Celebrate Immigration and Diversity This Independence Day

Posted by Staff, Immigration Impact at 2:46 PM on July 2, 2009.

In Order to Form a More Perfect Union
America is now--and has always been--nation of immigrants. What better time, then, to turn our attention this Independence Day to the demographic diversity that has long been a principal strength of the U.S. economy and civil society? Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians play critical economic roles as workers, entrepreneurs, and consumers. As a result, they will be crucial players in the nation's efforts to recover from the current recession and the success of America's economic future.

Major City Police Chiefs Just Say No To Immigration Enforcement
Tired of spending scant time and resources on immigration enforcement, major city police chiefs called on Congress, Wednesday, to move on comprehensive immigration reform.  Like most law enforcement officers across the country, chasing down undocumented immigrants proves to be too much of a strain when faced with real priorities like keeping violent criminals off the street.

Here He Goes Again: Lamar Smith Rehashes Distorted Claims on Immigrants and Social Security
Representative Lamar Smith, the top ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, has been making the rounds again with astounding claims regarding immigrants and Social Security. Based on what he has described as "hard data" released by the Social Security Administration (SSA), Rep. Smith's analysis is inaccurate and his conclusion wrong.

Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) NOT an Immigration Benefit
There is a lot of confusion surrounding Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs). Immigration restrictionists take advantage of this confusion and often bring up ITINs in an effort to make it seem as if undocumented immigrants are receiving special benefits or quasi-legal immigration status. The fact is that ITINs are used to pay taxes-some legal immigrants have them, some undocumented immigrants use them, and some people who don't even live in the U.S. have them if they need to pay U.S. taxes.

Blaming Immigrants for State Budget Deficits Doesn't Make Sense
As state and local governments grapple with growing budget deficits, some pundits and policymakers are attempting to blame immigrants. According to this reasoning, if the tax contributions of immigrants don't cover the costs of the public services they utilize in a single year, then immigrants must be a financial burden on the majority of taxpayers. By this misleading measure, however, nearly all native-born children, retirees, and unemployed workers would also qualify as economic "burdens."

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Tagged as: immigration, diversity