NDN Blog

Daily Border Bulletin is up! Today's stories include:

Pew: Undocumented immigration remains low- There are about 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States, a figure that has remained relatively constant over the last two years, according to the latest estimates released Thursday by the Pew Hispanic Center.

White House appeals to Latinos on fiscal cliff- The White House is taking its “fiscal cliff” fight with Republicans directly to the group that helped put President Obama in office for a second term – Latinos.

Summit works to combat hunger among Latino youth- According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 16.7 million children under 18 in the United States live in households where they are unable to consistently access enough nutritious food necessary for a healthy life.

Daily Border Bulletin is up! Today's stories include:

Republicans' immigration bill blocked by Senate Democrats- According to the New York Times blog, Democrats in the Senate on Wednesday blocked consideration of a bill Republicans passed last week in the House of Representatives.

Marco Rubio: Good chance that immigration reform will pass- Florida Sen. Marco Rubio believes there is a good chance that immigration reform laws that include a path to citizenship will be enacted by the end of President Barack Obama’s second term.

Mexican Supreme Court rules for marriage equality- In a unanimous ruling Wednesday, the Supreme Court of Mexico has paved the way for same-sex couples to marry in every one of the country’s 31 states before the U.S. has federal marriage equality.

Daily Border Bulletin is up! Today's stories include:

Bush calls for benevolent spirit in immigration debate- As the U.S. debates immigration policy, former President George W. Bush says it should “do so with a benevolent spirit and keep in mind the contribution of immigrants."

CA Attorney General: Secure Communities is optional- California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris told local law enforcement agencies Tuesday that they were not obligated to comply with a federal program whose stated goal is to deport illegal immigrants convicted of serious crimes.

US transport companies cash in on Mexico trade boom- U.S. rail and trucking companies are making big investments on both sides of the border with Mexico to capitalize on booming trade between the two countries.

Daily Border Bulletin is up! Today's stories include:

Peter Wallsten: Pro-immigration conservative activists plan strategy- On Tuesday, more than 250 activists plan to come to Washington for a debut of sorts, hosting a news conference and strategy session before heading to Capitol Hill for meetings with key lawmakers.

Romney campaign manager regrets immigration stance- Mitt Romney and his team are not eager to dwell on regrets. But his campaign manager now says that the forceful posture taken against immigration in the Republican primary inflicted lingering damage with Latino voters in the general election.

Hispanic megadonors unite, focus on CIR- President Barack Obama won reelection with overwhelming support from Hispanics — and now Latino megadonors aligned with the White House are trying to mobilize that community behind his second-term agenda.

Daily Border Bulletin is up! Today's stories include:

Rep. Xavier Becerra elected as Democratic Caucus Chairman- Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-California) has been elected as Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, and will be the only Latino among the Democratic party’s Congressional leadership.

Brewer sued over license policy for DACA recipients- Immigrant rights advocates filed a lawsuit Thursday that seeks to overturn Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s order denying driver’s licenses for young immigrants who have gotten work permits and avoided deportation under a new Obama administration policy.

Study confirms faults with 287(g) immigration program- The Immigration Policy Center on Thursday published a study confirming faults with the 287(g) immigration program at a time when the government is subjecting it to review.

Daily Border Bulletin is up! Today's stories include:

Latino groups’ grassroots efforts paid off on Nov. 6- On Election Day, President Obama got 71 percent of the Latino vote nationally because, in the end, Latinos preferred his message over Mitt Romney’s. But, in the end, how they got that message proved equally important.

Dreamers reject Republicans’ Achieve Act- Dreamers are rejecting an alternate version of the DREAM Act, dubbed the Achieve Act, that was introduced Tuesday by Republican senators and would give a legal status to undocumented youth who entered the United States as children.

Bipartisan group proposes larger immigration reforms- Even as Republicans in the House and Senate begin efforts to pass narrow immigration bills in the lame-duck session, closed-door negotiations have begun over how to accomplish a much broader package of immigration reforms next year.

Daily Border Bulletin is up! Today's stories include:

Republican senators introduce alternative DREAM Act bill- A group of Senate Republicans on Tuesday formally rolled out DREAM Act-style legislation that would allow certain undocumented youth to eventually gain legal status.

Pena Nieto’s visit explore new possibilities for U.S.-Mexico relationship- On Tuesday, Mexico’s president-elect, Enrique Peña Nieto,  met with President Obama on Tuesday in an attempt to shift relations with the United States toward improving the economy and loosening up trade.

