Fixing Our Broken Immigration System

Since 2007, NDN has a demonstrated commitment to achieving a sensible immigration system that reflects the needs of the 21st century. NDN began to fight for reform by investing in a Spanish-language radio and television media campaign designed to counter anti-immigrant campaigns.  In addition to reaching out to media outlets, NDN has regularly hosted forums with members of Congress to discuss proposals to fix our current broken immigration system. Through research and polling, conducted most recently among voters in Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and New Mexico, NDN has found that a majority of Americans support a legislative overhaul to fix the broken immigration system, as opposed to passing limited enforcement measures.  

Below, please find some past highlights of our work on immigration reform:

 

Blogs

NDN's Immigration Blog

2010 Highlights

Senator Robert Menendez's Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2010 Summary

NDN Statement on New Immigration Framework

Immigration Reform Enters a New Phase by Simon Rosenberg

Commentary on Arizona Bill by Alicia Menendez

2009 Highlights

Presentation: Making the Case for Passing Comprehensive Immigration Reform this Year

7 Reasons Why Congress Should Pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform this Year by Simon Rosenberg

Video: Simon Rosenberg makes his case on why congress should pass CIR

Event: Politics & Policy: What to Expect from the Immigration Debate

Video: NDN Forum on Immigration Reform

The Census and Immigration Reform by Simon Rosenberg

Senator Kennedy and CIR by Andres Ramirez

2007 - 2008 Highlights

Event: "Immigration Reform and the Next Administration" - at the DNC in Denver

Polling: Immigration Polling in battleground states

A Responsible Immigration Policy by Simon Rosenberg

Can Democrats Seize the Opportunity the Immigration Debate Offers Them? by Simon Rosenberg

Event: NDN Bicameral Event for CIR

 

NDN Unveils 21st Century Border Initiative YouTube Page

For months, members of the 21st Century Border Initiative have been busy cultivating a network of stakeholders throughout the Southwest and capturing their thoughts about the state of the U.S. - Mexican border region. Today we're proud to announce the release of a 21st Century Border Initiative YouTube page, a great portal for hearing directly from those in leadership positions – Mayors, Sheriffs, businesspeople – about the extraordinary progress made along the border region in recent years.

Through a new and better strategy, more resources and greater cooperation with our Mexican partners, the border region is much safer today. Crime is down, illegal migration has slowed, seizures of illegal drugs, guns and bulk cash has soared, all while trade and legal border crossings have increased. Despite the very real challenge of the cartel violence, the US side of the border has seen great progress in recent years. The voices on our new site testify to the progress which has made, and the to the very real challenges which remain.

Our inaugural 21st Century Border Project event was held over a year ago, and featured CPB Commissioner Alan Bersin and the Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan discussing the merits of the United States and Mexico working together to create a true 21st century border, one where more good things happen – trade, legal migration – and fewer undesirable things - flows of illegal guns, drugs, people and bulk cash. The video can be seen here. The full transcript of the event can be read here.

Some of the people featured on the new site:

Mayor of Nogales Arturo R. Garino, AZ: Mayor Garino is a former City of Nogales Firefighter and a former Law Enforcement Officer both in the City and Santa Cruz County. He Served over three and a half years as Public Works Director for the City of Nogales under Mayor Cesar Rios, Mayor Marco Antonio Lopez Jr., Mayor Albert Kramer. He is currently the Mayor of Nogales Arizona. In his video Mayor Garino talks about the importance of how the Nogales border is safer then ever.

Vice Mayor of Tucson Richard Fimbres, AZ: Richard Fimbres is a lifelong resident of Ward 5 and Tucson, graduate of St. Ambrose and Tucson High Schools and a 20-year veteran of the Pima County sheriff's Department. He is a Vietnam-era veteran of the United States Army having served as a military policeman, patrol and narcotics dog handler. In his video the Vice Mayor Fimbres talks about the importance of Mexican tourism to Arizona's economy.

El Paso Mayor John F. Cook, TX: John Cook is Mayor of El Paso, Texas. Cook formerly served as president of the El Paso Health Care Facilities Financing Corporation and El Paso Housing Finance Corporation.In his video Mayor Cook discusses the importance of legal migration for the economies of border cities.

