Immigrant contributions to the U.S. Economy

A new SBA Office of Advocacy sponsored report by Robert W. Fairlie examines the contributions of immigrants to the U.S. economy. Some of its findings are:  

Immigrants are nearly 30 percent more likely to start a business than are nonimmigrants, and they represent 16.7 percent of all new business owners in the United States.

States Rebel Over Deportations

Lawmakers and law-enforcement officials in several states are turning against a mandatory federal program that is a cornerstone of the Obama administration's immigration policy.

The Secure Communities initiative is designed to spot and deport illegal immigrants who have been convicted of crimes. Under the program, fingerprints of people booked into a jail are transmitted to a database reviewed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. If found to be in the U.S. illegally, they can face deportation.

Immigrant Entrepreneurs Leaving the U.S. to Become Our Competition

Restrictionists often perpetuate the myth that immigrants are not needed in our current economy—that they take jobs and hurt American workers.  But research has shown that immigrants not only grow the economy, but help create jobs and are part of the solution to our economic woes.  However, while immigrants can create jobs and start new businesses here in the U.S., they’re choosing to do it somewhere else in recent years due to our complicated and dysfunctional immigration system. 


The most recent report to shed light on this issue is from the Kauffman Foundation, which recently released The Grass is Indeed Greener in India and China for Returnee Entrepreneurs.

Myths and facts about immigrants

Undocumented immigrants pay taxes, they're not eligible for welfare programs, they have rights protected by the US Constitution, they are taxpayers.

Undocumented immigrants pay taxes in two ways -- income and sales taxes. In 2004, officials of the U.S. Social Security Administration testified that the Social Security Administration estimates undocumented immigrants paid about approximately $420 billion into the Social Security system. They have no way to claim the money, which was paid into the system using faked Social Security numbers. Immigrants, illegal or legal, buy things and pay sales taxes. Some undocumented immigrants also have tax numbers instead of Social Security numbers and pay taxes that way.

Mary and Joseph Were "Undocumented"

In Matthew Chapter 2, Jesus' family was forced to flee from Herod, who had ordered that all the baby boys in their hometown be murdered. Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt, where they were probably regarded as asylum seekers or illegal immigrants. Either way, these strangers struggling to get by in a foreign land could certainly be called "undocumented workers."

As a Christian and a lawmaker, biblical stories like these form something of a lens through which I try to find focus when making public policy decisions. That story has become important to me as anti-immigrant bills and sentiment have gained a disturbing momentum in Austin over the last few weeks.

Get moving on immigration reform

Obama can begin by instructing the Department of Homeland Security to use prosecutorial discretion when deciding which immigrants will be hauled into the overburdened immigration court system. And the administration should help the undocumented spouses and relatives of U.S. citizens by allowing those who have applied for green cards to remain in the U.S. while their cases are reviewed.

Gutierrez has a better immigration solution than Obama

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) has it right on immigration reform. President Obama has it only half right.

They agree it is time to flip the script on congressional opponents of legislation to modernize the nation’s failed immigration system. The current system amounts to a mindless set of laws that makes it next to impossible to get the world’s brightest and most talented people into the country, and punishes employers and hardworking people who fill the nation’s need for low-wage workers.

Men Attempt To Burn Mosque

Surveillance cameras at Madrasah Islamiah, at 6665 Bintliff, captured images of group of at least three men in masks holding canisters and walking toward the back of the mosque, said Atif Fattah, a volunteer at the facility. Prayer rugs at the back of the mosque were doused with gasoline, Fattah said.

Immigrants Cheated By Job Agencies

In some of the poorest neighborhoods across the city, immigrants hoping to land jobs through employment agencies have routinely been cheated out of money. They are often charged hundreds of dollars in fees, promised jobs that do not exist, and sent to abusive working environments.

Obama's Immigration Speech Fails

Obama could have told the country the persecution of hardworking immigrants, the mass deportation policy of his administration and the senseless separation of immigrant families are wrong and he was going to exercise executive authority to put an end to it.

Immigrants Have Fought And Died For This Country

The "American dream" has always transcended race or culture, and many of those who have come here both legally and illegally risked death in the hopes that they, too, could be part of it. It's worth pointing out that the first soldier to die in Operation Iraqi Freedom was an illegal immigrant from Guatemala. Clearly, Marine Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez believed that America and what it represents was worth dying for.

NY Times Was Documenting Life Of Neo Nazi At Time Of Killing

“I want a white society,” Mr. Hall said. “I believe in secession. I believe in giving my life for secession.”  What he could never have expected was that his death might come at the hand of his son, whom he was steeping in his beliefs of white supremacy and its obsessions with weapons, racist speech and Nazi regalia.

