This week’s immigration blog roundup will cover some state news, a short video on immigrants’ experiences with the U.S. immigration system, and more.
Immigration officials are considering further increases in citizenship application fees. The fee is currently over $675, which is a 69% increase. The hike has led to a drop in applications from 254,000 to 58,000 last year.
Faith-based groups across the country are organizing to push for comprehensive immigration reform. These groups have called to end the separation of families, visited with their Congress officials, and worked in countless ways to help welcome the stranger—as they were once strangers in a strange land –
The ancient scriptures describe the stories of immigrants—people cast out of their native land who wander in the world’s wilderness and seek refuge in foreign places. It’s an epic saga, filled with struggle and conflict, despair and deliverance. Little wonder that present-day people of faith find parallels in the lives of immigrants in this country.
In Wisconsin, the Bay Area Community Council (BACC) issued two recommendations regarding local immigrants – 1. help immigrants learn English, and 2. help them integrate with local culture. BACC is seeking volunteers to serve as English teachers.
In Arkansas, the Immigration Policy Center has complied research on immigrants in the state. Findings include:
• Immigrants make up 4.2% of Arkansas’s total population;
• The purchasing power of Arkansas’s Latinos totaled $2.7 billion and Asians totaled $972 million in 2008; and
• If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Arkansas, the state would lose $798 million in expenditures, $354 million in economic output and approximately 6,660 jobs.
Findings on immigrants in Arizona by IPC also include:
• Immigrants make up 15.6% of Arizona’s total population;
• The purchasing power of Arizona’s Latinos and Asians totaled $37.1 billion in 2008; and
• If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Arizona, the state would lose $26.4 billion in expenditures, $11.7 billion in economic output, and about 140,000 jobs.
In New York, state Senator Jose Serrano has put forth recommendations to protect immigrant New Yorkers, including to not participate in the 287(g) program without public consultation. The report can be found here.
There are nearly 38 million foreign born people in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This number represents about 12.5 percent of the population but has decreased since 2007. USA Today writes that a growing number of highly skilled immigrants are leaving the U.S. due to immigration-related backlogs and the recession.
Here is a list of pro-migrant blogs around the ‘net.
Lastly, you can take 9 minutes to watch Restore Fairness, a short film from Breakthrough on bringing back due process to the U.S. immigration system, here.
Read more at The Opportunity Agenda website.
