Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees - GCIR

Estimates immigrant participation in the EITC from IRS and Census data in light of research indicating immigrants overall have lower than average participation rates. Finds high immigrant participation rates in densely populated urban zip codes but low rates in "moderate" immigrant zip codes, primarily suburbs, where 27 percent of all immigrants live; immigrants in suburbs are more dispersed and do not have same access to NGO and tax preparer groups as those in urban areas.

During the 1990s, one out of every two new workers was an immigrant. While many immigrants speak English well and enter the United States with strong academic credentials and skills, many others do not. Like other low-skilled workers, few of these immigrants enjoyed the benefits of employer-provided training programs, most of which are geared to managers or highly skilled workers.

The study synthesizes research findings on the role of safety-net programs, which have reduced the number of Americans living in poverty in half, and lifted nearly one of every three otherwise -poor children above the poverty line in 2003. The report examines the role of income support, food and nutrition programs, health care programs, and the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Despite the growing numbers of Latino immigrants, an estimated 40 to 60 percent do not have a bank account, limiting their ability to obtain credit to buy a home or finance a business and making them vulnerable to high fees charged by fringe financial services providers. The toolkit educates banks on why and how to reach immigrant communities with practical strategies on how to bank outside the branch, engage the community, cross-sell services, deliver home mortgages, support the Earned Income Tax Credit and financial education, and understand the importance of remittances.

Expanding Immigrant Access to Mainstream Financial Services: Positive Practices and Emerging Opportunities from the Latin American Immigrant Experience outlines policies and practices that help immigrants access the banking system and build credit, and describes key avenues for community partnerships, successful approaches to financial education, and alternative banking approaches that attract immigrant customers. Profiles successful immigrant banking initiatives around the country and includes a useful bibliography.

This paper examines the factors influencing immigrant homeownership rates, which helped minorities account for 40 percent of the increase in homeowners between 1990 and 2000. It describes variations in immigrant ownership rates across metropolitan regions (traditional urban gateways, new immigrant gateways, new fast-growing cities, and slow-growth destinations) and among different foreign-born groups. The authors review initiatives that encourage ownership, including savings programs, underwriting flexibility, and education programs.

This paper reviews data on how immigrants fare under the work-focused, time-limited Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. It also discusses policy implications of research showing that many immigrants who remain on welfare rolls have significant barriers to employment, including limited proficiency in English and low skill levels.

The author uses a century of Census data and other research to present a comprehensive comparison of contemporary Mexican immigrants with the progress of Italians who came at the beginning of the last century. The book examines wages, schooling, and economic outcomes to show that Mexican second-generation progress, though slowed, is better in several respects than earlier Italian generations. Key recommendations to boosting progress include reversing the growing wage inequality in the United States, legalizing undocumented Mexican immigrants, and improving high school graduation rates.

Newcomers in the American Workplace is a joint publication of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees and the Neighborhood Funders' Group's Working on Labor and Community. This report responds to the dramatic growth in the immigrant population over the past decade and calls attention to the crucial role that immigrants play in the U.S. economy. Today, immigrants comprise almost one in eight workers and one in four low-wage workers.

This publication examines with extensive data how the economic performance of immigrants with similar skills is shaped by differing national and urban social institutions in receiving societies. It finds that immigrant-origin groups in the United States have lower earnings than their similarly skilled counterparts in Canada or Australia due to greater potential for inequality in the American labor market, and the education and social welfare systems.