Immigration

 

•  Security, Responsibility And Human Rights at the U.S.-Mexico Border
  “Effective Border Policy: Security, Responsibility And Human Rights at the U.S.-Mexico Border”, U.S.-Mexico Border Policy Report. The fence is one part of the securitization that has occurred in the U.S. It also represents a violation of migrants’ human rights as outlined in the U.S. Constitution and several international conventions. Published by the Border Network for Human Rights, the Border Action Network, and the U.S.- Mexico Border and Immigration Task Force (2008). Release in collaboration with the National Immigration Forum. November 2008.
• We Can Stop the Hate 
  The rhetoric of hate groups, nativists, and vigilantes has taken over the lexicon of the public debate on immigration; their policy positions frame the country’s political discourse, and their members have infiltrated the media as well as the ranks of those seeking to lead our country. In short, hate and extremists are defining the debate on immigration – and the portrayal of Hispanic Americans – at every level. The time has come to take hate out of the debate. Immigration is a serious issue requiring a reasoned and thoughtful debate.
• Removals Involving Illegal Alien Parents of United States Citizen Children
  This is taken from the preface of this document: “This report, [from the US Department of Homeland Security,] addresses the number of instances over the past 10 years in which the illegal alien parent of a United States citizen child was removed from the country.” January 2009.
• People’s Recovery, Empowerment Development Assistance Foundation PREDA
  We are a group of idealistic people working to save and heal abused children and exploited women. To oppose sexual abuse and sex trafficking and change society where this is a common practice. We challenge people of good will to act and help change society and encourage the authorities to respond and implement laws, do justice and protect the innocent and bring the guilty to justice and repentance. OUR IMMEDIATE MISSION: Working to win freedom and new life for children in jail, trafficked into brothels, living on the street, for abandoned youth, and those mired in poverty.
• Human Trafficking in Asia
  This website was created with the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and The Asia Foundation, and is being maintained with the generous support of the American people through the United States Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and The Asia Foundation.
• The International Organization for Migration – The Migration Agency (IOM)
  Established in 1951, IOM is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners.
• Trafficking in Persons Report 2008
  From the US Dept. of State “We are pleased that in the seven years since the creation of the Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, the United States and our friends and allies have made important strides in confronting the reality that human beings continue to be bought and sold in the twenty-first century. It has been gratifying to witness the determined governments, human rights and women’s groups, faith-based organizations, and many brave individuals who are dedicated to advancing human dignity worldwide. Trafficking and exploitation plague all nations, and no country, even ours, is immune.” –Secretary Rice, June 4, 2008
• Central American Resource Center
  The Central American Resource Center was founded in 1983 by a group of Salvadoran refugees whose mission was to secure legal status for the thousands of Central Americans fleeing the torture and brutality of civil war. During the 80’s and 90’s, over 52% of the one million plus Salvadorans and 59% of Guatemalans fleeing these atrocities came to Los Angeles. The mission of the Center is to empower Central Americans by defending human and civil rights, working for social and economic justice and promoting cultural diversity.
• Immigrants and the Current Economic Crisis
  New (2009) report from the Migration Policy Institute examines the impact of the current economic crisis on migration into the United States.
• Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA)
  CHIRLA was formed in 1986 to advance the human and civil rights of immigrants and refugees in Los Angeles; promote harmonious multi-ethnic and multi-racial human relations; and through coalition-building, advocacy, community education and organizing, empower immigrants and their allies to build a more just society.
• Mexico’s ghost towns
  Emigration leaves communities without their most vital resource. The San Antonio Current, 2008
• To Leave or Not to Leave: the Right to Not Migrate
  National Conference May 2007, Tucson, Arizona. Building Bridges, Not Walls Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.
• Texans for Sensible Immigration Policy
  “We strongly support enhanced border security. We believe this to be a top priority. We support all efforts to stop unwanted and illegal entry into the United States. However, we believe we can secure our borders without criminalizing the employers that fuel our economy. Working immigrants are critical to our economy. They are not taking jobs from citizens. They are fueling an economy that is creating more jobs for citizens and immigrant workers.”
• A Child Alone and Without Papers
  From the Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP), reveals what happens to more than 43,000 undocumented, unaccompanied children removed annually from the United States and repatriated to their home countries. Policy analysis and interviews with adults and children in the system revealed the U.S. often compromises children’s rights, safety, and well-being, contrary to international law and U.S. child welfare standards. 2008
• Immigration: Data Matters
  This guide shows where to locate some of the most credible, up-to-date US and global immigration-related data compiled by government and non-governmental sources. The online guide, also available in hard copy, includes clickable links to resources that offer immigrant population estimates; the size of the unauthorized immigrant population; English proficiency rates; the share of immigrants in the workforce; education, health, and income and poverty statistics relating to immigrants; and other data. From the Migration Policy Institute. 2008
• Immigration Advocates Network – IAN
  IAN is a free national online network that supports legal advocates working on behalf of immigrants’ rights.
