Immigrants In USA Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Sun, 19 May 2013 01:28:00 +0000

THIS WEEK IN IMMIGRATION

Click the HEADLINE to read stories from this week from the Immigration Policy Center.

noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Sun, 19 May 2013 01:26:00 +0000

US LAUNCHES APP TO HELP PEOPLE LEARN AND TEACH ENGLISH

This app should be useful for people wanting to learn American English and not British English. - - Donna Poisl

By Sumedha Jalote

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has launched a mobile application to help people worldwide access resources for learning English on simple mobile devices.

The application, called ‘American English’, consolidates the Department’s English learning content into one location, giving users access to e-books, audiobooks, quizzes, music, and games.
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noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Sun, 19 May 2013 01:20:00 +0000

Providing Noncitizens Their Day in Court and Other Resources for Immigration Bill Deliberations

For Immediate Release

May 15, 2013

Washington D.C. - As the Senate Judiciary Committee continues its mark up of S. 744, the Senators will soon be called upon to consider amendments within Title Three, relating to interior enforcement issues, which span everything from E-verify to immigration court reform. Today, our Immigration Policy Center and Legal Action Center release a fact sheet on court reform and highlight several recent reports on broader due process and biometric data issues that help put the committee’s deliberations into focus.

Providing Noncitizens Their Day in Court discusses some of the critical policy proposals found in S. 744 to ensure that everyone receives due process of law and a meaningful opportunity to be heard. For far too long, immigration courts have failed to provide noncitizens with a system of justice that lives up to American standards of justice. A noncitizen has not truly had his day in court if he is removed without ever seeing a judge, if he does not have access to counsel and necessary evidence, or if the decision in his case receives only perfunctory review.

Two Systems of Justice is a special report that explores how the justice system for immigrants falls far short of the American values of due process and fundamental fairness. In fact, the immigration system lacks nearly all the procedural safeguards we expect in the U.S. criminal justice system. Given the high stakes involved in immigration cases and the increasing criminalization of immigration law, the report concludes that we must no longer tolerate a system that deprives countless individuals of a fair judicial process.

From Fingerprints to DNA is a special report that explains the different technologies for collecting biometrics, as well as how that data is collected, stored and used. It raises concerns about data-sharing, legal protection, technological problems, then proposes changes to control and limit the storage of biometrics to benefit not only immigrants, but all people in the U.S.

To view the documents in their entirety, see:
Providing Noncitizens Their Day in Court (LAC Fact Sheet, May 2013)
Two Systems of Justice (IPC Special Report, March 2013)
From Fingerprints to DNA (IPC Special Report, May 2012)
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For more information, conact Wendy Feliz at wfeliz@immcouncil.org or 202-507-7524

noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Sun, 19 May 2013 01:12:00 +0000

How the geography of U.S. immigration has changed over time

This chart and story shows that the areas immigrants come from are different than in the recent past. - - Donna Poisl

By Brad Plumer

Where do immigrants to the United States come from? A new Pew report finds that this has been slowly changing over time. In 1992, most legal immigrants came from Latin America and Europe. Nowadays, they’re more likely to come from Asia and Africa: SEE CHART

Note that this is only looking at legal immigration. Pew has previously estimated that there are also about 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States, and the overwhelming majority of those come from Latin America and the Caribbean.
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noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Sun, 19 May 2013 01:02:00 +0000

Carbondale helps draw immigrants to local culture

This new program is helping immigrants become part of their community and mentor others in their community. - - Donna Poisl

By NANCY LOFHOLM

CARBONDALE, Colo. (AP) — The ID badge pinned to Maria Eloisa Duarte's jacket is an ordinary metal rectangle bearing her name above her title, "parent mentor."

But for Duarte, it is a badge of honor. Duarte is an immigrant mother with no legal status in the United States who rarely got out of her pajamas or left her house until six months ago. This pin says that she is now a valued contributor to her community.

Her eyes well with tears when she holds a hand over it and calls it her most prized possession. She wears the badge all the time, she says, even when she isn't at Crystal River Elementary School helping kids with their subtraction and spelling and liberally doling out hugs.
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noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Sun, 19 May 2013 00:50:00 +0000

Immigrants — the lifeline of a town

This town is a modern day story of what has been going on in this country since the Pilgrims arrived. - - Donna Poisl

By Renée Loth, Globe Columnist

I AM reading a page one story in The New York Times about a dying suburban town that has been transformed by the energy and optimism of Latino immigrants. The story describes how new arrivals from Mexico, Guatemala, and Peru are taking advantage of the abandoned storefronts and cheap rents in the depressed downtown to open thriving shops and ethnic restaurants, drawing customers from more affluent communities nearby.

