Info on immigration from Marinez

[Guest guest]

Wehave not heard from on this egroup recently, thought you all

might be interested in this info....Bobbi

--

Bobbi Ryder

CEO

National Center for Farmworker Health

1770 FM 967

Buda, TX 78610

512-312-5453 (direct)

512-312-5451 (Assistant, Carolyn Love)

512.312.2600 (fax)

http://www.ncfh.org

Subject: FW: New papers on Mexican

immigration

Different opinions and views on immigration send by the Center on

Immigration studies. Most present anti-immigration arguments to

influence

public opinion.

************************

IMMIGRATION FROM MEXICO

New Papers Examine Implications and Options

Contact: Mark Krikorian, (202) 466-8185, msk@...

WASHINGTON (March 19, 2002) -- When President Bush goes to Mexico later

this week to meet Mexican President Vicente Fox, immigration issues will

be

high on their agenda. Both presidents have supported a guestworker

program

for Mexican workers as a way of granting amnesty to the 3-4 million

Mexican

illegal immigrants in the United States. What are America's options with

regard to immigration from Mexico, and what are the implications of

various

policy proposals?

To address these questions, the Center for Immigration Studies today

publishes two papers. The first is " Enchilada Lite: A Post-9/11

Mexican

Migration Agreement, " by S. Leiken, a scholar affiliated with

the

Brookings Institution and the Nixon Center for Peace and Freedom. (The

paper is on line at

http://www.cis.org/articles/2002/leiken.html

..) Leiken

starts from the assumption that it is in America's interest to transform

Mexican immigration from the chaotic, dangerous, habitual, and illegal to

the regulated, safe, selective, and legal. He weighs the pros and cons of

amnesties and guestworker programs and offers an outline of a possible

deal.

Leiken suggests: a temporary increase in green cards for Mexicans, with

the

number declining until it returns to the current legal level in 2015, at

which point illegal entries should be stopped and all Mexican immigrants

should be legal immigrants; an " earned amnesty " for selected

illegal

immigrants already here; stringent enforcement of employer sanctions to

limit the degree to which such an amnesty would attract new illegal

immigration; and development assistance for communities in central and

southern Mexico which currently send immigrants. But the sine qua non of

such an agreement would be complete and active cooperation from Mexico in

preventing illegal crossings of its border with the United

States.

The second paper released today is " Another Half Century of Mass

Mexican

Immigration: Mexican Government Report Projects Continued Flow Regardless

of Economics or Birth Rates, " a Backgrounder by Simcox,

chairman of

the Center for Immigration Studies. (The paper is on line at

http://www.cis.org/articles/2002/back202.html

..) Simcox offers a summary

and analysis of a new and significant report from Mexico's National

Population Council (CONAPO) which, contrary to previous assurances, finds

that falling birth rates and increased economic development in Mexico

will

not lead to a reduction in immigration to the United States for at least

three decades, even under the most optimistic scenario. Examining several

different scenarios, the Mexican government report says that immigration

will continue at between 3.5 and 5 million people per decade until at

least

2030, and will cause the Mexican-born population in the U.S. to at least

double by that year, reaching 16 to 18 million.

Also germane to the Bush-Fox visit this week are several other recent

Center publications:

* " Immigration from Mexico: Assessing the Impact on the United

States, " by

A. Camarota (Center Paper 19, July 2001)

http://www.cis.org/articles/2001/mexico/release.html.

This report, by the

Center's research director, contains detailed information on the economic

and demographic characteristics of Mexican immigrants at both the

national

and state level. Topics examined include: education, welfare use, poverty

and economic mobility, insurance coverage, school-age population, impact

on

prices and native wages, and performance of the 2nd and 3rd

generations.

* " Dual Citizenship and American National Identity, " by Stanley

A. Renshon

(Center Paper 20, October 2001)

http://www.cis.org/articles/2001/renshontoc.html.

Renshon, a political

science professor at City University of New York and a certified

psychoanalyst, asks whether it is possible or desirable to have two,

possibly conflicting, core identifications and attachments, an important

question in light of Mexico's decision in the late 1990s to permit dual

nationality. Among his conclusions are that no country can afford to have

large numbers of citizens with shallow national or civic attachments and

that no country facing divisive domestic issues arising out of increasing

diversity, as the United States does today, benefits from large-scale

immigration of those with multiple loyalties and attachments.

* " Attitudes Toward Amnesty: Zogby Poll Examines Support Among

Different

Constituencies, " by A. Camarota (September 2001 Backgrounder)

http://www.cis.org/articles/2001/back1201.html.

This poll, taken before the

9/11 attacks, was one of the first to examine in detail how various

segments of the population would view an amnesty. Using neutral language,

the poll of likely voters also explored how supporting an amnesty might

affect votes for President Bush and members of Congress in the future

among

different groups of constituents. While overall the poll found little

support for an amnesty, it did show some significant differences among

groups; the strongest opposition to amnesty was found among

conservatives,

moderates, union households, and voters with lower incomes.

* " An Examination of the Premises Underlying a Guestworker

Program, " Mark

Krikorian's June 2001 testimony before the House immigration subcommittee

(http://www.cis.org/articles/2001/msktestimony601.html).

This paper looks

at nine underlying assumptions of those supporting a guestworker program

with Mexico, including: " The flow of workers from Mexico is

inevitable, "

" The poor are overpaid, " " These are jobs Americans won't

do, " " A free

market in goods requires a free market in labor, " " Guestworkers

will go

home, " " There will be no significant cost to taxpayers, "

" Mass access to

foreign labor won't slow innovation, " " Such a program is

administratively

feasible, " and " There are no alternatives. "

For contact information for the authors of these reports, call the Center

at (202) 466-8185.

# # #

The Center for Immigration Studies is a non-profit, non-partisan research

organization which examines and critiques the impact of immigration on

the

United States. It is not affiliated with any other group.

-----------------------------------------------

Mark Krikorian, executive director

Center for Immigration Studies

1522 K Street N.W., Suite 820

Washington, DC 20005

(202) 466-8185 fax: (202) 466-8076

msk@...

http://www.cis.org

------------------------------------------------