Immigration

May 17, 2018. This article discusses Erie County's Clerk Mickey Kearns' statement that he is in opposition to the Driver License Access and Privacy Act which would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses. The article goes on to quote others who are in support of the act and would like to see it passed. Those that support it say that it will increase public safety, improve community members' lives, and generate county revenue. According to labor-backed think tank Fiscal Policy Institute, an estimated 265,000 immigrants would get licenses [...]

May 18, 2018. In this article by Mark Sommer and Maki Becker, the authors discuss Erie County's Clerk, Mickey Kearns', position on granting undocumented immigrants driver's licenses. The article quotes Kearns stating that if the law is passed, he would consider it a violation of federal law and that he will not have licenses processed. The article goes on to quote others who are in opposition to Kearns' view and see a driver's licenses as a necessity to living life.  "If the Legislature or the governor through [...]

May 15, 2018. An article in Spectrum News discussed the rally at the New York State Capital for driver's licenses for all individuals regardless of immigration status. The group Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson and many others from cities and towns all over New York gathered hoping that officials would hear their requests. The article goes on to discuss how undocumented immigrants fear deportation and separation from family members when they drive, but have to drive as a necessity to provide for their family and commute to work. [...]

April 30, 2018. In this op-ed by Jorge Cotraro, an undocumented immigrant living on Long Island, discusses his constant fear of driving to do daily activities, such as driving to work. He is in fear of being pulled over for a traffic violation that turns into a deportation case, which would tear him apart from his wife and kids. He cites FPI's 2017 report, Expanding Access to Driver's Licenses. He argues that passing a bill allowing undocumented immigrants to get driver's licenses would change many [...]

April 19, 2018. For over a decade, advocacy groups and supporters of a bill to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses in New York have persistently been showing their support. The "Driver License Access and Privacy Act" would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain a driver's license using their passport and signing an affidavit stating they have not received a social security number. Advocates cite FPI's report, Expanding Access to Driver's Licenses, and argue that it will help families get their children to school and medical appointments [...]

April 19, 2017. Anu Joshi, of the New York Immigration Coalition, discusses the positive impacts of allowing undocumented immigrants to  obtain driver's licenses in New York in an interview with Liz Benjamin on Capital Tonight. She repeatedly cites FPI's report, "Expanding Access to Driver's Licenses," and its finding that include $57 M in state and local tax revenue and safer roads. We have the research to back it up, you know, the Fiscal policy institute talks about how this would bring every year, $57 million to the state of New [...]

April 19, 2018. On April 18, 2018, advocacy groups protested for the Driver License Access and Privacy Act, which would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses in New York and would also protect their information to prevent putting them at risk for deportation. A bill for driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants has been proposed for many years and supporters say that now is the time for it to pass. This article cited FPI's report, Expanding Access to Driver's Licenses. One of the hurdles faced [...]

February 26, 2018. In this article the author, Clarence Hightower, argues that immigrants are who made America what it is today. He discusses the present contributions of immigrants to the U.S. by citing research, including FPI’s, which shows that immigrants are highly educated, very likely to be business owners, are homeowners, and their children are less likely to be involved in the criminal justice system. He goes on to draw attention to the demonizing actions and rhetoric from the federal administration surrounding the decisions to [...]

February 23, 2018. In this op-ed the author, Sandy Mcpherson Carrubba Geary, discusses her view on immigration, which is that America should live up to its poem that is engraved on the Statue of Liberty and to continue to allow refugees and immigrants migrate to the United States. She goes on to discuss how her family sponsored a Vietnamese family who spent time in a refugee camp and that they became very successful in the U.S. Geary explains that their family moved to Texas and [...]

February 8, 2018. An editorial in The Buffalo News discusses the impact of the federal administration's cut to legal immigration and "chain migration" in Buffalo. Although the Trump Administration has created a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, he is hurting upstate cities like Buffalo by cutting legal migration. Buffalo was already hurt by the cut in refugee resettlement. Immigrants will only be able to bring their children and spouses to the U.S., not other family members. The editorial goes on to discuss how immigrants and refugees [...]