The immigrants are described as “the lifeblood’’ of the town, “which fell on hard times in the 1980s and ’90s after factories and mills closed and an older generation of Italian immigrants moved away or died off.” The story is so familiar I almost don’t need to check the dateline, but sure enough, the town is Port Chester, N.Y., where I grew up.
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noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Tue, 14 May 2013 00:05:00 +0000

Gay Immigrants Pose Thorny Test for 'Gang of 8'

All immigrants should be included in immigration reform, we will see what will get done. - - Donna Poisl

By Niels Lesniewski

“Gang of eight” immigration negotiators purposely didn’t include provisions for immigrants in same-sex relationships in their bipartisan bill, but the issue they so carefully avoided may rear its head this week.

As the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares for its Thursday markup of the group’s comprehensive immigration bill, it remains unclear whether Chairman Patrick J. Leahy will offer an amendment to allow same-sex partners of American citizens and permanent residents to gain legal status.

Whether Leahy decides to offer it in committee or on the floor matters because the provision has a much better shot of adoption if offered during the markup than it does during full Senate debate.
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noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Mon, 13 May 2013 23:55:00 +0000

Immigration Reform Has Never Been Just A 'Latino Issue'

People from all over the world are here illegally, not just Latinos. Many people forget that. - - Donna Poisl

By CRISTINA COSTANTINI

It's rare for a TV pundit or politico to talk about immigration reform these days without mention of Republicans losing the "Latino vote." But what they tend to forget is that about 2.5 million of the estimated 11.1 million undocumented immigrants living in this country are not from Latin America. And the majority of that minority (or about 1.3 million) is from Asia.

With immigration levels from Mexico slowing, the Latin American portion of immigrants living in the country illegally is shrinking in comparison to the portions from other countries. In other words, immigration isn't just a Latino issue, and it hasn't been for some time.

Until the 1980's, the majority of immigration to the U.S. was from Europe. This changed, in part, because of initiatives like the Bracero program that brought thousands of Mexicans to the United States to work.
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noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Mon, 13 May 2013 23:17:00 +0000

Study: Most immigrants in L.A. illegally don't speak English well

In the past, immigrants had to learn English and they were successful, now there is not much need for some to learn and they will almost always earn a low income. - - Donna Poisl

By Cindy Chang

Nearly half of Los Angeles County's immigrants here illegally lack a high school diploma, and 60% do not speak English well, according to a study.

Nonprofits and foundations must work with the public sector to make sure there are enough English classes in the event of a mass legalization, said Maria Blanco, vice president of civic engagement at the California Community Foundation, which partially funded the paper released Tuesday by USC.

If newly legalized immigrants do not learn English, their job prospects are likely to remain limited.
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noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Mon, 13 May 2013 22:02:00 +0000

Rebuilding Local Economies & Fueling the Recovery
High-Skilled Immigrants Creating Jobs and Contributing to the U.S. Economy

For Immediate Release

May 13, 2013
Washington D.C. - Today, the Immigration Policy Center releases two fact sheets: Rebuilding Local Economies: Innovation, Skilled Immigration, and H-1B Visas in U.S. Metropolitan Areas and Fueling the Recovery: How High-Skilled Immigrants Create Jobs and Help Build the U.S.

Fueling the Recovery: How High-Skilled Immigrants Create Jobs and Help Build the U.S. Economy discuses that while the U.S. economy is still recovering, it may seem counterintuitive to believe that any industry would benefit from having more workers. But that is precisely the case when it comes to those industries which depend upon highly skilled workers.

Rebuilding Local Economies: Innovation, Skilled Immigration, and H-1B Visas in U.S. Metropolitan Areas discusses how immigration policy is debated at the national level, but its impact is most often felt in local and regional communities. This is certainly true for the H-1B program, which is routinely studied at the national level, but cannot be fully understood without driving down to examine the role of H-1B workers at the metropolitan and local levels.

