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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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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...

  • Blog

“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

Local Policies That Protect Immigrants, Outlined

January 3, 2017

Since the election, states and localities have begun to think creatively about how to push back against President-elect Donald Trump’s threats to undermine current enforcement priorities and...

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States and Localities Respond to Donald Trump’s Immigration Plans

December 12, 2016

With all the focus on what to expect at the national level on immigration under President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, it’s easy to overlook the states and localities, which are reacting...

  • Blog

Texas Judge Rules Immigration Family Detention Centers Cannot Get Childcare Licenses

December 6, 2016

A Texas judge issued a final judgment last Friday prohibiting the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) from issuing a childcare license to the nation’s largest family...

  • Blog

Legal Challenges to Arizona’s SB 1070 End–For Now

September 27, 2016

After six years of challenges, including a trip to the Supreme Court, the legal battle over Arizona’s SB 1070 has come to an end—for now. The law faced a wave of opposition soon after going into...

  • Blog

ICE Targets ‘Sanctuary’ Jurisdictions in Worksite Investigations

July 25, 2018

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on Tuesday that its agents had delivered I-9 audit notices to more than 5,200 businesses since January 2018, many of which were served in...

  • Blog

Local Limits on Immigration Enforcement Successfully Slow Deportation Machine

May 14, 2018

Immigration policies may be crafted on a national scale, under the purview of the federal government, but it is at the local level that immigrants live their lives. And it is at the local level...

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Largest Worksite Raid in a Decade Signals a Dark Turn in Immigration Enforcement

April 12, 2018

The largest employment crackdown in a decade was launched on April 5 at a meat-processing plant in Bean Station, a rural community outside of Knoxville, Tennessee. Nearly 100 immigrants were...

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This Controversial Immigration Enforcement Program Threatens U.S. Communities

April 9, 2018

In an era of increased immigration enforcement, it is even more important to understand the ways in which some states and localities collaborate with the federal government. Recent research also...

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Trumps Calls in the Troops to the Border—But No One Knows What For

April 6, 2018

President Trump first announced via tweet—and later a signed proclamation—that he plans to send the National Guard to the nation’s southern border. And yet, at the same time, he acknowledged that...

  • Blog

Immigration Enforcement Priorities Have Been Abandoned—and That’s Bad News for Everyone

March 12, 2018

In order to effectively fight crime, law-enforcement officers must gain the trust of the communities they intend to serve. Trust encourages victims of crime, as well as potential witnesses, to...

  • Blog

The Department of Justice Sues California Over Its ‘Sanctuary’ Policies

March 7, 2018

A lawsuit challenging several California laws filed Tuesday is the U.S. Justice Department’s latest salvo in the ongoing policy and legal battle regarding “sanctuary” policies. The complaint,...

  • Blog

Lawmakers Are Blaming Undocumented Immigrants for the Opioid Epidemic

February 15, 2018

The scapegoating of immigrants for crime in the United States was on full display at a February 15 hearing of the House Judiciary Committee. The hearing was devoted to exploring the ways in which...

  • Blog

The Federal Government Is Using Immigration Raids as Retaliation Against California

February 8, 2018

When agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided 77 businesses throughout northern California at the end of January and beginning of February, they were doing more than...

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ICE Issues Guidance on Enforcement at Courthouses

February 7, 2018

After a significant increase in arrests outside of courthouses in 2017, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has finally released new guidance that officially gives its agents permission to...

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