Network TV is picking up a little español

As Latinos have grown into the largest minority in the United States (new census figures report that one in six Americans are Latino), so has the amount of Spanish on television shows trying to appeal to this growing TV audience.

Final Push To Get Signatures For Recalling Pearce

No group has been able to successfully recall an Arizona politician, but a group of Valley residents say they are close to recalling State Senate President Russell Pearce.

Anti-Immigrant Sentiment In New Zealand

The Right Wing Resistance, led by former National Front leader Kyle Chapman is planning an Anti-Asian rally to protest against mass Asian immigration, which he claimed "stole jobs" and "destroyed white New Zealand culture and heritage".

Domestic Violence Victim Calls 911, Gets Arrested

A call to 911 asking for help in a situation of domestic violence led to a deportation order for Isaura Garcia, but a public outcry prompted immigration authorities to suspend the expulsion.

Europe Moves To The Right

Every month, there is another milestone passed in the ever onward march of Europe's populist, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, nativist right.

Rep. Mike Honda Introduces Reuniting Families Act

The irony behind anti-immigration sentiment, fears that Americans will lose jobs if more immigrant workers enter the U.S., is that it’s more prudent fiscally to legalize, employ and reunite our immigrants than to keep families apart.

San Mateo’s Racial Divide

In many ways, the juxtaposition of the heavily Latino, working-class North Fair Oaks neighborhood and the largely white city of Atherton — home to the likes of the Apple C.E.O., Steven P. Jobs, and the executive chairman of Google, Eric E. Schmidt — captures the disparities in class and race found all over the Bay Area.

Nationalist Mobs Attack Immigrants in Athens

More than 100 Asian and African immigrants were attacked by rampaging youths on Thursday, a Pakistani community spokesman said, and dozens of immigrant-owned shops were attacked or looted.

Why America Needs Immigrants

During the 20th century especially, America became a magnet for the bright and ambitious. Millions of talented foreigners, from Alfred Hitchcock to Sergey Brin, flocked to our universities and benefited from our financial capital and open culture.

Read Article

How Obama let down immigrants

He defended his enforcement policies and blamed Congress for the impasse on legislative reform. He studiously avoided taking responsibility for his own actions which have contributed to writing one of the ugliest chapters in American immigrant history.

Read Article

Texas House Passes Anti-Immigrant Bill

HB 12 prohibits local entities from explicitly barring the enforcement of federal or state immigration laws. This bill allows police officers to request the immigration status of individuals who have been lawfully taken into custody.



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Shields and Gerson Discuss Prospects for Immigration Reform

 They don't expect much on immigration.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/jan-june11/shieldsgerson_05-13.html

Newt Gingrich Reaches Out To Hispanics

He says he supports Dream Act and legalization of undocumented immigrants.

Read more  http://swampland.time.com/2011/05/14/newt-gingrich-seeks-hispanic-voters/

Anti-Immigrant Crowd Attacks Illinois Dream Act

An advocacy group estimates the scholarship bill would aid 95,000 Illinois students. Some probably have stories similar to Cindy, a 22-year-old in her last semester at University of Chicago who did not want to use her last name for fear of deportation.  Her family left Mexico for Chicago when she was 3.

Read more at http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chibrknews-emanuel-backs-scholarships-for-illegal-immigrants-20110514,0,7800942.story

Student To Be Deported After Being Stopped For Traffic Violation

While driving at the University of Texas, Raul Zamora was stopped for a broken taillight, which eventually lead to deportation proceedings.    



Read more here http://wfc2.wiredforchange.com/o/8496/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=457

Volunteers Needed For Pearce Recall

Via Randy Parraz RECALL PEARCE UPDATE - NOT GOOD: Today's walk was not what we had hoped for. Only 30 people turned out. Unfortunately that is not going to be good enough to recall Pearce. Our latest validity check has us 2,000 signatures short of what we need. Many of you signed up today but didn't show up. We need you tomorrow, Sunday, from 3:00PM-6:00PM at 628 N Center Street! See you tomorrow!

Florida's Marco Rubio Refuses To Support Dream Act

Republican Rubio Says He Will Vote Against The Act


http://americasvoiceonline.org/press_releases/entry/on_dream_act_rubio_out_of_step_with_florida_hispanics/

White Supremacist Threatens Utah Professors

Two Utah professors were sent emails threatening attacks for their support of immigrants.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/51811478-78/heineman-professor-police-complaint.html.csp