Sheriff Tony Estrada, AZ: Sheriff Tony Estrada was first sworn into office on January 1, 1993. Sheriff Estrada was born in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, immigrated with his family as an infant and grew up in Nogales, Arizona. In his video Sheriff Estrada talks about how the border in Arizona is safer then it has ever been.

Pima County Sheriff, Clarence Dupnik, AZ: Clarence W. Dupnik has served as the Sheriff of Pima County, Arizona, since his appointment in February 1980. County voters endorsed the choice nine months later by electing him to his first four-year term and ratified that decision by re-electing him six additional times. In his video Sheriff Dupnik talks about the dangers of the political rhetoric surrounding the border.

Sheriff Lupe Trevino, TX: Guadalupe "Lupe" Trevino is Sheriff of Hidalgo County, Texas. He currently serves on the State of Texas Homeland Security Office Mass Migration Committee and on the Executive Committee of the Texas Radio Interoperability Coalition. In his video Sheriff Trevino discusses how the border is much safer then political figures would have you believe.

Ruben Barrales, CEO SD Chamber of Commerce, CA: Ruben Barrales is President and CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce. He served in the White House for five years as deputy assistant to President George W. Bush, where he was the President’s liaison to state and local elected officials. In his video Ruben talks about the importance of economic security along the southwest border.

HEARING: The Economic Imperative of Enacting Immigration Reform.

The Senate Judiciary Sub Committee on Immigration Refugees and Border Security will be holding a hearing tomorrow on the Economic Imperative of Enacting  Immigration Reform.

The New Policy Institute (NPI) released a report on the impact of immigration and comprehensive immigration reform on the wages of the American worker. NPI's report provides a much needed look at the intersection of America's economy and immigration system.

The report written by NPI Fellow and Former Under Secretary of Commerce Dr. Robert J. Shapiro, accomplishes five important things.

It gives an accurate portrait of America's immigrant Population, it dispels many misconceptions regarding undocumented immigrants in the country, it provides economic analysis on the impact of immigration on wages. it examines the wage impact of reforms to provide a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants, finally  examines the positive economic impact of comprehensive immigration reform.

The full report can be read here, The Impact of Immigration and Immigration Reform on the Wages of American Workers.

Make sure to check out the hearing which will be webcast here at 10 AM.

In Huffington Post: The Flow of Undocumented Migrants Entering The US Has Nearly Stopped But Not for the Reasons You May Think

Undocumented Migration into the United States has all but stopped, and not entirely for the reasons you may think. It is not just because the United States has put unprecedented levels of resources along the border, but, and this may come as a shock to some, mostly because Mexico's economy is improving.

One of the general arguments as to why there are so many undocumented immigrants in America is that Mexico is a developing nation and the lure of jobs is too hard for migrants from all over Latin America to resist.

None other than George Will, conservative writer made just this argument the other day. His full quote was, and this I believe is a fairly standard talking point for the GOP these days: "It's very different when you are the only developed nation in the world with a 2,000-mile border with a developing nation." Very broadly he was arguing that the lure of jobs has been the reason that immigrants have come to our country for generations.

George Will is a really smart guy, and his statement is partly correct, migrants have been coming to the U.S. to work for a long time, but he is dead wrong when he calls Mexico a developing nation.

According to Census data, Mexico is currently the United States' third largest trading partner. Last year the United States did more trade with Mexico then it did with Great Britain, France and Germany combined.

Additionally, according to prominent economist Robert Newell the per-capita gross domestic product and family income have each jumped more than 45 percent since 2000. Which is to say that Mexico's economy is doing better than it has in a long time, which ultimately has led to the decline in illegal crossings of migrants.

The common Republican refrain for why they cannot move forward on a comprehensive solution to our broken immigration system is that the border must be secured to stop migrants from coming to America and stealing jobs from legal citizens. If illegal migration into the United States has nearly stopped, then this argument simply no longer holds.

Yet, the GOP continues to use the border and the jobs argument to not come to the table on broader immigration reforms. Majority Leader of the House John Boehner was recently asked about whether or not he would support administrative relief for DREAM Act students, he said: "We really can't deal with other issues until it (the border) is secure. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith is equally guilty of this, as he loves to say that the border must be secured to stop migrants from coming and taking American jobs.

There is just one problem with this conflation: Illegal migration to the United States has all but stopped in recent years. As Mexico's economy has improved, the willingness to pay large fees to cross the desert in 125 degree heat to work in an underground economy with no rights and doing back-breaking work for little pay has actually dropped. Who would have thought?