• No More Deaths/ No Más Muertes
  No More Deaths is an organization whose mission is to end death and suffering on the U.S./Mexico border through civil initiative: the conviction that people of conscience must work openly and in community to uphold fundamental human rights. Our work embraces the Faith-Based Principles for Immigration Reform.
• ImmigrationWorks USA
  Begun by Conservative Republican, Tamar Jacoby, she has become one of the nation’s leading advocates of immigration reform, she says everything ultimately comes down to the economy. Read more. ImmigrationWorks USA is a new national organization advancing immigration reform that works for all Americans – employers, workers and citizens. Its twin goals: to educate the public about the benefits of immigration and build a mainstream grassroots constituency in favor of an overhaul – business owners and others from across America willing to speak out and demand that it gets done.
• The Common Good and the Plight of Immigrants
  A speech by Donald Kerwin, executive director of CLINIC (Catholic Legal Immigration Network), presented for the Diocese of Knoxville Diocesan Day. 2007
• National Immigration Bond Fund
  The National Immigrant Bond Fund seeks to reaffirm the values of dignity and due process by assisting immigrants swept up in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions to post bond quickly in order to secure a fair hearing in America’s courts.
• Bernardo Kohler Center
  The purpose of the center is to coordinate services for immigrants in Texas and to partner with human and social service organizations throughout North America in order to improve social conditions for the families of immigrants in Texas. Here is the link to David Walding’s Power Point presentation for the Mini-Pastoral.
• U.S. Business and Hispanic Integration: Expanding the Economic Contribution
  Drawing from original research and site visits in Atlanta, GA, and New Orleans, LA, this white paper highlights the challenges to the integration of recent immigrants, the contributions of Hispanic immigrants to the U.S. economy and innovative efforts by business to smooth the integration of Hispanic communities and workers into the social and economic fabric of the United States. This document demonstrates a collective commitment by private sector leaders to integrating immigrant communities and offers best practices for encouraging Hispanic workforce development and community integration. 2008
• Testing Huntington:
  Is Hispanic Immigration a Threat to American Identity?” Authors: Jack Citrin, Amy Lerman, Michael Murakami, and Kathryn Pearson, March 2007 Journal: Perspectives on Politics Here is the essay by Samuel Huntington entitled “The Hispanic Challenge” written in 2004 from the Foreign Policy Institute. Also, here is a study written about the same time as a rebuttal entitled The Hispanic Challenge? What We Know About Latino Immigration” from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. 2004
• The Mexican Migration Project (MMP)
  Since its inception, the MMP’s main focus has been to gather social as well as economic information on Mexican-US migration. The data collected has been compiled in a comprehensive database that is available to the public free of charge for research and educational purposes through this web-site.
• The Welcoming Tennessee Initiative (WTI)
  The Welcoming Tennessee Initiative is a collaboration of concerned Tennesseans from all walks of life – business, law enforcement, community and faith – who are proud that Tennessee is a welcoming state, and are working to continue that noble tradition by increasing understanding of how new Tennesseans share our values, contribute to our economy, enhance our combined culture and strengthen our communities. Brought to you by The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC)
•  Truth in Immigration
  The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), has created Truth in Immigration to serve as a watchdog for communications about immigrants and to research, collect, and rebut legal and factual inaccuracies about immigrants that are disseminated and promoted in the media, the public messaging of anti-immigration organizations, and political campaigns.
• Voices of the Disappeared: Investigative Report of NJ Immigrant Detention 
  This report summarizes the independent findings of a group of citizen activists in New Jersey, the New Jersey Civil Rights Defense Committee (NJCRDC), who organized in early 2003 to expose and prevent the abuse of immigrants via the government’s stepped-up immigration detention program after 9/11. It has been written in direct response to the inadequate “audit” of immigrant detention published after two full years of preparation by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in December 2006.
• Where all Find a Home 
  An excellent resource from the Maryland Catholic Conference. Their bishops issued a statement by the same name. This website states that “immigration is increasingly becoming the subject of debate in our neighborhoods, families and parishes. In many places, the discussion can grow divisive. It doesn’t need to be. As Catholics, our focus must be the dignity of the human person and the welfare of families.” 2007
• Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC)
  CLINIC exists to enhance and expand delivery of legal services to indigent and low-income immigrants principally through diocesan immigration programs and to meet the immigration needs identified by the Catholic Church in the United States.
