November 6, 2017.

Until recently, refugee resettlement was something the United States took on quietly and with a justified sense of pride. Even as immigration policy became a controversial issue, refugee resettlement was generally kept out of the fray.

More recently, refugee resettlement has become a focus of uneasy attention. With the refugee ban that was implemented by the Trump administration in the beginning of his term and the decision to cut resettlement numbers in half, it is more important … (read more)

September 13, 2017. On September 8, there was a panel that discussed the 2017 mayoral and City Council election that was organized by the Center for Community and Ethnic Media at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. FPI’s David Dyssegaard Kallick, Deputy Director and Director of Immigration Research, joined the host Errol Louis, Professor Christina Greer from Fordham University, Christian González-Rivera from the Center for an Urban Future, and Stephen Witt from Kings County Politics to discuss health and immigration … (read more)

August 2, 2017.

The Workers That Feed Our Families: Fighting for the Right to Organize

Crispin Hernandez is a farmworker who felt he and others he worked with were not getting a fair wage or decent working conditions. The solution, he thought, was to organize with other workers to be able to negotiate with their employers. When he started organizing, however, he was fired.

The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), who is representing Crispin Hernandez, filed a lawsuit against … (read more)

Young Immigrants Pay $55 Million More in NY Taxes as a Result of DACA

July 5, 2017. In the midst of a flurry of restrictive actions against various categories of immigrants, the Trump administration announced last month that it would continue, at least for now, the policy that protects some undocumented immigrants from deportation if they arrived in the United States as children. The policy, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, allows immigrant youth who register and … (read more)

June 12, 2017. Many institutions in upstate New York cities and metro areas are wrestling with translation services, language access, and other ways to help integrate local residents who didn’t grow up speaking English. And, while the immigrant share of the population is not as big as in cities like New York or Los Angeles, the diversity of languages spoken can make for its own challenges.

An analysis of the 2015 American Community Survey 5-year data for Buffalo, Rochester and … (read more)

April 25, 2017. What will happen to immigrant youth who as children were brought to the United States without legal status and were temporarily shielded from deportation by a 2012 executive order known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA? The Trump Administration is projecting very mixed messages about the present and future of these young people.

To help shed some light on how DACA has allowed these young immigrants to contribute to our country and our state, a … (read more)

For immediate release: April 11, 2017

FPI Statement on 2017-18 Enacted State Budget

There’s no question the newly-minted state budget contains some important public policy issues that should be lauded. However, given the governor’s very vocal concerns about funding threats from Washington, we sadly missed an opportunity to be proactive in protecting New York from … (read more)

Last updated August 28, 2017. During these times where executive orders from Washington are not promoting a welcoming climate for immigrants, refugees and asylees, cities in upstate New York choose to do the opposite. Upstate cities are topics in many newspapers that highlight their welcoming, supportive and caring attitudes and actions toward refugees and immigrants. The news articles listed below illustrate how cities such as Albany, Buffalo, Syracuse and Utica help, welcome and support, their refugee friends, neighbors and community … (read more)

Tuesday, March 2. As the Trump Administration talks about a program of mass deportation – or, who knows, perhaps not? – the question of what contribution undocumented immigrants make to the New York economy is more important than ever. This new report finds that unauthorized immigrants are responsible for $40 billion, or three percent, of New York’s economic output, and make up five percent of the labor force. They also pay taxes—a total of $1.1 billion in state and local … (read more)

February 7, 2017. In its 27th annual New York State budget briefing book, the Fiscal Policy Institute analyzes and comments on Governor Andrew Cuomo’s FY 2018 Executive Budget.

This year’s New York State budget negotiations take shape against a worrisome backdrop. The president and congress are threatening to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, make drastic cuts to programs that help millions of New Yorkers, and create a hostile environment for the states four million immigrants. The state has an … (read more)