To view the fact sheets in their entirety, see:

Rebuilding Local Economies: Innovation, Skilled Immigration, and H-1B Visas in U.S. Metropolitan Areas (IPC Fact Check, May 2013)

Fueling the Recovery: How High-Skilled Immigrants Create Jobs and Help Build the U.S. Economy (IPC Fact Check, May 2013)
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For more information, contact Wendy Feliz at wfeliz@immcouncil.org or 202-507-7524

noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Mon, 13 May 2013 21:50:00 +0000

KACE helps adults with English and reading

This organization helps immigrants learn English and also with other things to help them become successful Americans. - - Donna Poisl

By LESLIE KELLY

There’s as many reasons why people come to the Kitsap Adult Center for Education (KACE) as there are students at the center.

But they all have one goal in mind.

“To better themselves and to make their children’s lives better,” said Ann Rudnicki, executive director of KACE. “Each of them have their own story. Each of them have their own reasons why they weren’t able to complete their education. But they are all wanting to improve themselves.”

The center, formerly known as the Literacy Council of Kitsap County, is a community-based nonprofit with a mission to promote adult education in the county.
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noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Mon, 13 May 2013 01:33:00 +0000

The Fallacy of “Enforcement First” &
Lost in The Shadow of the Fence

For Immediate Release

Washington D.C. – Today, the Immigration Policy Center releases two fact sheets, The Fallacy of "Enforcement First" and Lost in the Shadow of the Fence.
The Fallacy of "Enforcement First" discusses the strategy of enforcing the border while ignoring immigration reforms, which the United States has been pursuing for more than two-and-a-half decades. This enforcement-first philosophy ignores the fact that the unworkable nature of our immigration laws is itself facilitating unauthorized immigration, and how our enforcement policies alone have not been able to turn the tide on unauthorized migration.

Lost in the Shadow of the Fence highlights the important economic relationship between Mexico and the United States. The resounding refrain we repeatedly hear from some members of Congress is that we must lengthen and strengthen the fence that separates us from one of our largest economic partners and that it must be completed before moving forward with proposed immigration reforms. While there is a need for secure borders, there is also a need for further streamlining and efficiently facilitating the daily cross-border flows of people, goods, and services important to our bi-national economic relationship.

To view the fact sheets in their entirety, see:
The Fallacy of "Enforcement First" (IPC Fact Check, May 2013)
Lost in the Shadow of the Fence (IPC Fact Check, May 2013)

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For more information contact, Wendy Feliz at wfeliz@immcouncil.org or 202-507-7524

noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Mon, 13 May 2013 01:28:00 +0000

Oxnard students master second language

A good English learning program is very important for the students' futures. - - Donna Poisl

By Anne Kallas

When the number of pupils at Marshall School in Oxnard who passed the California requirements to be classified as English-proficient jumped to 32 this year from nine last year, Principal Cindy Hallman decided to hold a celebration.

She invited the pupils and their families to a dinner Sunday at the elementary school, where they were not only treated to chicken Alfredo, lasagna, salad, bread and cakes, but they also were honored.
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noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Mon, 13 May 2013 00:52:00 +0000

Boomers need immigrants

Young immigrant workers putting money into Social Security will keep it going for many years to come. - - Donna Poisl

By The Times editorial board

The Senate Judiciary Committee took up comprehensive immigration reform late last week. And, as expected, opponents are already rushing to derail it, arguing that any bill that legalizes the vast majority of undocumented immigrants in the United States will cost billions of dollars and place an unfair burden on taxpayers.

Such arguments are merely scare tactics. There's no doubt that granting citizenship to millions of immigrants 13 years from now, as the Senate bill would, will carry a cost, but how much is unclear. Without it, though, the U.S. will face serious problems. In fact, demographers such as Dowell Myers of USC's Price School of Public Policy have repeatedly warned that the country is on the verge of an epic transition as baby boomers retire en masse and birthrates decline. A 2013 report by Myers suggests that in Southern California alone, "boomers are beginning to retire from the most productive period of their lives, creating enormous replacement needs in the workforce." In other words, the U.S. needs immigrants to help cover the retirement costs of older Americans and to fuel economic growth.
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noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Sun, 12 May 2013 18:00:00 +0000

Adding It Up: Accurately Gauging the Economic Impact of Immigration Reform

For Immediate Release

May 7, 2013

Washington D.C. - Today, the Immigration Policy Center releases Adding It Up: Accurately Gauging the Economic Impact of Immigration Reform by Raul Hinojosa Ojeda, Ph.D. and Sherman Robinson, Ph.D.

