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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 12:41 am
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Results for illegal aliens (u.s.)
8 results foundAuthor: Camarota, Steven A. Title: Immigration and Crime: Assessing a Conflicted Issue Summary: This study examines academic and government research on the question of immigrant crime. New government data indicate that immigrants have high rates of criminality, while older academic research found low rates. The overall picture of immigrants and crime remains confused due to a lack of good data and contrary information. However, the newer government data indicate that there are legitimate public safety reasons for local law enforcement to work with federal immigration authorities. Details: Washington, DC: Center for Immigration Studies, 2009. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: Center for Immigration Studies Backgrounder, Nov. 2009: Accessed August 18, 2010 at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2009/crime.pdf Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: http://www.cis.org/articles/2009/crime.pdf Shelf Number: 119627 Keywords: Illegal Aliens (U.S.)Immigrants and CrimeImmigration (U.S.) |
Author: Kephart, Janice Title: Fixing Flores: Assuring Adequate Penalties for Identity Theft and Fraud Summary: This Backgrounder proposes statutory language fixes to federal identity theft and aggravated felony language in 18 U.S.C. §§ 1028 and 1028A to reverse the practical implications of the May 2009 Supreme Court ruling in Flores-Figueroa v. United States. Flores crippled prosecutors’ longstanding practice of using the aggravated identity theft statute by requiring that prosecutors now also prove that a defendant knew he was using a real person’s identity information, as opposed to counterfeit information not connected to an actual person. The statute is an important tool for immigration enforcement. Proving a defendant’s knowledge about his crime is always difficult, and impossible in some cases, even where there is substantial harm and clear victims. This is especially the situation with illegal aliens who buy identity information from third parties. The inevitable result of the Flores decision is to enable perpetrators an easy defense and to tie prosecutors’ hands. The defendant in the case was an illegal alien working at a steel plant in Illinois. The fixes proposed in this report attempt to encapsulate the original intent of Congress when it broadened federal criminal identity theft law in 1998 and added mandatory sentencing guidelines for identity theft in 2004. Ensuring adequate penalties for the ever-evolving crime of identity theft and fraud and better protecting victims of this pervasive crime was of paramount importance both times federal law was amended. Flores identified an inadvertent flaw in the statutory language and has now put the responsibility on Congress to fix the language or deal with the untenable result of an additional burden of proof on prosecutors, resulting in fewer identity theft cases being prosecuted or more defendants being let off the hook for serious crimes due to a legal loophole. Details: Washington, DC: Center for Immigration Studies, 2010. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Center for Immigration Studies Backgrounder, Jan. 2010: Accessed August 19, 2010 at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2010/Flores-Figueroa.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.cis.org/articles/2010/Flores-Figueroa.pdf Shelf Number: 119628 Keywords: FraudIdentity TheftIllegal Aliens (U.S.)Immigration (U.S.) |
Author: Passel, Jeffrey S. Title: Unauthorized Immigrant Population: National and State Trends, 2010 Summary: As of March 2010, 11.2 million unauthorized immigrants were living in the United States, virtually unchanged from a year earlier, according to new estimates from the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center. This stability in 2010 follows a two-year decline from the peak of 12 million in 2007 to 11.1 million in 2009 that was the first significant reversal in a two-decade pattern of growth. The number of unauthorized immigrants in the nation’s workforce, 8 million in March 2010, also did not differ from the Pew Hispanic Center estimate for 2009. As with the population total, the number of unauthorized immigrants in the labor force had decreased in 2009, from its peak of 8.4 million in 2007. The number of children born to at least one unauthorized-immigrant parent in 2009 was 350,000, essentially the same as it was a year earlier. An analysis of the year of entry of unauthorized immigrant parents of babies born in 2009 indicates that 61% arrived before 2004, 30% arrived from 2004 to 2007, and 9% arrived from 2008 to 2010. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, unauthorized immigrants made up 3.7% of the nation’s population and 5.2% of its labor force in March 2010. Births to unauthorized immigrant parents accounted for 8% of newborns from March 2009 to March 2010, according to the center’s estimates, which are based mainly on data from the government’s Current Population Survey. Details: Washington, DC: Pew Research Center, Pew Hispanic Center, 2011. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/133.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/133.pdf Shelf Number: 123255 Keywords: Illegal Aliens (U.S.)Illegal ImmigrantsMigration |
Author: Wasem, Ruth Ellen Title: Unauthorized Aliens Residing in the United States: Estimates Since 1986 Summary: Estimates derived from the March Supplement of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) indicate that the unauthorized resident alien population (commonly referred to as illegal aliens) rose from 3.2 million in 1986 to 11.2 million in 2010. Jeffrey Passel, a demographer with the Pew Hispanic Research Center, has been involved in making these estimations since he worked at the U.S. Bureau of the Census in the 1980s. The estimated number of unauthorized aliens had dropped to 1.9 million in 1988 following passage of a 1986 law that legalized several million unauthorized aliens. The estimates of unauthorized aliens peaked at an estimated 12.4 million in 2007. About 39% of unauthorized alien residents in 2010 were estimated to have entered the United States in 2000 or later. Similarly, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration Statistics (OIS) reported an estimated 10.8 million unauthorized alien residents as of January 2010, up from 8.5 million in January 2000. The OIS estimated that 6.6 million of the unauthorized alien residents were from Mexico, an estimate comparable to Passel and D’Vera Cohn’s calculation of 6.5 million. The OIS based its