosenberg
President and Founder, NDN

Moderator
Andrés Martinez
Vice President and Editorial Director, New America Foundation

EVENT TIME AND LOCATION

Monday, June 10, 2013 - 12:15pm - 1:30pm
New America Foundation
1899 L Street NW Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036
See map: Google Maps

Daily Border Bulletin: Immigration Hangs on Border Security, Schumer Says IR Will Pass by July 4, IR Bill's Tough Path in Senate

Your Daily Border Bulletin is up:

Immigration Reform Deal Hangs on Border Security The bipartisan Gang of Eight hopes to pass their immigration reform bill in the Senate with a supermajority of votes to force the House to take action on the legislation. However, Senate and House Republicans, including Gang of Eight member Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), are pushing back saying the bill needs to be stronger on border security. Referencing the recent Obama administration scandals, Rubio is advocating that Congress instead of DHS take charge of the border security plan.  

Schumer Predicts Immigration Reform Will Pass By July 4 Partisan opinions remain strongly opposed regarding the future of immigration reform in Congress. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) confidently asserted yesterday that the bill would pass the Senate by July 4 with enough of a majority to compel the House to take it up. However, many House Members remain determined to take their own step-by-step approach, if any, to immigration reform.

Immigration Bill Faces Tough Path in Full Senate The Senate, which returns from recess today, is expected to take up the immigration reform bill by next week in what could be a very difficult debate. The Gang of Eight is confident in their work, but the bill still faces mixed criticism that it is too strict on requirements for citizenship or not strict enough on border security, citizenship, and tax measures. "We can pass this out of the Senate," Flake said. "The question is, can we get enough votes to convince the House to vote."

Daily Border Bulletin: Border Delays Cost U.S. Billions, CFR Panel on Latin America, Business and Immigration

Your Daily Border Bulletin is up:

Border Delays Cost U.S. $7.8 Billion as Fence Is Focus Delays at border crossings are cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars as trade with Mexico has increased and needed updates to infrastructure at ports of entry has lagged behind. Christopher Wilson of the Wilson Institute expressed his concern: “In the context of the current immigration debate, we are very focused on what is going on between the ports of entry while this major issue, which is about security but also about jobs and the economy, is getting a lot less attention.”

The Presidential Inbox: Latin America Shannon K. O’Neil, Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, sat down with to talk about U.S. policy toward Latin America during a panel on May 29, 2013. Video of the event is available here.

Mary Meeker Highlights US Immigration Hypocrisy Support for immigration reform continues to be strong from the high tech and business startup sector.  Mary Meeker of Silicon Valley highlighted the enormous economic contributions made by immigrants and their families: first or second generation immigrants have founded 42% of Fortune 500 companies, creating 10 million US jobs and $4.5 trillion in annual revenue.

Daily Border Bulletin: Immigrants Contribute to Medicare, Graham: Immigration Reform Good for Economy, More

Your Daily Border Bulletin is up:

Immigrants Provide $115 Billion to U.S. Medicare Program Contradicting the classic anti-immigration argument that immigrants will overburden the U.S. healthcare system, a recent Harvard University study reported that over the last decade immigrants contributed more to the Medicare Trust Fund than they withdrew. “Immigrants generate a surplus for Medicare primarily because so many of them are working-age adults,” said the researchers.

Graham: Immigration Reform Will Be Good for the Economy Back in his home state of South Carolina, Senator Lindsey Graham argued that a “rational legal immigration system” would boost the U.S. economy by growing the workforce and allowing immigrants to make much-needed tax and social security contributions. He is optimistic and committed to the ongoing legislative process of immigration reform in the Senate.

Report: Focus on Border Security Overshadows Economic Benefits While discussing “The State of the Border Report” released Thursday, Congressman Grijalva and author Erik Lee commented that U.S. fear of the border and preoccupation with security preclude proper understanding of the economic opportunities there. “I think there’s a giant awareness gap (about) what kind of country Mexico is and what it means to have a good, or a better, relationship with Mexico,” said Erik Lee.

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