With immigration reform legislation now making its way through Congress, it is imperative that we estimate as accurately as possible the full range of potential economic costs and benefits associated with any particular bill. It is especially important to establish the proper criteria for a complete, robust, and accurate fiscal scoring of any bill by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). To that end, we should consider the growing consensus of the economic literature on the strongly positive benefits of immigration in general and of the various aspects of immigration reform in particular, as calculated using a variety of different methodologies. The CBO would be well-advised to keep this consensus literature in mind as it establishes the criteria it will use for scoring immigration reform legislation.

To view the fact sheet in its entirety see:

Adding It Up: Accurately Gauging the Economic Impact of Immigration Reform (IPC Fact Check, May 7, 2013)
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For more information, contact Wendy Feliz at wfeliz@immcouncil.org or 202-507-7524.

noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Sun, 12 May 2013 17:56:00 +0000

HIAS Panel Discussions Urge Strategies for Protecting LGBTI Refugees

from HIAS

HIAS kicked off the launch of its groundbreaking report, Invisible in the City: Protection Gaps Facing Sexual Minority Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Urban Ecuador, Ghana, Israel, and Kenya, with a panel discussion Monday morning at Human Rights First's offices in Manhattan, followed by additional panel discussions in Washington, DC and Philadelphia. The report was researched and written for HIAS by Yiftach Millo, an expert in forced migration; it was funded by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.

Learn more about the report and the NY event.

noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Sun, 12 May 2013 17:52:00 +0000

Let's show we're a nation of immigrants

from Cecilia Muñoz, Director, Domestic Policy Council, The White House

This is the start of a national debate. Across the country, we're having a serious discussion about how we can build a fair and effective immigration system that lives up to our heritage as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.

And we need your help to make sure that genuine, personal perspectives are part of the conversation. The truth is, that if we go back far enough, nearly every American story begins somewhere else -- so often with ancestors setting out in search of a different life, carving out a future for their children in this place that all of us now call home.

We want to make sure that idea isn't far from the minds of policymakers here in Washington as we work to reach an agreement to reform immigration.

To kick things off, one of the President's senior advisors sat down to share his story with you.

Watch David Simas tell his American story, then tell us yours.

When Americans from all over the country -- each with different backgrounds, each from different circumstances -- all speak out with the same voice, it's powerful in a way that's hard to ignore. We've seen it again and again, in debate after debate.

And this is the kind of issue where putting a face on the push for reform takes an abstract concept and makes it real. So share your American stories with us, and we'll put them to use.

We'll publish them on the White House website. We'll share them on Facebook and Twitter. We'll do everything we can to make sure they're part of the debate around immigration reform.

Get started here.

Thanks,
Cecilia Muñoz
Director, Domestic Policy Council
The White House

noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Tue, 07 May 2013 01:47:00 +0000

Immigrants Pay Lower Fees to Send Money Home, Helping to Ease Poverty

Immigrants pay much lower fees now to send money home, helping the people here and also their family back home. - - Donna Poisl

By NATALIE KITROEFF

The first time Carmen Gonzalez sent money back to her family in Mexico, in 1991, Western Union charged her a $12 fee to wire $100. She earned that $12 working for six hours in a clothing factory in midtown Manhattan, which paid her $2 an hour.

These days Ms. Gonzalez pays $5, which she earns in less than an hour, so she sends a bit more. The family is benefiting from a financial transformation propelled by new technology and increased competition that has driven down the average cost of sending money to Mexico by nearly 80 percent since 1999.
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noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Tue, 07 May 2013 01:40:00 +0000

Before immigration reform, Citizenship NOW! offers quick answers to common questions

Volunteers took more than 13,300 calls in a week from people needing help with their citizenship questions. - - Donna Poisl

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Immigration reform is coming, so this year’s Daily News/ CUNY Citizenship NOW! call-in was particularly meaningful. Hopefully, by the time of next year’s call-in we will be able to tell hardworking undocumented immigrants getting on a path to U.S. citizenship that the reform train has left the station, and no restrictionist, no terrorist can derail it.

Almost half of this week’s callers wanted information about how to get U.S. citizenship. Here are answers to some frequently asked questions.

Q: Where can I get help with my naturalization application?

