Dr. Jeffrey Passel, Senior Research Associate with the Pew Hispanic Center was interviewed on CSPAN’s Washington Journal on March 9th about the centers newest report on undocumented migrants; ” Size and Characteristics of the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U.S.”

During the course of the over forty minute interview, Dr. Passel dispelled many of the popular misconceptions about undocumented migrants. Here are just a few:

  • That 5.7 mil of the 11.1 mil undocumented migrants are women and children, disproving the popular belief that most migrants are single young men coming here to earn money to send home.

  • That young working families make up the bulk of that population, including 3mil American born children who are citizens.

  • That 6.7 mil have been here more than five years, and out of those, 3.8 mil have been here more than ten.

  • That some 94% of adult men are working, the majority of them “legally” with Social Security numbers and paying taxes.

    • .

  • That a large number of migrants have high school education  and ten percent are college graduates. Their children tend to do better, and most go on to attend college.

  • When US unemployment is high, immigration goes down…it only increases when unemployment is low. Dispelling the belief that migrants take jobs from US workers and cause unemployment

  • That immigrants represent only 5% of work force and have very little impact on wages.

  • NAFTA has been a major contributor to increased migration from Mexico.

  • Immigrants who are not citizens are not eligible for any government medical assistance such as medicare or medicaid. They generally don’t receive any medical insurance through their jobs which does cause some strain on the system equal to that of other uninsured populations.

  • Without family members already legally in the country it is nearly impossible to enter the country legally

  • Only American citizens can qualify for social services such as welfare or food stamps, no immigrants legal or illegal receive any government assistance

  • Todays immigrants learn English today at the same pace as other immigrants groups in the past

To view the entire interview: Here

To read report: Here (PDF)

ACTION

Senate Judiciary Committee to Finish Work on Immigration Bill This Week

As you might know, the Senate Judiciary Committee is considering a bill that contains many of the more draconian aspects of the House bill (HR4437) passed last December.

Including:

  • Up to five years in jail for people who assist an illegal to remain in the US, or transport them within the US, which could conceivably include aid from charities, churches, free medical clinics, etc.

  • Possible deportation, without any hearing, of anyone picked up within 100 miles of the border who an immigration agent thinks is illegal.

  • Creates a new federal “aggravated felony” crime of any “illegal presence,” even if the cause is not the fault of the immigrant, such as their legal paperwork being processed too slowly. They can then be detained indefinitely.

  • Limit the basic rights of immigrants to judicial review, even by the constitutionally guaranteed writ of habeas corpus.

  • Criminalize all violations of immigration law, even if the violation was unintentional or the result of processing delays

  • Give additional powers to detain non-citizens indefinitely without judicial review, potentially placing many non-citizens in a legal black hole that subjects them to a life sentence after having served a criminal sentence, or, in some cases, without ever having been convicted of a crime

On Wednesday and Thursday, the committee will meet to consider the these provisions.

If you haven’t called Senators on the Judiciary Committee yet, please do so today. Let them know you don’t support the restrictive provissions of HR4437 that have been included in Senate legislation.

They are listed below.

Senate Judiciary Committee: Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) – 202-224-4254 Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT) – 202-224-5251 Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-IA) – 202-224-3744 Sen. Jon L. Kyl (R-AZ) – 202-224-4521 Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) – 202-224-2315 Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) – 202-224-4124 Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-SC) – 202-224-5972 Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) – 202-224-2934 Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) – 202-224-6521 Sen. Thomas A. Coburn (R-OK) – 202-224-5754 Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT) – 202-224-4242 Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) – 202-224-4543 Sen. Joseph R. Biden (D-DE) – 202-224-5042 Sen. Herbert H. Kohl (D-WI) – 202-224-5653 Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) – 202-224-3841 Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) – 202-224-5323 Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) – 202-224-6542 Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-IL) – 202-224-2152

Cross posted from: Migra Matters

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