Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees - GCIR

Immigration is an indispensable piece of any strategy to boost economic growth and prosperity. Alongside investments in education and workforce-training systems, research and development, public infrastructure, and thoughtful regulatory policies that reduce barriers to employment, immigration policy can contribute directly to innovation, technological progress, and rising human-capital levels. While the United States has a natural advantage in attracting the world's most talented workers, employment-based immigration makes up too small a proportion of overall permanent immigration in the United States — even though it admits the country's most highly skilled foreign workers and serves as the most direct channel through which policymakers can shape the economic impact of immigration. The authors discuss the impact of immigration on the economy and the various policies directed toward workers. The authors also consider the role of immigrants in two important sectors: health care and information technology.

The policy debate regarding immigration has turned from the national scene to an issue being taken up by local and state governments given the lack of national immigration policy reforms. This report analyzes the impact of enforcement and deportation only policies such as Arizon'as S.B. 1070 finding that if the law were to have its full intended effect, there would be serious negative economic consequences for local economies. The authors find that legalizing immigrants, for example in Arizona, would have a net positive economic impact. 

A teleconference regarding this report is also available online.

 Minnesota has a long history of immigration with immigrants at the beginning of the 20th century contributing to the state's economic growth. With a new age of immigrants from new parts of the world, the state is beginning to ask critical questions to guide its growth in the coming years: What impact do immigrants have on the state’s economy and our public institutions? What role should immigration play in Minnesota’s future?

 This report, commissioned by The Minneapolis Foundation, seeks to answer these questions and also identifies future research topics.

Through the H-2B program, employers fill temporary and seasonal positions outside of the agricultural sector with low-skill immigrant workers. Although a small program with only 66,000 H-2B visas available each year, the program plays a critical role in the economy, helping large and small employers to meet their staffing needs. From ski resorts in Colorado, seafood processing in Maryland, and the hospitality industry in Nantucket, workers on H-2B visas support regional industries. Many critics claim the program hurts American workers and leaves foreign workers vulnerable to exploitation. This report argues there is no economic evidence to support these claims, yet provides recommendations for streamlining and improving the program.

Immigrants often maintain ties with their country of origin and contribute financially to these communities. This phenomenon - diaspora philanthropy - is not a new phenomenon but may be evolving. This report by the Migration Policy Institute and USAID explores the myriad actors and motivations contributing to diaspora philanthropy and its interaction with public policy.

The Casey Foundation supported Appleseed in developing a manual that helps protect children and family assets when immigrants are deported. Nearly 5 million children are living in families at risk of separation due to increased immigration enforcement. When these working parents are deported, their U.S.-born children often remain here. The manual helps providers counsel their clients on issues such as establishing child custody, closing a bank account and transferring assets into their children's names. The Mexican government has translated the guide into Spanish and is distributing it through its network of consulates in the United States and Mexico.

In the ongoing debate about immigration, a number of studies have shown that immigrants have a positive impact on wages since, in addition to adding more people to the workforce, immigrants also consume goods and services which create jobs. This briefing paper examines the existing research and literature on the topic and follows with the author's own analysis of the available data. It finds that any negative effects of new immigration between 1994 and 2007 were felt largely by the workers who are the most substitutable for new immigrants—that is, earlier immigrants.