Getting it Right on the US Immigration Debate: MPI Resources Can Help

Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 07:36:22 -0600 (CST)
From: Migration Policy Institute
Subject: Getting it Right on the US Immigration Debate: MPI Resources Can Help

The Migration Policy Institute is a nonpartisan think tank dedicated
to analysis of the movement of people worldwide.

March 30, 2006

Immigration reform has taken center stage in US politics both
nationally and locally. This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee
passed a sweeping immigration reform bill. This expansive immigration
reform as well as nation-wide protests aimed at the recent measure
passed in the House of Representatives come just as President Bush
meets with Mexican President Vicente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister
Stephen Harper in Cancún, Mexico today.

MPI seeks to provide fact-based analysis for policymakers,
journalists, educators, and nonprofits engaged in the US immigration
debate. The resources below are designed to eliminate guesswork and
misinformation by presenting reliable, easy-to-access data and
thoughtful analysis. Also included is a list of MPI analysts
available for media interviews. They include:

* Analysis prepared for MPI's Independent Task Force on Immigration
and America's Future:
- US Immigration Reform: Setting the Agenda
- The Unauthorized Population
- Meeting National Security and Immigration Enforcement Imperatives
- Immigration and US Labor Markets
* MPI Experts
* Facts and Data from the Migration Information Source
* Coming Soon from MPI


ANALYSIS PREPARED FOR MPI'S INDEPENDENT TASK FORCE ON IMMIGRATION AND
AMERICA'S FUTURE

The Migration Policy Institute has convened the Independent Task Force
on Immigration and America's Future, a bipartisan panel of prominent
leaders from key sectors concerned with immigration, which aims to
generate sound information and workable policy ideas. Former Senator
Spencer Abraham (R-MI) and former Congressman Lee Hamilton (D-IN)
serve as co-chairs. The panel's work is directed by MPI Senior Fellow
Doris Meissner.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=Dp3fld7rVmntc3KamlAW9A..

* US IMMIGRATION REFORM: SETTING THE AGENDA

Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future: The Roadmap
By Michael Fix, Doris Meissner, and Demetrios G. Papademetriou
The Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future is
focusing on key policy questions in areas in which today's US immigration
policy and practices are faltering. These areas include: upholding the rule
of law; developing policies that meet immigration and national
security needs; managing immigration in ways that increase the
nation's economic competitiveness; and promoting the economic and
social integration of newcomers.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=Od7MZ230n1wPuc3X-rNoeA..

Reflections on Restoring Integrity to the United States Immigration
System: A Personal Vision
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou
The author suggests that lessons learned from implementing the last
round of sweeping immigration reform -- the Immigration and Control Act
of 1986 -- are that the robust and growing demand for work and family
reunification visas must be incorporated into new policies;
legalization should not be done halfway; reducing incentives for fraud
should be a top policy goal; and migration must be managed in
cooperation with neighboring countries. Stable reform will require
three "E"s: enforcement, expanded visas, and earned regularization.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=uIDkLCFmp0AZbewCt5ng6A..
* THE UNAUTHORIZED POPULATION

Unauthorized Migrants: Numbers and Characteristics
Report by Jeffrey S. Passel, Pew Hispanic Center
The author offers a portrait of the unauthorized population in
unprecedented detail, showing that most of the unauthorized population
lives in families, a quarter has at least some college education, and
illegal workers can be found in many sectors of the US economy. The
report estimates that the number of persons living in families in which the
head of the household or the spouse is an unauthorized migrant was
13.9 million as of March 2004, including 4.7 million children. Of
those individuals, some 3.2 million are US citizens by birth but are
living in "mixed status" families in which some members are
unauthorized, usually a parent, while others, usually children, are
Americans by birthright.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=u_t3sz1hs2vbETZS5DgH6g..

Twilight Statuses: A Closer Examination of the Unauthorized Population
By David A. Martin, MPI nonresident fellow and professor of
International Law, University of Virginia
Approximately 1 to 1.5 million people hold current or eventual claims
to legal status recognized by US law because they are caught in
processing or admissions quota backlogs or have been granted temporary
protected status (TPS). The author suggests policy changes that speed
the processing of legal status claims for certain family members of lawful
residents and that create incentives for those with TPS to return when
their temporary status expires.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=NCGtjg5-rO3psR5mozDVDA..

Lessons From The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
By Betsy Cooper and Kevin O'Neil
The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) was the first
legislative attempt to comprehensively address the issue of
unauthorized immigration. Although the concepts behind the legislation
were sound, there were a number of problems with its design and
implementation in each of its major goals, providing lessons for
policymakers today.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=klbk2Ws41G76fLJ3xfDxnw..

The "Regularization" Option in Managing Illegal Migration More
Effectively: A Comparative Perspective
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou
The author argues that properly conceived and carefully executed
legalization programs would allow those that can meet certain tough
but fair and transparent criteria to earn legal status, and that
these programs can be used to meet important security, labor market,
and social policy goals.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=Bq8phIfoZBGxiWfOxXY5iA..