A recent New York Times article by Damien Cave shows that there is in fact: "A growing body of evidence suggests that a mix of developments -- expanding economic and educational opportunities, rising border crime and shrinking families -- are suppressing illegal traffic as much as economic slowdowns or immigrant crackdowns in the United States."

According to experts at Princeton's Mexican Migrant Project: "...research showed that interest in heading to the United States for the first time had fallen to its lowest level since at least the 1950s. "No one wants to hear it, but the flow has already stopped," Mr. Massey said, referring to illegal traffic. "For the first time in 60 years, the net traffic has gone to zero and is probably a little bit negative."

As it turns out, Mexico is not a failed state, the great American job magnet is no longer as lucrative as it once was, and the National Guard Troops and unprecedented numbers of Border Patrol agents along the border are actually acting as a deterrent to illegal migration along our borders.

One would think that the House GOP would be happy. When the Democrats where in power in Congress, literally the only immigration legislation the Republicans would play ball on was those that sent resources to secure the border. Which is to say that Democrats have done their part, the border is safer, and illegal migration has in fact dropped to next to nothing. If the House GOP wants to claim victory on this, all the better since maybe then we could get on with something other than enforcement only immigration legislation and hopefully lay to rest the idea that Mexico is a failed state and that the border is porous.

Cross Posted at the Huffington Post.

Southwest Border Task Force Member Francis "Pancho" Kinny on The Lack Drug Violence On The Border

Once again NDN has gone west, and we have been fortunate enough to be able to sit down with local law enforcement and elected officials to chat about their views along the border.

Next up in our series is Francis “Pancho” Kinney is Vice President for HNTB Federal. Kinney was previously DHS Deputy Director of International Affairs. Kinney is a Border Trade Alliance Board Member and Infrastructure Committee Chair.

Pancho gives an excellent account of how the border has changed from a historical perspective regarding the buildup of military and border patrol agents. This is an important context to view the southwest border because it points to the fact that as the increase of personnel along the border has increased there has been a drop in violence.

He also notes that in terms of violence in recent years, there actually has not been much of a change in the level of violence because border communities have actually been safe. He also noted that while there is a strong presence of Mexican cartels in the United States, they do not act violently as their main goal is to sell drugs.

On the subject of kidnappings, Pancho was quick to point out that there is a problem, but it is not against American citizens. Rather it is an issues of human and drug traffickers kidnapping migrants and holding them for ransom until their families pay to get them back.  This is a lucrative trade for human smugglers as undocumented immigrants often fear going to the authorities and are more vulnerable to these types of crimes.

The full video is below:

Princeton Mexican Migrant Project: Illegal Flow of Migrants To The United States Has Nearly Stopped

Last week The Mexican Migrant Project from Princeton released a report that shows that for the first time since the 1950's illegal migration from Mexico into the United States has nearly stopped.

This has occurred for a number of reasons, some of it can be attributed to the hard work of the Department of Homeland Security, the bad economic state of the United States, and finally and this is just now being reported with more frequency the bottle necking of the Narco-Traficantes along the southwest  border.

Over the past two years there has been the historic build of National Guard and Border Patrol officials along the Southwest Border. Going further back, the Border Patrol had largely closed off the border in Texas and California, pushing the majority of drug and human trafficking into Arizona. Since then

DHS and The National Guard have been flooding sectors along the Arizona Border where heavy traffic has once occurred. This strategy has largely been a success in that it has made the Mexican drug cartels skittish about engaging in violence along the American side of the Arizona border. The other consequence
of this is that the human smuggling business has now co-mingled with the drug smuggling one.

The final contributor to the decline of illegal entry of migrants may be surprising to many American's: Mexico's economy is rebounding. George Will in a recent round table incorrectly noted recently that the situation along the United States-Mexico border was unique because in no other place in the world is the worlds largest economy share a physical border with a developing nation. As it turns out, Mr. Will is wrong, Mexico is far from a developing nation. If all of holds by the end of the year Mexico will be our number 2 trading partner. It may surprise Mr. Will to note that we do more trading with Mexico then Germany, Great Britain and France combined.

While much of Mexico's wealth is grossly distributed, a fact which is ironically becoming more and more true here in the United States, the economy there has actually become more and more stable in recent years which has contributed greatly to the decline of migrants traveling to the United States to look for work.

