In The News

In a New York Times editorial Year of the Immigrant, Sayu Bhojwani discusses the growing role of immigrants in politics. Bhojwani, the founding director of The New American Leaders Project, sees immigrants playing a much larger role in the political fabric of America from San Francisco electing Ed Lee as its first Asian-American mayor, to the record number of Latino voters in the 2010 midterm elections (6.6 out of 11 million registered Latino voters). She even wonders if increased immigrant representation might lead to comprehensive immigration reform in 2013.

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With the announcement that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has appointed a public advocate, some immigration advocates are hopeful and some skeptical, reports the Huffington Post. Andrew Lorenzen-Strait’s newly created position is intended to serve as a liaison to immigration stakeholders. The new position appears to mark a shift in policy for the government office after a period of high deportation numbers.

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A program called Secure Communities that allows jails to share fingerprint data with immigration officials was instituted in Oregon, Idaho and some counties in Washington state last year. But according to a report by NPR station KUOW, critics say that non-criminals are getting caught up in the system and deported. The program is scheduled to be implemented across the country by 2013.

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Our Grantees

In a recent New York Times editorial The Next Immigration Challenge, author Dowell Myers talks about the dramatic reduction in illegal immigrants entering into the United States in recent years and the need for policies to keep step in terms of encouraging education and assimilation for the immigrants who came in earlier waves. He mentions Unbound Philanthropy grantee Welcoming America as being at the forefront of this effort.

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What We're Learning

Samual Addy, Ph.D. of the University of Alabama Center for Business and Economic Research released a report in January, A Cost Benefit Analysis of the New Alabama Immigration Law. The study shows that the economic costs may far outweigh any benefits.

For more “What We’re Learning” items, see the archive.