A New Starting Point for Immigration Reform
The surprising strength of the Latino vote in the 2012 presidential election has created an incentive for the Republican Party, poor performers with Latinos, to rethink their strategy for 2016. It’s also driving calls for change to the nation’s immigration laws. In the past week, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have spoken publicly about the need for a comprehensive approach to immigration reform. READ MORE >>
Last week, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced big news: Effective immediately, eligible undocumented youth are granted deferred action from deportation (a form of administrative relief). READ MORE >>
The Harder Fix on Immigration Is About More than Skills
It’s been five years since we seriously attempted to reform U.S. immigration policy. Since then, partisan politics and extremist views have hijacked any sensibility on the topic, both in Congress and in many states and communities across the country. Five years ago, the Great Recession and housing crisis hadn’t yet wreaked economic havoc, crushing businesses, swelling unemployment, and threatening millions of homeowners. Back then, we had a lot less to worry about. READ MORE >>
EB-5 Visas: A Smarter, Cleaner Plan
A more than 20-year old program, long underutilized, is slowly emerging as a potential lifeline for regional economic development for some metro areas and states at a time when traditional financing streams are running dry. READ MORE >>
What Do Immigrants Do in America?
During economic hard times immigrants are often blamed for taking jobs away from U.S.-born citizens. This recession is no different in that regard. The many incendiary comments aimed at immigrants, especially those here illegally, bandied about the GOP primary reflect that as well. As job growth has picked up, however, a growing chorus of leaders is pushing for immigration policies that better meet economic demands and help the economy. READ MORE >>
A Bipartisan Tweak to Reduce the Immigration Reform Backlog
This week, Congress took a small step in reforming America’s out-dated immigration system. In H.R. 3012 the House voted to end country limits for employment-based visas, which should increase the number of highly-skilled workers from India and China granted green cards. The bill would also raise per-country limits for green card applicants for certain family-based visas. READ MORE >>
Immigration Lessons from ‘The Golden Girls’
with Courtney Pitman READ MORE >>
Desperately Seeking a Bloomberg for the ‘Burbs
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is using $30 million of his own money--and a matching gift from George Soros--to help fund a new program aimed at addressing the vast socio-economic disparities between New York City’s young white men and those who are black or Latino. At a time when more people are out of work and municipal budgets are stretched thin, private philanthropy is increasingly important. READ MORE >>
President Obama renewed a call for serious discussion about reforming the nation’s immigration laws in his speech yesterday in El Paso. He enlisted the American public to actively join the push to get Congress to move past the stalled debate and into action. READ MORE >>
Bloomberg’s Immigration Policy Poetry
With President Obama in El Paso today to talk immigration and border security, I’ve taken New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s op-ed that appeared last week in the Wall Street Journal and rearranged selected parts into a poem. All words are still his. Like Emma Lazarus’s poem, “The New Colossus,” at the base of the Statue of Liberty, this o READ MORE >>
