Other States & National

April 14, 2019. This article highlights the link between immigration and economic growth -  "America’s secret sauce that has the potential to foster broad-based prosperity has always been immigration." Quotes David Dysseygaard Kallick, senior fellow with the Fiscal Policy Institute, who wrote about the centrality of immigrants to New York City’s success in his book “One Out of Three: Immigrant New York In The 21st Century”  “The increase in the number and proportion of immigrants in the city has fueled economic growth, filled in neighborhoods that had become underpopulated later [...]

April 8, 2019. This article personalizes how losing TPS (temporary protected status) will personally impact a NYC family as well as the wider implications for our economy. The U.S economy could also be negatively impacted by the end of TPS and the resulting departure of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, says the Fiscal Policy Institute, a nonprofit organization that studies public policies. New York is home to more than 16,200 TPS holders from El Salvador. They contribute an annual Gross Domestic Product of $958,3 million, according [...]

April 5, 2019. This article discusses the release of a study by Global Detroit that demonstrates potential for immigrants to help stabilize Detroit neighborhoods through homeownership. The article goes on to highlight that Global Detroit is advocating for investments that would provide immigrants with resources such as financial literacy training to help reduce the barriers of immigrants becoming homeowners, which include less knowledge about credit scores and lower usage of bank accounts. The author goes on to note that the study uses data released by FPI [...]

January 10, 2019. This article discusses the controversy surrounding estimates of the cost of illegal immigration to the United States. The author points out that President Trump has used several different cost estimates including $200 billion, $250 billion and $275 billion in order to gain support for funding for the U.S.-Mexico border wall. The article goes on to discuss how an accurate estimate of the cost of illegal immigration is hard to determine. The author cites many tax and immigration experts who highlight that undocumented [...]

January 10, 2019. This article and news clip covers the controversial estimate, from the Center for Immigration Studies, that claims an undocumented immigrant costs the United States $82,000 over their lifetime. The article goes on to highlight that numerous times the President has used a different and often larger number when talking about the cost of illegal immigration. The estimate has come into question by other immigration experts including Meg Wiehe from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and FPI's Deputy Director, David Dyssegaard [...]

December 14, 2018. In this op-ed by Steve Tobocman, executive director of Global Detroit, he argues that the Trump administration's proposed "public charge" rule will go against the United States' history of refugee resettlement and the country's welcoming legacy. This rule would withhold green cards from immigrants who have used specific public benefits or are likely to use them in the future. Tobocman highlights the importance of immigrants to Michigan, who reversed the state's population decline and how the "public charge" rule will effect the [...]

December 12, 2018. This article discusses the work of advocacy organizations who are opposed to the Trump Administration's proposed "public charge" rule, which would make it harder for immigrants to obtain a green card or citizenship if they have received or are likely to receive specific public benefits. The article goes on to discuss the efforts of organizations to post comments during the 60-day comment period that ended Monday in order to show their opposition and the harm that this rule could do to immigrants. At [...]

December 10, 2018. On Monday, multiple national advocacy organizations reiterated their opposition to the Trump administrations's proposed "public charge" rule, which would make it harder for immigrants who receive public services to acquire green cards or become citizens. With Monday marking the final day for the public to comment on the proposed regulation changes, leaders from groups like National Immigration Law Center, Planned Parenthood, and the UndocuBlack Network convened to encourage one last push against the rule. A report from the Fiscal Policy Institute estimates that 24 million [...]

December 1, 2018. In this op-ed, the author, Phineas Baxandall, argues that the Trump Administration's proposed "public charge" rule, which would require immigrants applying for legal permanent residence to demonstrate that they have not received, and will not receive specific public benefits including SNAP and Medicaid. He argues that this rule goes against the tradition of Thanksgiving in America, which is a holiday known for helping European immigrants who were facing starvation during the winter months. The author goes on to argue that this rule [...]

November 20, 2018. This article is about Talent Beyond Boundaries (TBB), an international non-government organization, with locations in Canada and Australia that works to match refugees in Lebanon and Jordan with employment opportunities abroad. The author goes on to discuss how highly-skilled refugees can fill labor shortage gaps and the organization hopes to change Western attitudes towards refugee resettlement. The author highlights that the project is currently small and the organization has a searchable database with 11,000 refugee resumes from Lebanon and Jordan. The experiment so [...]

November 5, 2018. This article tells the story of a Syrian family who fled the civil war in Jordan and was resettled in Oakland, California where they are now owners of a catering business, Old Damascus Fare, that makes Syrian food. The family expressed that they hope to own a restaurant in the future. The author highlights the FPI and Center for American Progress report, "Syrian Immigrants: Doing Well and a Strong Receiving Community for Refugees," which found that Syrian immigrants are 11 percent of [...]

October 12, 2018. This report discusses the findings of FPI's new report, "Only Wealthy Immigrants Need Apply," that include an estimated 24 million people will be affected by the "public charge" rule. The author goes on to highlight the finding that 9 million children will be affected, most of them U.S. citizens. FPI’s report says the new interpretation would “radically restrict access to green cards and various types of visas for immigrants who do not have a high enough income, or who have used public health, food, [...]

October 11, 2018. This article discusses the federal administration's proposed "public charge" rule that could affect 24 million people. The author notes that the rule would directly affect immigrants seeking permanent status but that there would be "chilling effects" that spread fear among immigrants to disenroll or not apply for public benefits. The article goes on to highlight important facts about the "public charge" rule which include that it will not affect refugees, asylees  protected groups, or green card holders, having accepted SNAP or TANF does not mean immediate denial [...]