The Politics and Business of Immigrant Integration
It is time to change the focus of the U.S. debate over immigration. Competing interests and ideologies have narrowed the issue to the question of how to deal with undocumented workers. While reform of the U.S. immigration system is certainly important, there is a greater challenge. How will the growing population of Hispanics be integrated … Read more
The War on Immigrants: Stories from the Front Lines
The U.S. Government’s War on Terror has transgressed into a War on Immigrants. Since September 11, 2001, Washington’s attempt to secure the nation’s borders has not only sent waves of fear through the immigrant community but has undermined the nation’s long-standing principles of providing shelter and refuge to those fleeing tyranny, intolerance and hunger.1
Moving the Debate Forward: What California Can Teach Us
California, America’s most populous state—with the dimensions, economy, power, and international ties, if not the sovereignty, of a nation—can and should play a leading role in attempting to break the U.S. legislative impasse on immigration policy and in forging policies to integrate immigrants more successfully into twenty-first century America.
NAFTA’s Exaggerated Promise for Immigration
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) created an intentionally unequal system for the entry of Canadian and Mexican professionals to the U.S. while flatly rejecting calls by some for including broader migration in the pact. Taking such migration off the table was in deference to U.S. Congressional opposition and that body’s jealously guarded plenary power over immigration—as well as to the expectation of popular furor over its inclusion.
Ex Mex: From Migrants to Immigrants
There are few straightforward, objective accounts about Mexican immigration to the U.S., which partly explains not only the widespread misconceptions about immigrants but also the backlash that has developed in recent years. Amidst a complex debate and a wide range of publications adding contrasting interpretations about its costs and benefits, it is difficult for the … Read more
Hispanic Voting
In states across the U.S., this year’s presidential primary elections have seen some of the highest voter turnouts in the past 40 years. Fighting for votes state-by-state, candidates are courting an increasingly important electorate: the Hispanic population.
Take Care of the Bucks
A few words are sufficient: Mr. President, take care of the dollar! In Latin America, and Mexico especially, we are holding our breath to see how the 44th U.S. president will steer his country’s economy through the current storm. Although the health of the dollar is important around the world, it is vital to Latin … Read more
Reform the Immigration System
“Mother of exiles. From her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome…. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Emma Lazarus’ famous poem is engraved on the pedestal on which the Statue of Liberty stands. The invitation implicit in those words is so compelling that every day someone dies in the desert near the U.S.-southern border, attempting to reach the United States.
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