* MEETING NATIONAL SECURITY AND IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT IMPERATIVES

Immigration Enforcement at the Worksite: Making it Work
By Visiting Scholar Marc R. Rosenblum
The author lays out six critical reforms necessary to construct a
coherent worksite enforcement system, including limiting the number of
documents used to prove identity and work authorization, shifting the
burden of applicant screening from employers to the government, and
using employment databases more efficiently to better target
non-compliant employers.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=VZPlPmyo7fqFV2Qz30LlUA..

US Border Enforcement: From Horseback to High-Tech
By Deborah W. Meyers
Border Patrol funding has grown by 519 percent and staffing by 221
percent over the last two decades. Over time, border enforcement
has evolved from a low-tech, single-agency exercise focused strictly
on the Southwestern border, to include multiple agencies, extensive
use of technology, and a broad geographic focus that extends beyond
the US borders and coastlines.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=dCfpuN_7xQXsysJSs1MwuQ..

An Idea Whose Time Has Finally Come? The Case for Employment
Verification
By Tamar Jacoby, Manhattan Institute
Although the Immigration Reform and Control Act made it a crime to
hire unauthorized immigrants, it failed to give employers the tools
they need to determine who is authorized to work and who isn't -- a
reliable, automated employment verification system. The author
suggests that what is needed is a process not unlike credit-card
verification that allows employers to swipe a card at the point of
hire and receive a response in real time from the Social Security
Administration.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=D0kLKzgjt9s4kQe_EnzMag..

Eligible to Work? Experiments in Verifying Work Authorization
By Kevin Jernegan
Various attempts have been made over the years to create a system that
provides employers with verification of an employee's eligibility to
work, each with different strengths and weaknesses. New proposals have
been developed recently and new technologies have become available
since the Immigration and Reform Control Act's passage in 1986.
The successes and failures of the efforts undertaken to date can
inform proposals for future employment authorization and verification
initiatives.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=s94HXb7_JE7ftCFBP2czEw..

Immigration Facts: Immigration Enforcement Spending Since IRCA
By David Dixon and Julia Gelatt
From 1985 to 2002, funds for border control jumped from $700 million
to $2.8 billion per year; funds for detention and removal skyrocketed
from $192 million to $1.6 billion, while funds for interior
investigations rose from $109 million to only $458 million.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=3yweeXgRWkQeHdPQTavELQ..

Countering Terrorist Mobility: Shaping an Operational Strategy
By Susan Ginsburg, MPI nonresident fellow and formerly senior counsel
for the 9/11 Commission
The author provides a blueprint for an integrated strategy to thwart
terrorists by focusing on terrorist mobility, arguing that terrorist
mobility deserves comparable attention and resources to those
devoted to terrorist finance and communications.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=zM3s2aDHyhe47U1LUnqiBA..


* IMMIGRATION AND US LABOR MARKETS

Temporary Worker Programs: A Patchwork Policy Response
By Deborah W. Meyers
In fiscal year 2004, nearly 1.5 million temporary workers, trainees,
and their dependants were admitted to the United States, with stays
ranging from three months to ten years and many transitioning to the
permanent system. In the same year, more than 60 percent of new lawful
permanent residents (LPRs) adjusted their status (rather than being new
arrivals), and at least 10 percent of LPRs are former temporary
workers. Furthermore, nearly half of all temporary worker admissions
are in categories that explicitly allow adjustment.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=d86L6uGBPrrgKDgkK0FMhg..

"Comprehensive" Legislation vs. Fundamental Reform: The Limits of
Current Immigration Proposals
By Visiting Scholar Marc Rosenblum
The author evaluates current Administration and Congressional
proposals for their potential to address the fundamental flaws
characterizing the current immigration system, finding that proposed
reforms likely would fail to address the mismatch between visa supply
and demand, the system's over-reliance on temporary nonimmigrant
visas, inefficient immigrant labor regulations, and the challenges of
responding to the roughly 11 million unauthorized immigrants living in
the United States.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=I8gonm982lSVv0Eq7roBRg..

The Growing Connection Between Temporary and Permanent Immigration
Systems
By Jeanne Batalova
The distinction between temporary and permanent migration, clearly
demarcated in past decades, has become increasingly blurred. A new
immigrant admissions system has emerged that is neither temporary nor
permanent, but rather a transitional system.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=35ez1WM4kFSAlppsfkl0rg..

US Employment-Based Admissions: Permanent and Temporary
By Susan Martin, Institute for the Study of International Migration,
Georgetown University
The existing temporary worker programs allow employers a chance to
test employees for their contributions, but potentially increases
temporary
workers' vulnerability to exploitation due to their dependence on
specific employers or jobs for their legal status. The author puts
forth the following policy recommendations: simplifying visa categories,
increasing the funding for and efficiency of the government apparatus
managing applications, and making requirements for employers and
workers reasonable and consistent with the way that the labor market
functions, among others.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=kzOARxonJ1aQ4kORJx7HRg..

