Migration

Language Diversity and English-Speaking Ability in Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse

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 Syracuse cities and metro areas [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:26:42-05:00June 14th, 2017|Blog, Migration|

Syrian Immigrants: Doing Well, and a Strong Receiving Community for Refugees

December 13, 2016. A new report by the Fiscal Policy Institute and the Center for American Progress looks at how Syrian immigrants fare in the United States. After a political campaign season in which Syrians coming to the United States were met with harsh words and proposals, this report takes a calm look at how immigrants from Syria are faring in the United States. The findings are reassuring: Syrian immigrants are highly educated, disproportionately likely to be business owners, learn English, and become home owners [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:26:58-05:00December 13th, 2016|Blog, Migration|

Do Immigrants Present an Untapped Opportunity to Revitalize Communities?

Wednesday, October 19. As many cities across the nation experience population decline and an increase in vacant and distressed property, there is a need for economic and housing revitalization. New research from Welcoming Economies Global Network and Fiscal Policy Institute indicates that immigrants represent some of the brightest potential for revitalizing urban communities. However, experience suggests, that immigrants are often overlooked and underestimated by homeownership, community development, and affordable housing advocates, practitioners, and programs. This report, which includes an interactive tool, show that immigrants have strong rates of potential [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:26:59-05:00October 19th, 2016|Economic Trends & Policy, Migration, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

Driver’s License Fees: Low, Medium, and High-Cost States

September 16, 2016. The cost of getting a driver’s license has become entwined with many different issues recently. It is relevant to discussions of allowing unauthorized immigrants to apply for licenses. It has come up in states that require people to show identification in order to vote and in discussions surrounding fees that are a barrier to getting a state-issued ID. And, some states have acted to reduce the burden for some groups by allowing free or reduced-cost licenses to homeless people, senior citizens, veterans, [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:26:59-05:00September 16th, 2016|Blog, Migration|

Opening Keynote by David Dyssegaard Kallick Promises Timely and Relevant Discussion

Friday, July 22. David Dyssegaard Kallick, Director of the Immigration Research Initiative at the Fiscal Policy Institute since 2007, will be presenting at The Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities's 2016 CUMU Conference's Opening Keynote. David Dyssegaard Kallick's keynote speech, titled "Can Immigrants Revitalize America's Shrinking Cities?" will take place on Monday, October 24th from 8:30-10:00 AM at the 22nd Annual CUMU Conference: Charting the Future of Metropolitan Universities in Washington, D.C. His speech will explain why institutions in urban and metropolitan areas are struggling with [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:26:59-05:00July 22nd, 2016|Economic Trends & Policy, Fact Sheets, Migration|

Analysis of Refugee Groups Provides Evidence of High Levels of Integration Across Indicators

June 16, 2016. The Fiscal Policy Institute and the Center for American Progress released a report that analyzes how four key refugee groups—Bosnians, Burmese, Hmong, and Somalis—in the United States are doing on key indicators of integration, such as wages, labor market participation, business ownership, English language ability, and citizenship. As the United States and other countries wrestle with how to handle the sharp rise in the number of people around the globe displaced by conflict and persecution, the long-term experiences of the four groups studied [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:26:59-05:00June 16th, 2016|Migration, Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

Keeping DREAMers Out of College: Missouri Makes a Costly Mistake

April 19, 2016. Missouri's appropriations bill for higher education includes instructions that would leave immigrants who have been granted deferred action in the position of having to pay a much higher tuition rate at state colleges. For every student this discourages from going to community college, the student loses $7,000 in potential earnings and the state and local governments lose $630 in potential tax contributions. For those who don't get a bachelor's degree, it costs the typical student $21,000 per year in potential earnings, and costs the [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:00-05:00April 19th, 2016|Migration, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

$15 Minimum Wage Would Raise Earnings for 1.1 Million Immigrants

March 23, 2016. In a brief, the Fiscal Policy Institute states that gradually raising the New York State minimum wage from its current level of $9/hour to $15/hour by 2019 in New York City and mid-2021 in the rest of the state would give a much-needed raise to 1.1 million immigrant workers. In all, there are 3.2 million New York workers who will benefit from the phased-in wage increase, which would on average increase wages by $4,900 per year. These numbers reflect the workers who [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:00-05:00March 23rd, 2016|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Migration, Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

FPI Testimony in US Senate on Immigration

March 16, 2016. The director of FPI's Immigration Research Initiative, David Dyssegaard Kallick, testified today before a U.S. Senate hearing on immigration, making the case that immigrants are contributing robustly to the United States economy, Written testimony is here. Video available here. In the video, the hearing starts at 21.08; Kallick's remarks are at 1:01:15, 1:17:03, and 2:04:05.

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:01-05:00March 16th, 2016|Migration, Testimony|

Full Implementation of Obama’s Immigration Executive Actions Would Bring $82 Million in Tax Revenues to New York

February 24, 2016. A 50-state study released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, co-released in New York by the Fiscal Policy Institute, finds that if President Obama’s executive actions on immigration were permitted to be fully implemented they would bring an additional $82 million in New York state and local tax revenue compared to not having the actions in place. The executive actions would add to the tax revenue in all 50 states and in the District of Columbia. Nationally, the report [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:01-05:00February 24th, 2016|Migration, Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|

New Americans on Long Island: A Vital Fifth of the Economy

June 2, 2015. There are 526,000 immigrants living on Long Island, making up 18 percent of the region’s population and 20 percent of the economic output of Long Islanders, according to a study released today by the Fiscal Policy Institute, New Americans on Long Island: A Vital Fifth of the Economy. Half of immigrants overall (51 percent) work in white-collar jobs, the study found, and the large majority (61 percent) live in families earning over $80,000 a year. Immigrants represent significant numbers of the people [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:04-05:00June 2nd, 2015|Migration, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

Executive Actions on Immigrants Will Bring Increased NY Tax Revenue

April 16, 2015. A new 50-state study, Undocumented Immigrants’ State and Local Tax Contributions, by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy finds that undocumented immigrants’ tax contributions would increase significantly under the Obama Administration’s executive actions and even more substantially under comprehensive immigration policy reform. The report is being co-released in New York by the Fiscal Policy Institute and is particularly relevant in connection with the hearing tomorrow, Friday April 17, on executive action at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The report’s key [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:04-05:00April 16th, 2015|Blog, Migration, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|

Immigrant “Main Street” Business Owners Playing an Outsized Role

January 14, 2015. Immigrants are a little more likely to own businesses than their U.S.-born counterparts, but they are a lot more likely to own Main Street businesses such as grocery stores, restaurants, and barber shops, finds a new study released today by the Fiscal Policy Institute and Americas Society/Council of the Americas. Immigrants make up 16 percent of the labor force and 18 percent of business owners, but 28 percent of Main Street businesses (defined as retail, food services and accommodation, and [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:21-05:00January 13th, 2015|Migration, Must Read, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

Immigrants Are More Likely to Be Business Owners …but They’re Not “Super-Entrepreneurs”

January 14, 2015. Immigrants are entrepreneurial—that is by now well established. But how much more is not as widely understood. As I was working on a report about immigrant business ownership, Bringing Vitality to Main Street, released today by the Americas Society/Council of the Americas with the Fiscal Policy Institute, I dug into what the research shows. What I found is that there is broad consensus that immigrants are a little more likely to own businesses than their U.S.-born counterparts, but not a lot more [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:27:21-05:00January 13th, 2015|Blog, Migration|