In fact a recent New York Times article by Damien Cave shows that there is in fact:

"A growing body of evidence suggests that a mix of developments — expanding economic and educational opportunities, rising border crime and shrinking families — are suppressing illegal traffic as much as economic slowdowns or immigrant crackdowns in the United States."

Perhaps even more shocking is the fact that according to experts at Princeton's Mexican Migrant Project say that: "research showed that interest in heading to the United States for the first time had fallen to its lowest level since at least the 1950s. “No one wants to hear it, but the flow has already stopped,”

Mr. Massey said, referring to illegal traffic. “For the first time in 60 years, the net traffic has gone to zero and is probably a little bit negative.”

The Princeton report  also notes that part of the drop in migration may also be attributed to the size of Mexican families shrinking, which has in turn shrunk the pool of likely migrants: "Despite the dominance of the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico, birth control efforts have pushed down the fertility rate to about 2 children per woman from 6.8 in 1970, according to government figures. So while Mexico added about one million new potential job seekers annually in the 1990s, since 2007 that figure has fallen to an average of 800,000, according to government birth records. By 2030, it is expected to drop to 300,000."

This has led to cultural shift in Mexico, where the Per Capita gross domestic product and family income have each jumped more than 45 percent since 2000,  According to one prominent economist, Roberto Newell. Despite all the depictions of Mexico as “nearly a failed state,” he argued, “the conventional wisdom is
wrong.”

Lets hope the next time George Will decides to make disparaging comments about Mexico he gets his facts right.

Overwhelming Evidence That Illegal Entry Of Migrants Along Southwest Border Is Declining

Over the last week there have been several stories about the dramatic drops in the illegal entry of migrants across the southern border. Ordinarily I start these posts with excerpts from the stories in this case I am going to lead with a couple of graphics highlight the drop in illegal entry of migrants. Then next week go into greater detail, highlighting how and why this dramatic drop has occurred.

Both of these graphics are made by the Mexican Migration Project from Princeton University, and they show 1) the dramatic drop in the number of illegal entries by migrants along the southern border 2) the skyrocketing cost of entrance illegally into the United States, both of these graphs and some other very helpful ones can be seen at the New York Times website here:

 

This graphic shows how the cost of entering the country illegally has also sky rocketed. This has contributed to the drop in the number of illegal crossings:

 

NDN Backgrounder: 21st Century Border Initiative Southwest Counternarcotics Strategy

NDN Backgrounder: The 21st Century Border Counternarcotics Strategy

Today Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and other senior Obama officials are going to the border to make an announcement on the 2011 Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy.  

As background to this announcement, NDN and the New Policy Institute (NPI) is offering up some of its recent work advancing the strategy of creating a “21st century border” between the United States and Mexico.   This new strategy between the two countries is focused on letting more of the good things we want crossing the border – legal human crossings and trade – to grow, and more of the bad things – drugs, guns, bulk cash and illegal migrants – to slow.  

The numbers tell the story.  Mexico is now America’s second largest trading partner.  The goods moved between our two countries this year will be just about equal to what we trade with China, and is greater than what we trade with the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan combined.  Our 2,000 mile border is the busiest border in the world, seeing around 800 thousand legal crossings a day. 

Today, in continuing the Obama Administration’s push to make the southwest border safer, senior administration officials are unveiling the 2011 National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy.  This strategy increases coordination and information sharing between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, and calls for continued close collaboration with the Government of Mexico in their safety efforts.

This effort is part of the Southwest Border Initiative which has made the border between Mexico and the United States safer.  This includes:

  • Nearly doubling the number of Border Patrol agents from approximately 10,000 in 2004 to over 20,700 today.
  • Screening  100% of southbound rail shipments.
  • For the first time providing critical surveillance capabilities to personnel on the ground through unmanned aerial systems that cover the Southwest border from California to Texas.

Over the past two and a half years, DHS has:

  • Seized 75 percent more currency.
  • Seized 31 percent more drugs.
  • Seized 64 percent more weapons along the Southwest border as compared to the last two and a half years during the previous administration. 