• Voices of the DisappearedAn Investigative Report of NJ Immigrant Detention 
  This report summarizes the independent findings of a group of citizen activists in New Jersey, the New Jersey Civil Rights Defense Committee (NJCRDC), who organized in early 2003 to expose and prevent the abuse of immigrants via the government’s stepped-up immigration detention program after 9/11. It has been written in direct response to the inadequate “audit” of immigrant detention published after two full years of preparation by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in December 2006.
• Migration Policy Institute 
  This site has lots of global immigration information. Another perspective when discussing or studying the topic of immigration. Here are two national organizations on both sides of the issue: The Immigration Policy Center, and the Center for Immigration Studies.
• The Irish Apostolate, USA 
  The Irish Apostolate USA is the response of the Irish and American Catholic Bishops to the needs of Irish immigrants in the United States – the needs of the whole human person. It is the Christian imperative of caring for those who move far from the ancestral home, and welcoming the stranger as one would welcome Christ, once an exile himself.
• Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance (MIRA) 
  This website is dedicated to providing up-to-date information of all MIRA activities in the defense of immigrant rights in the state of Mississippi.
• Forced Apart 
  Families Separated and Immigrants Harmed by United States Deportation Policy. This 88-page report is the first comprehensive assessment of the deportation of non-citizens with criminal convictions and the impact on families and communities in the US. From Human Rights Watch. July 2007
• Americanos Nuevos (in English) 
  By Roberto Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center.
• A Theology of Immigration 
  By Fr. Daniel Groody, CSC. 2004
• Common Myths about Undocumented Immigrants 
  A nice brief (one page) pdf document from the National Council of La Raza(NCLR). 2006. Here is a longer list of myths from the Justice for Immigrants Campaign (find link below)
• US Commision on Immigration Reform – Binational Research Papers
  The Mexico/United States Binational Study on Migration (1997) was a joint effort undertaken by twenty scholars from both countries who worked together in teams on five subject areas: quantification of migration; characteristics of migrants; factors that influence migration; effects of migration; and responses to migration. Some good information even though it is over a decade old.
• Hispanic Catholics in the US
  An interesting article, from 1992, by Tim Matovina that compares immigrants from Europe (1820-1920), and recent immigrants.
• Border Ambassadors
  An organization committed to stopping the “border wall” from being constructed.
• Preparing the Way (in Iowa) 
  Hispanic Ministry and Community Transformation in Marshalltown, Iowa. By Dr. Anne C. Woodrick. Hispanic ministry is a process that must evolve in order to effectively respond to changing social, cultural, and advocacy needs of the immigrants it serves. 2006
• Searching Expressions of Identity: Belonging and Spaces- Mexican Immigrants 
  By Liliana Rivera-Sanchez. Presented at “Indigenous Mexican Migrants in the US: Building Bridges between Researchers and Community Leaders”. This document contains research about how the Mexican immigrants are organized in New York. Particularly, focused on the role of the Catholic Church in the incorporation of new Mexican immigrants in the city, through creating a community based organization dedicated to help in the development and assimilation of Mexican people in the Metropolitan area of New York. The core objective is unfolding some ideas about how the Tepeyac Association of New York is contributing in the process of incorporation of new Mexican immigrants into American Society. 2002
• Invisible No More: Mexican Migrant Civic Participation in the United States
  From the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. This report explores the various ways that Mexican migrants to the United States are becoming civically and politically active in both countries.This collection of brief essays looks at how recent migrants interact with traditional Latino organizations, the labor movement, religious communities, the media, and both the U.S.and Mexican political systems, transforming each through their engagement. 2006.
• NO: Immigrants have enriched American culture 
  A nice article by Daniel T. Griswold. Griswold is the associate director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Trade Policy Studies. His articles on trade and immigration issues have been widely published. 2002
• Justice for immigrants 
  This campaign, supported by the USCCB, is intended to educate the public about how immigration and immigrants benefit the nation; to improve public opinion about the contributions of immigrants; to advocate for changes in immigration laws and policies; and to organize networks that assist immigrants with legal problems.(En español)
• Immigration Reports, Studies, and Facts 
  This is from the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association (AILA)
• How many Undocumented?The numbers behind the U.S.—Mexico Migration Talks 
  From the Pew Hispanic Center March 2002.
• The border reality: US and Mexico 
  From Maryknoll 2002
• Guest Worker Program: New Solution, New Problems? 
  By Phillip Martin (U.C.-Davis) Pew Hispanic Center. 2002