These and other MPI publications are available through MPI's
online bookstore:
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=4-xOtgNjMGVTgVoNnYn8-w.. .
_____________________

MPI EXPERTS


Demetrios G. Papademetriou, President

Demetrios Papademetriou is an expert in US immigration policy, the
North American borders and migration agenda, and migration management.
He was the US convener of the high-level US-Mexico Migration Panel
that devised the framework that encouraged Presidents Vicente Fox and
George W. Bush to reexamine their countries' migration relationship.

Michael Fix, Vice President and Director of Studies

Michael Fix is Vice President and Director of Studies at MPI. His work
focuses on immigrant integration, citizenship policy, immigrant
children and families, the education of immigrant students, the effect
of welfare reform on immigrants, and the impact of immigrants on the
US labor force. Mr. Fix, who is an attorney, previously served as a
Principal Research Associate at the Urban Institute, where he directed
the Immigration Studies Program from 1998 through 2004.

Doris Meissner, Senior Fellow and Director, Independent Task Force on
Immigration and America's Future

Doris Meissner, a Senior Fellow at the Migration Policy Institute,
served as INS Commissioner at the US Department of Justice from
October 1993 to November 2000. She directs the Independent Task Force
on Immigration and America's Future, a high-level, bipartisan
panel of policymakers and community leaders concerned with
immigration, which aims to generate sound information and workable
policy solutions.

Kathleen Newland, Director

With more than 20 years of experience, Kathleen Newland is an expert
in migration management and US immigration policy. Before
co-founding MPI with Demetrios Papademetriou, she was a Senior
Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She
has worked as an advisor and consultant to various international
organizations, including the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR).

Muzaffar Chishti, Director, MPI at NYU School of Law

Muzaffar Chishti is an expert on the intersection of labor and
immigration law, civil liberties, and immigrant integration. His
current work focuses on temporary worker provisions and earned
regularization. Mr. Chishti was founder and former director of the
Immigration Project of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial &
Textile Employees (UNITE). He was responsible for formulating and
executing the union's programs and policies on immigration issues.

Deborah Meyers, Senior Policy Analyst

Deborah Meyers is an expert on US, Canada, and Mexico border
management issues, temporary worker programs, and US immigration
policy and process with the Department of Homeland Security. Ms.
Meyers previously worked in the International Migration Policy Program
at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where she managed a
comparative project on self-governance at US and other international
borders. She can conduct interviews in Spanish.

To arrange an interview with a policy analyst, please contact Colleen
Coffey at 202-266-1910 or ccoffey@migrationpolicy.org.
________________________

FACTS AND DATA FROM THE MIGRATION INFORMATION SOURCE

State-by-State Data on the Foreign Born
Find information on the size, composition, and socio-economic
characteristics of the foreign-born population of your state.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=bnsqHcLyigTNc7UR4ll2yQ..

Who's Where in the United States:
Find out where different groups of the foreign-born live in the United
States by region, or continent of origin and a state or region of
destination.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=_VrCFNB4-j2d3f3vJJnYkw..

Spotlight on US Immigration Enforcement
By David Dixon
Of the 186,151 individuals formally removed in 2003, 40 percent
entered without authorization. MPI's David Dixon briefly explains the
US approach to immigration enforcement and looks at apprehension,
detention, and removal statistics.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=sAHVCTG_a823yNVKB0bAGQ..

Spotlight on Temporary Admissions of Nonimmigrants to the United States
By Jeanne Batalova
The total number of nonimmigrants admitted to the United States more
than tripled between 1985 and 2004. MPI's Jeanne Batalova outlines the
definition of nonimmigrants and takes a detailed look at admissions data.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=y-Csf7n5-_cJVWu6aVELrQ..

Spotlight on Legal Immigration to the United States
By Jeanne Batalova
The number of new immigrant arrivals has remained relatively stable
since 1986. MPI's Jeanne Batalova looks at data on permanent
immigration to the United States.
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=nepQaPTpWbRvKCyBfOzl_w..
________________________

COMING SOON FROM THE MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE

Later this spring, look for publications prepared for the Task Force
on immigrant integration, as well as the final report of the Task
Force.

On April 3, the Migration Information Source will release a Special
Issue on Central America, available at
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=efpqwVfcMtMWrFW834Jb1w.. .

On April 28, join the Migration Policy Institute, Georgetown
University Law Center, and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network,
Inc. (CLINIC), for the 3rd Annual Immigration Law and Policy
Conference. For information on speakers or to register, please follow this link:
http://contact.migrationpolicy.org/site/R?i=Jm9tQIqqD-7gpH0zMq2QaA..
_________________________