Additionally, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has:

  • Allocated nearly 29 percent of its domestic agent positions to the Southwest border.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has:

  • Increased its federal agents on the border

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has:

  • Secured a record number of extraditions from Mexico: 94 in 2010 compared to 12 in 2000 and trained over 5,400 Mexican prosecutors and investigators

NDN's background materials, which can be found on 21st Century Border Initiative page on our website, include video interviews with leaders in the border region, speeches by prominent Administration officials including DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and NDN’s analysis and commentary.  There is a strong body of evidence now which suggests that this new “21st Century Border” strategy has already shown promising results, leaving the region safer, slowing the number of illegal crossings,  while seeing trade and commerce between the two countries expand.

Stuff You Missed Over the Long Weekend: Immigration As An Economic Competitiveness Resource

Just two real quick video hits that came out over the long weekend, both discuss how immigration should be viewed as an component of economic components. The first is an interview with Steve Case, AOL Founder on CNN's State of The Union with Candy Crowely.

Over the course of the interview  Case talks about the importance of immigrants as an active part of growing our economy.

The second video is a roundtable discussion with George Will, Michelle Rhee, Mel Martinez, Jose Antonio Vargas on This Week with Christiane Amanpour. The round table is notable for the fact that everyone on the panel is in agreement that immigration is a long term economic competitiveness resource.

Even George Will who in the video is initially quite skeptical of the low skilled immigration into the country, admits that it makes no sense to allow people to come to the United States and get degrees from our greatest colleges then throw them out.

Stuff You Missed Over The Weekend: Hispanic's Protest Texas Governor Perry Stance On Immigration

Texas Governor Rick Perry has landed in hot water with the Hispanic community in his home state over his outrageous statements regarding the border and sanctuary legislation.

Texas Governor Rick Perry was met by noisy protesters outside and a lukewarm welcome inside a hotel where he made on Thursday his first major address to a Hispanic group since he said last month that he is thinking of running for president.

In other news Georgia is feeling the effects of passing their anti immigration legislation that mandated the use of E-Verify, an employer verification program which has resulted in much of the migrant farm workers leaving the state.

This has left the Governor with the unenviable task of hiring probationers to pick crops in the field... They lasted 3 hours. The state stands to lose close to a billion dollars if nothing is done.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal’s program to replace fleeing migrant farm workers with probationers backfired when some of the convicted criminals started walking off their jobs because field work was too strenuous, it was reported Wednesday. And the state’s farms could lose up to $1 billion if crops continue to go unpicked and rot, the president of the Georgia Agribusiness Council warned.

Finally the Associated Press has released a report showing that over the last 10 years the government has spent 9 billion dollars on the border.  Among the expenses:

■ Deployment of 1,200 National Guard soldiers for one year: $110 million

■ One rail cargo X-ray screening machine: $1.75 million

■ Average annual salary of a Customs and Border Protection officer: $75,000

■ Cost of a drug-searching dog: $4,500

Finally, if you have not seen this video of Jose Antonio Vargas, talking about his life as a Pulitzer Prize winning undocumented immigrant, you should. It is amazing.

 

As Illegal Crossings Decline President Obama Extends National Guard Stay On Southwest Border

In case anyone has forgotten, last summer the President deployed 12,000 National Guard troops to the southwest border to aid Border Patrol agents in making the border region safer. Last week the President announced that he was extending their stay.

Brian Bennet of the Los Angeles Times has the full story here, the troops which were intended to come off the border in July, have been extended thru September.

They are intended to help CBP stop illegal crossings and cash flow leaving the country back to the drug cartels in Mexico. The National Guard are meant to act as intelligence gathering entities, and help identify smuggling routes so that CBP can act on their intel and combat the cartels as they try to enter the country.

The Guard are part of a massive $600 million emergency supplemental spending increase passed by a Democratically controlled congress last year. One thing is certain, these tactics and resources are working, with the number of immigrants crossing into the United States declining:

The politically popular surge of manpower and funds comes as the number of illegal immigrants crossing into the U.S. is declining. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, about 300,000 illegal immigrants crossed the border annually between 2007 and 2009, down from about 850,000 annually from 2000 to 2005.

The emergency funds allocated for the border have not all been spent with the Department of Homeland Security purchasing:

  • New mobile camera towers,
  • Fencing
  • Increasing the number of surveillance drone flights along the border.
  • Two additional Predator B drones,

For more on President Obama's Border safety plan please read NDN's report, The Governments Plan on The Border is Working.

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