The rise of Mexico- Last week, the Economist published an article on “The Rise of Mexico” in anticipation of Mexican President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto’s visit to DC.

Daily Border Bulletin is up! Today's stories include:

GOP to vote this week on STEM immigration bill- In an attempt to beat Democrats to the punch on the first post-election immigration bill, House Republicans have scheduled a vote later this week on a proposal to grant green cards to foreigners who earn high-tech doctoral degrees from U.S. universities.

Peña Nieto’s visit likely to focus on trade, economy- According to the Texas Tribune, a former U.S, ambassador to Mexico has stated that Mexico’s commitment to security and its strong symbiotic economic ties with the United States will  be key talking points when the country’s next leader visits the White House on Tuesday.

Michigan's denial of driver's license to DACA recipients may hurt state- Michigan’s Secretary of State Ruth Johnson’s recent decision to deny driver’s licenses to those with deferred deportation status will greatly detriment the state, according to immigration experts.

Daily Border Bulletin is up! Today's stories include:

Massachusetts to offer in-state tuition to DACA immigrants- Undocumented immigrants who qualify for deferred deportation will get tuition breaks at public colleges and universities in Massachusetts, thanks to Governor Deval Patrick’s order.

The economic impact of immigration reform- In an article published Monday, Univision Immigration Editor Ted Hesson examines the potential economic impact of immigration reform by looking at two reports from respected researchers — one often cited by reform advocates and another cited by immigration restrictionists.

Op-ed: NAFTA has fueled job growth- In an opinion piece published Monday, Chairman of the Board of the Asociación de Empresarios Mexicanos Eduardo Bravo details the positive impact NAFTA has had on U.S. job growth.

On Friday, November 16th, NDN and the New Policy Institute were proud to host our latest “Rethinking Immigration Reform” event.

Since John McCain and Ted Kennedy built the framework for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) in 2005, the policy and political landscape has changed a great deal. CIR is often conceptualized as a three pronged approach to fixing our immigration system, focusing on enforcement, future flow, and how to create a pathway to citizenship for the 11.1 million people living in the U.S. without documentation.

Achievements in border enforcement may be seen in the high level of safety in the southwest border region and in the fact that undocumented migration has fallen to nearly zero. Although President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program has ameliorated the circumstance of many young undocumented immigrants, the areas of future flow and the fate of the rest of the 11 million migrants living in the U.S. have yet to be resolved.

This past summer, NDN/NPI launched a series of events called “Rethinking Immigration Reform,” to examine the evolving immigration reform landscape and the opportunities and challenges ahead. The latest event in this series featured a bi-partisan panel, and looked at means of reforming and improving low- and high-skilled immigration visa programs.

Tamar Jacoby, President and CEO of ImmigrationWorks, moderated a lively discussion featuring Alex Nowraseth, Immigration Policy Analyst of the Cato Institute; Josh Bernstein, Director of Immigration Policy at SEIU; and Jeremy Robbins, Policy Director and Special Counsel in the Office of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Director of the Partnership for a New American Economy.

Nowraseth discussed the economic benefits of low-skilled visa reform, and the ways in which an improved system could facilitate a free labor market that will benefit immigrants and employers alike. Bernstein talked about the human rights issues inherent in our current black market labor system, and expressed his faith in the pragmatism of business and labor to overcome potential disagreements on visa reform. Robbins added to the conversation with comments on the high-skilled visa system, and called upon legislators to act upon campaign promises rather than using immigration solely as a “political football.”

Jacoby and the panelists expressed hopes that improving low- and high-skilled visa programs could move in Congress next year. Such reforms are integral to granting greater protection and legal status to undocumented workers, who have already contributed greatly to the growth of our economy’s low-skilled service sector. Moreover, legalizing our low-skilled economic base will allow for worker portability, enabling migrant workers with much-needed skill sets to fill vacant jobs. High-skilled visa reform, while less controversial, is equally important to maintaining our nation’s entrepreneurial and innovative capacity, particularly in STEM fields that many aspiring immigrants specialize in.

For background information on NDN's work in this space please make sure to check out NPI Fellow Rob Shapiro's outstanding report, "The Impact of Immigration and Immigration Reform on the Wages of American Workers." Also be sure to check out our website 21border.com for news and analysis from our team.