January 31, 2013. Washington, D.C.—Today, the Immigration Policy Center held a tele-briefing to discuss who the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. are and what lessons we've learned from previous broad legalization programs. The central question in the immigration reform debate for much of the American public will be how to create a pathway to legal status for the 11 million immigrants currenty living in the U.S. without authorization. How this pathway will be shaped turns on critical questions such as who are the unauthorized immigrants who would be attaining legal status? What would the impact be on the U.S. economy were so many unauthorized immigrants to be legalized?
About 2 million undocumented immigrants came to the U.S. as children, said Roberto G. Gonzales, Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, during the call. Half of them are now young adults, he explained. That means the undocumented immigrants who grew up in the U.S. internalize the ideas of the American Dream in school, but Gonzales said, “As they approach adolescence, as they see their friends get licenses, get first jobs, and they stay stuck, they experience a dramatic rupture in their life trajectories.” He added, “It really compels us to think of the benefits of legalization over the tragedies of exclusion.”
The 11 million undocumented immigrants make up about a third of the foreign-born population in the U.S., according to Rob Paral, Principal of Rob Paral and Associates. He said on the call the undocumented immigrants live all across the U.S. “When you look at undocumented immigrants, you need to look at the fact they live in families, they live in households,” Paral said, and these households can include legal residents and citizens. “It’s important to note that they [undocumented immigrants] are integrated in mixed families,” he said.
To view the reports the IPC released and re-released today, click the links below:
http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-fact... For more information contact, Wendy Feliz at wsefsaf@immcouncil.org or 202-507-7524
Posted By: Jen Fad
Friday, February 1st 2013 at 12:09AM
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