Articles, Reports & Op-Eds…
“Immigrants are not a fiscal drain,” Sacramento Bee, June 28, 2009:
As state and local governments grapple with budget deficits brought on by the economic recession, some are blaming immigrants—particularly undocumented immigrants. According to this flawed reasoning, if the tax contributions of immigrants in general, or undocumented immigrants in particular, don't cover the costs of the public services they utilize in a single year, then immigrants must be a financial “burden” on the majority of taxpayers…
Opportunity and Exclusion: A Brief History of U.S. Immigration Policy, Immigration Policy Center, November 25, 2008:
The United States and the colonial society that preceded it were created by successive waves of immigration from all corners of the globe. But public and political attitudes toward immigrants have always been ambivalent and contradictory, and sometimes hostile. The early immigrants to colonial America—from England, France, Germany, and other countries in northwestern Europe—came in search of economic opportunity and political freedom, yet often relied upon the labor of African slaves working land taken from Native Americans.…
“Immigration Fairytales,” New America Media, August 4, 2008:
It is common sense that undocumented immigration is driven by economics. Most undocumented immigrants come from nations where economic opportunities are few and far between. Migrants would not leave behind families and homelands to embark upon potentially deadly journeys to the United States if there weren't a good chance they could find jobs once they got here.…
“Beyond Border Enforcement: Enhancing National Security Through Immigration Reform,” Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy, Summer 2007:
Since 9/11 the watchword in the debate over immigration reform has been “security.” As a result, most policymakers and pundits now approach the subject of immigration largely from a law-enforcement perspective. That is, the focus is how best to fortify U.S. borders so as to prevent the illicit entry into the country of terrorists or weapons of mass destruction. This concern has been especially acute in the case of the U.S.-Mexico border, across which hundreds of thousands of unauthorized immigrants enter the United States undetected each year.…
“From Denial to Acceptance: Effectively Regulating Immigration to the United States,” Stanford Law and Policy Review, Spring 2005:
U.S. immigration policy is based on denial. Most lawmakers in the United States have largely embraced the process of economic “globalization,” yet stubbornly refuse to acknowledge that increased migration, especially from developing nations to developed nations, is an integral and inevitable part of this process. Instead, they continue an impossible quest that began shortly after World War II: the creation of a transnational market in goods and services without a corresponding transnational market for the workers who make those goods and provide those services.…