estimates on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. The OIS estimated that the unauthorized resident alien population in the United States increased by 37% over the period 2000 to 2008, then leveled off in 2009 and 2010. Research suggests that various factors have contributed to the ebb and flow of unauthorized resident aliens, and that the increase is often attributed to the “push-pull” of prosperity-fueled job opportunities in the United States in contrast to limited or nonexistent job opportunities in the sending countries. Accordingly, the economic recession that began in December 2007 may have curbed the migration of unauthorized aliens, particularly because sectors that traditionally rely on unauthorized aliens, such as construction, services, and hospitality, have been especially hard hit. Some researchers also suggest that the increased size of the unauthorized resident population during the late 1990s and early 2000s is an inadvertent consequence of border enforcement and immigration control policies. They posit that strengthened border security has curbed the fluid movement of seasonal workers. This interpretation, generally referred to as a caging effect, argues that these policies have raised the stakes in crossing the border illegally and created an incentive for those who succeed in entering the United States to stay. The current system of legal immigration is cited as another factor contributing to unauthorized alien residents. The statutory ceilings that limit the type and number of immigrant visas issued each year create long waits for visas. According to this interpretation, many foreign nationals who would prefer to come to the United States legally resort to illegal avenues in frustration over the delays. It is difficult, however, to demonstrate a causal link or to guarantee that increased levels of legal migration would absorb the current flow of unauthorized migrants. Furthermore, some researchers speculate that the doubling in deportations since 2001 might also have had a chilling effect on family members weighing unauthorized residence in recent years. Some observers point to more elusive factors when assessing the ebb and flow of unauthorized resident aliens—such as shifts in immigration enforcement priorities away from illegal entry to removing suspected terrorists and criminal aliens, or discussions of possible “amnesty” legislation. This report does not track legislation and will be updated as needed. Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2011. 17p. Source: Internet Resource: RL33874: Accessed February 10, 2012 at: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33874.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33874.pdf Shelf Number: 124038 Keywords: Illegal Aliens (U.S.)Illegal ImmigrantsImmigration |
Author: Siskin, Alison Title: Immigration-Related Detention: Current Legislative Issues Summary: As Congress considers addressing some of the problems in the nation’s immigration system, the detention of noncitizens in the United States may be an issue as Congress may chose to reevaluate detention priorities (i.e., who should be detained) and resources. Under the law, there is broad authority to detain aliens while awaiting a determination of whether the noncitizen should be removed from the United States. The law also mandates that certain categories of aliens are subject to mandatory detention (i.e., the aliens must be detained). Aliens subject to mandatory detention include those arriving without documentation or with fraudulent documentation, those who are inadmissable or deportable on criminal grounds, those who are inadmissable or deportable on national security grounds, those certified as terrorist suspects, and those who have final orders of deportation. Aliens not subject to mandatory detention may be detained, paroled, or released on bond. The priorities for detention of these aliens are specified in statute and regulations. As of December 13, 2011, on an average day in FY2012, 32,953 noncitizens were in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) custody. There are many policy issues surrounding detention of aliens. The Illegal Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) increased the number of aliens subject to mandatory detention, and raised concerns about the justness of mandatory detention, especially as it is applied to asylum seekers arriving without proper documentation. Additionally, as DHS increases its ability to identify aliens who are subject to removal from local jails in more remote locations, the nationwide allocation of detention space may become an issue. The 108th Congress passed P.L. 108-458, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, directing the Secretary of DHS to increase the amount of detention bed space by not less than 8,000 beds for each year, FY2006 through FY2010; a total of 40,000 beds. Although Congress increased the bed space between FY2006 and FY2010, the number of beds only increased by approximately 12,000. One bill related to immigration detention has received Congressional action in the 112th Congress. H.R. 1932 was placed on the Union Calendar on October 17, 2011. After a removal order has been issued against an alien, the law provides that the alien subject to a final removal order be removed within 90 days, except as otherwise provided in the statute. Certain aliens subject to a removal order “may be detained beyond the removal period and, if released, shall be subject to [certain] terms of supervision.” This provision had been interpreted as permitting indefinite detention where removal was not reasonably foreseeable, but in 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court in Zadvydas v. Davis, interpreted it as only permitting detention for up to six months where removal was not reasonably foreseeable. Nonetheless, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled absent clear guidance from Congress. H.R. 1932 as reported by the House Judiciary Committee, would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow DHS to indefinitely detain, subject to six-month reviews, aliens under orders of removal who could not be removed if certain conditions were met. In addition, in the 112th Congress, other bills have been introduced covering a range of provisions and perspectives concerning the detention of noncitizens. Several bills—including H.R. 100 and H.R. 1274—would mandate that DHS increase the amount of detention space. In addition, other bills (e.g., H.R. 933 and S. 1258) would mandate the propagation of regulations concerning detainee care, and expand the alternatives to detention program. Other proposed legislation, such as H.R. 713, would make changes to the mandatory detention provisions, lessening the categories of aliens required to be detained. Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2012. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: RL32369: Accessed February 14, 2012 at: http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RL32369.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RL32369.pdf Shelf Number: 124125 Keywords: Illegal Aliens (U.S.)Illegal ImmigrantsImmigrant Detention |
