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Does Pushing Undocumented Immigrants out of a State Help or Hurt the Local Economy?

This highlights a key policy choice states must make: is it better to have a growing economy with lower unemployment overall or marginally higher wages among a small group of workers?

Bad for Business: How Anti-Immigration Legislation Drains Budgets and Damages States’ Economies

Experience from states that have passed anti-immigration measures shows that the these laws can hinder prospects for economic growth, and the costs of implementing, defending, and enforcing these laws can cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

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White House Immigration Principles Are Released as DACA Deal Looms

October 10, 2017

The White House released its Immigration Principles and Policies late Sunday night, providing an outline of the Trump administration’s proposals on immigration. The principles were sent to...

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Immigration Arrests at Courthouses Are Under Fire From State Officials

September 28, 2017

Heightened immigration enforcement has in turn heightened fear, anxiety, and confusion throughout the country. Arrests and stops by federal immigration officials at state and local courthouses is...

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New Anti-Immigrant Bill Creates Over-Broad ‘Gang’ Penalties, Putting Even Churches at Risk

September 13, 2017

This week House Republicans are set to vote on yet another anti-immigrant bill that attempts to scapegoat immigrants and grant far reaching enforcement powers to the Department of Homeland...

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Illinois Takes Steps to Protect Local Law Enforcement from Federal Government Infringement

September 1, 2017

The State of Illinois has taken steps to push back on the Trump Administration’s efforts to force local law enforcement into doing the job of federal immigration enforcement officers. Governor...

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Civil Rights Concerns Continue Over 287(g) Immigration Enforcement Program

August 22, 2017

Racial profiling often runs rampant in communities that have mobilized their law enforcement officers to act as immigration officials, with the Hispanic community frequently faring the worst. A...

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Know Your Rights in Texas: Preparing for State’s New Anti-Immigrant Law SB4

June 12, 2017

After debate rocked the Texas State Capitol, Governor Greg Abbott signed the controversial Senate Bill 4 (SB4) in May, which purports to ban sanctuary city policies and gives local police the...

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Trump’s Mass Deportation Plan Is Passed by the House Judiciary Committee

May 26, 2017

For the third time in five years the House Judiciary Committee has passed a draconian interior enforcement immigration bill out of committee on a party line vote. Immigration advocates and...

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Justice Department Changes Tune on Sanctuary Cities, Acknowledging Administration’s Bark Is Worse Than Its Bite

May 23, 2017

While campaigning for office, then-candidate Trump threatened to punish so-called sanctuary cities by defunding them. Soon after his inauguration, he released an executive order on interior...

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Latinos Are Afraid to Report Crime as Debate Around Immigration Intensifies

May 16, 2017

The new administration has demonstrated that no one is off limits when it comes to ramping up their deportation policies, and as a result community safety is in jeopardy. Despite the fact that...

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“Sanctuary” Policies Protect Communities, Not Criminals

March 2, 2017

State by state “sanctuary” policies have received significant attention lately. Hundreds of communities across the nation have passed some version of a sanctuary policy and in doing so have made...

  • Blog

ICE Targets Mississippi Food Plants in Largest Set of Immigration Raids

August 8, 2019

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted coordinated raids in several small Mississippi towns on Wednesday. With reports of 680 arrests, the raids may be the largest ICE worksite...

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ICE Raids: What to Expect This Week

July 15, 2019

After word got out about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) plans to conduct widespread raids across the country on Sunday, ICE agents appeared to scale back their plans. The...

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How Florida’s SB 168 Will Benefit the Private Prison Industry

May 10, 2019

The Florida legislature recently passed SB 168 with the stated intent of ensuring that state officials and agencies fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities in enforcing immigration...

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USCIS Says Immigrants Who Use Legal Marijuana Can Be Denied Citizenship for ‘Lacking Good Moral Character’

April 23, 2019

Under a new guidance issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), immigrants may find themselves barred from obtaining citizenship if they possess or use marijuana—even if doing so...

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Immigrants Denied Citizenship for Working in the Legal Marijuana Industry

April 5, 2019

Oswaldo Barrientos has lived as a legal immigrant in Denver, Colorado for almost his entire life. Now 30, he and his mother immigrated to the United States from El Salvador when he was a year old...

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Border Towns Are Among the Safest in the United States

February 12, 2019

On Monday evening in El Paso, Texas, two very different images of the U.S.-Mexico border emerged. President Trump held a rally to make the case for his border wall again, repeating his usual...

  • Blog

The Government Tried to Turn Local Cops Into Immigration Agents – The Result Was Disastrous

October 9, 2018

For years, the federal government has attempted to partner with local communities on immigration enforcement, raising a host of problems. This form of collaboration steers limited local resources...

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More Communities Say They Won’t Jail Immigrants for ICE

September 21, 2018

A growing number of communities are reevaluating their role in detaining immigrants on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Local officials in Atlanta, Georgia recently...

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Immigration Raid in Nebraska Devastates Local Agriculture Industry and Families

August 13, 2018

A small town in Nebraska was rocked last week when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents raided multiple businesses, arresting 133...

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President Trump’s Anti-‘Sanctuary’ City Order Is Unconstitutional

August 9, 2018

A key part of President Trump’s effort to bar so-called “sanctuary” cities and counties from receiving money from the federal government has been ruled unconstitutional. Last week’s decision by a...

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