A: New York City has lots of ......................
Click on the HEADLINE above to read the rest of the Q&A! This is only a small part of it.

noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Tue, 07 May 2013 01:25:00 +0000

Educator takes teaching Japanese to a new level

Using her own experiences learning a new language, this teacher is this year's Teacher of the Year. - - Donna Poisl

By JULIE GREENE, The Herald-Mail of Hagerstown

BOONSBORO, MD. — Ayako Shiga knows how difficult it can be to learn a foreign language.

When she was growing up in Tokyo, she failed her first semester of English in middle school.

During a break that semester, she went to visit her father in Australia and couldn't answer the waiter when he asked her, in English, how old she was, because she didn't understand the question.

Shiga said that last experience motivated her to learn English and apply to be a high school exchange student in America.
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noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Tue, 07 May 2013 01:19:00 +0000

Study: Immigrants who live, work together less apt to learn English

I think this has always been the case, if we don't really need to know another language, we don't learn it. Especially since it is hard. - - Donna Poisl

from Reflejos

(purdue.edu) — Adult immigrants living and working in places where they are surrounded by others who share their ethnic backgrounds are less likely to learn or be proficient in the English language, say two Purdue University researchers.

In a study of Chinese and Mexican immigrants age 25 and older who came to the United States for reasons other than attending school, Purdue agricultural economists Brigitte Waldorf and Raymond Florax and three research collaborators found that residing and working in ethnic “enclaves” made it easier for immigrants to continue speaking their native language and put off - or avoid altogether - learning English.
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noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Tue, 07 May 2013 01:13:00 +0000

Instruction of students learning English bleak

With so many kids needing ESL classes, it is sad that they don't get all the help they need. - - Donna Poisl

By CHRISTINE ARMARIO

MIAMI (AP) — Duna Lopez started school in Miami last fall not knowing a single word of English.

The 8-year-old girl from Barcelona, Spain, with dark blond hair was placed in the Coral Way Bilingual K-8 Center, the nation’s oldest bilingual school. For half the day, she receives classes in Spanish; it’s English for the rest. During language arts, she gets pulled out with three other new arrivals for extra help on grammar and phonics.

After seven months, she’s one of the most active participants in class.
“In five months, like that, I learned it,” she said.
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noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Tue, 07 May 2013 00:52:00 +0000

Transformation of a Town Underscores Immigrants’ Impact

It is amazing how some of these immigrants can succeed with everything against them. We need people like Moises. - - Donna Poisl

By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ

PORT CHESTER, N.Y. — Nearly 20 years after he arrived penniless in this country from Mexico, Moises owns two restaurants, with a third on the way. He has five employees, an American wife and a stepdaughter. His food even has a following on Yelp.com.

What Moises does not have is American citizenship, or even a green card permitting him to reside legally in the United States. So he inhabits an economic netherworld, shuttling among his establishments on the bus and train because he cannot get a driver’s license and making do without bank loans or credit cards even as he files for zoning permits and incorporation papers.
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noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Sat, 04 May 2013 01:03:00 +0000

A part of immigration reform even critics like: integrating new Americans (+video)

There are 30 pages in the proposal that are about integrating immigrants into the U.S. culture, and most people really like them. Watch the video: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/2013/0501/A-part-of-immigration-reform-even-critics-like-integrating-new-Americans-video - - Donna Poisl

By David Grant, Staff writer

In an immigration reform debate loaded with bitter disputes, there’s vast bipartisan support for a small, as-yet-overlooked part of the Senate’s bipartisan legislation: doing more to integrate new immigrants into American civic and cultural life.

Beneficiaries of such assimilation efforts would be brand new immigrants, as well as those who have lived illegally in America for years but who, under immigration reform, are seeking legal status and, some, eventual citizenship.

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noreply@blogger.com (Donna Poisl) — Sat, 04 May 2013 00:42:00 +0000

Schwarzenegger lends muscle to immigration discussion

Speakers at a USC think tank program discussed why immigration reform is needed. - - Donna Poisl

By Cindy Chang, Los Angeles Times

Arnold Schwarzenegger uses his own improbable rise from bodybuilder to action hero to California governor as an argument for immigration reform.

As a teenager in his native Austria, Schwarzenegger saw the United States as the only place he could achieve his outsized dreams. The 11 million immigrants now in the country illegally are not so different from his younger self, he told an audience Tuesday at the USC think tank that bears his name.

"These are all very hardworking people. They have a dream. They want to make their dream a reality," he said.
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