Author: Posner, Eric A. Title: The Institutional Structure of Immigration Law Summary: Immigration law scholars should give more attention to the institutional structure of immigration law and, in particular, the way that the government addresses problems of asymmetric information in the course of screening potential migrants and attempting to control their behavior once they arrive. Economic models of optimal contracting provide a useful starting point for analyzing this problem. This approach is applied to several current debates in immigration scholarship, including controversies over “crimmigration” and courts’ refusal to extend labor and employment rights to undocumented aliens. Details: Chicago: University of Chicago, Law School, 2012. 21p. Source: Internet Resource: University of Chicago Institute for Law & Economics Olin Research Paper No. 607: Accessed August 16, 2012 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2120759 Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2120759 Shelf Number: 126042 Keywords: Illegal Aliens (U.S.)Illegal ImmigrantsImmigration Law |
Author: Greene, Judith: Mazon, Alexis Title: Privately Operated Federal Prisons for Immigrants: Expensive. Unsafe. Unnecessary Summary: Presented before a House of Representatives briefing sponsored by Rep. Jared Polis of Colorado on September 13, 2012, Privately Operated Federal Prisons for Immigrants: Expensive, Unsafe, Unnecessary chronicles the May 2012 Adams County Correctional Center uprising in Natchez, Mississippi, a private for-profit facility operated by Corrections Corporation of America, under contract with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The report details some of the tragic personal consequences for Juan Villanueva, his family, and others caught in the midst of the horrific conditions at the facility, leading to the insurrection. The report weaves into this narrative a look at the rise and fall of the private prison industry, and its resurrection through the benefit of federal contracts to detain and imprison undocumented immigrants, in an atmosphere of moral panic after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Details: Brooklyn, NY: Justice Strategies, 2012. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 26, 2012 at: http://www.justicestrategies.org/publications/2012/privately-operated-federal-prisons-immigrants-expensive-unsafe-unnecessary Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.justicestrategies.org/publications/2012/privately-operated-federal-prisons-immigrants-expensive-unsafe-unnecessary Shelf Number: 126464 Keywords: Federal PrisonsIllegal Aliens (U.S.)Illegal ImmigrantsImmigrant DetentionPrivate PrisonsPrivatization |
Author: Bruno, Andorra Title: Unauthorized Aliens in the United States: Policy Discussion Summary: The unauthorized immigrant (illegal alien) population in the United States is a key and controversial immigration issue. Competing views on how to address this population have been, and continue to be, a major obstacle to enacting immigration reform legislation. It is unknown, at any point in time, how many unauthorized aliens are in the United States; what countries they are from; when they came to the United States; where they are living; and what their demographic, family, and other characteristics are. Demographers develop estimates about unauthorized aliens using available survey data on the U.S. foreign-born population and other methods. These estimates can help inform possible policy options to address the unauthorized alien population. Both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Pew Research Center estimate that approximately 11.5 million unauthorized aliens were living in the United States in January 2011. DHS further estimates that there were some 11.4 unauthorized residents in January 2012. Pew has released a preliminary estimate of 11.7 million for the March 2012 unauthorized resident population. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and other federal laws place various restrictions on unauthorized aliens. In general, they have no legal right to live or work in the United States and are subject to removal from the country. At the same time, the INA provides limited avenues for certain unauthorized aliens to obtain legal permanent residence. Over the years, a range of options has been offered for addressing the unauthorized resident population. In most cases, the ultimate goal is to reduce the number of aliens in the United States who lack legal status. One set of options centers on requiring or encouraging unauthorized immigrants to depart the country. Those who support this approach argue that these aliens are in the United States in violation of the law and that their presence variously threatens social order, national security, and economic prosperity. One departure strategy is to locate and deport unauthorized aliens from the United States. Another departure strategy, known as attrition through enforcement, seeks to significantly reduce the size of the unauthorized population by across-the board enforcement of immigration laws. One of the basic tenets of the departure approach is that unauthorized immigrants in the United States should not be granted benefits. An opposing strategy would grant qualifying unauthorized residents various benefits, including an opportunity to obtain legal status. Supporters of this type of approach do not characterize unauthorized immigrants in the United States as lawbreakers, but rather as contributors to the economy and society at large. A variety of proposals have been put forth over the years to grant some type of legal status to some portion of the unauthorized population. Some of these options would use existing mechanisms under immigration law to grant legal status. Others would establish new legalization programs. Some would benefit a particular subset of the unauthorized population, such as students or agricultural workers, while others would make relief available more broadly. Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2014. 21p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 29, 2014 at: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R41207.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R41207.pdf Shelf Number: 132399 Keywords: Illegal Aliens (U.S.)Illegal ImmigrantsImmigration |