April 18th marked Tax Day for citizens of US, but did you know that undocumented immigrants also pay taxes? According to the American Immigration Council undocumented immigrants are paying billions of dollars each year in taxes. In spite of their undocumented status, and lack of standing in our country, “these immigrants—and their family members—are adding value to the U.S. economy, not only as taxpayers, but as workers, consumers, and entrepreneurs as well.” Millions of people who lack social security numbers are filing taxes with Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (“ITIN”).
Read moreThe Queen of Rap is an Immigrant Too
Undocumented Immigrants Also Paid Their Taxes
Reverse Migration of Undocumented Immigrants
As news outlets report on record numbers of undocumented immigrants risking their lives to cross into the United States at our southern borders, especially during the temporary suspension of Title 42 which granted entry to those seeking asylum in the US, other undocumented immigrants are leaving the country after years of residency and integration. Their exodus from the US is one of many reasons why the total number of undocumented immigrants in the country has remained relatively stable according to demographers, notwithstanding the increase in applications at the southern border. There is a vital misconception, perpetuated by political rhetoric in our media outlets, that underlies discussions of immigration to the US dictating that “everyone wants to come, but no one leaves” as reported by Robert Warren, a senior visiting fellow at the Center for Migration Studies.
Read moreHome is Here and There
A Child’s Perspective on Immigration Reform: “Until Someone Listens”
Having her family fall victim to the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, which criminally prosecuted immigrants that crossed the US border without documentation and separated families as a consequence, Estela Juarez has written a children’s book with the help of Lissette Norman and illustrator Teresa Martin, titled “Until Someone Listens.” The book offers a personal account of Estela’s story of loss and lack of protection under our current immigration system, in the hopes that all who read will listen to the pressing need for immigration reform.
Read moreBuzzFeed News: "'Illegal Alien' Will No Longer Be Used In Many US Government Communications"
For many years the American government has used such terms as “alien” and “illegal alien” when referring to non-US citizens—terms that many immigration advocates have denounced as “dehumanizing” and offensive. Now, under direction from the Biden administration, Tracy Renaud, the senior official performing the duties of the director of US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), has issued a memo for the agency to no longer refer to foreign nationals as “illegal alien,” “alien,” or “undocumented alien” in internal and external communications, but rather to use the terms “noncitizen,” “undocumented noncitizen,” or “undocumented individual.” Additionally, USCIS will no longer use “assimilation,” but instead use the term “integration,” and also will refer to those who apply for immigration benefits as “customers.”
Read moreImmigration Nation
The six-part Netflix docuseries Immigration Nation, which the Trump administration tried to block the release of until after the election, offers an in-depth look into the inner workings of US immigration agencies under the Trump administration. The series focuses on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency that increased arrests of immigrants by forty-two percent in the first eight months of the Trump presidency. Filmmakers Shaul Schwarz and Christina Clusiau were granted rare access to ICE agents working in New York City, Charlotte, North Carolina, and on the border outside Tucson, Arizona as well as inside detention facilities. The show follows immigration officers, supervisors, administrators, and judges as well as immigrants, including one elderly asylum-seeker detained for fleeing gang violence, a former cop from El Salvador who fled to America, and war veterans who have been deported, as well as parents separated from their underage children. After viewing the series, Sonia Saraiya writes in Vanity Fair: “There still exists the idea of America as a nation that welcomes all—and then there is the country we actually live in, where we send refugees back to near-certain death at the hands of vicious gangs. It seems we’ve gotten so busy punishing people for wanting to be here that we’ve forgotten to be a country worth immigrating to.”
New York Times: “Trump Administration Freezes Global Entry Enrollment in New York Over Immigration Law”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced last week that New York residents can no longer apply for or re-enroll in Trusted Traveler programs including Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, and FAST, because of the recently passed “Green Light Law” that allows undocumented immigrants in New York State to obtain driver’s licenses. Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of homeland security, said in a letter to the New York State government that DHS was taking this action since the “Green Light Law” prevents Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs & Border Protection (CBP) from gaining access to the state’s DMV databases without a court order. “Although DHS. would prefer to continue our longstanding cooperative relationship with New York on a variety of these critical homeland security initiatives,” Wolf wrote in the letter, “this act and the corresponding lack of security cooperation from the New York DMV requires DHS to take immediate action to ensure DHS’s efforts to protect the homeland are not compromised.”
In response, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced on February 7 New York State's intent to sue the federal government regarding this DHS decision. "Time and time again President Trump and his Washington enablers have gone out of their way to hurt New York and other blue states whenever they can as punishment for refusing to fall in line with their dangerous and divisive agenda," Governor Cuomo said. "The Department of Homeland Security's decision to ban New Yorkers from the Trusted Traveler Program is yet another example of this administration's disrespect of the rule of law, hyper-partisan politics and use of extortion. There is no rational basis for this politically motivated ban, and we are taking legal action to stop the federal government from inconveniencing New Yorkers to score political points.”
The Guardian: "'These people aren't just statistics': behind the year's most personal look at immigration"
“I want you to imagine waking up one morning, and your father is just gone,” Awa Sow says at the beginning of Living Undocumented, Netflix’s six-part series executive produced by Selena Gomez. The show follows eight undocumented families from across America as they navigate the US immigration system under the Trump administration. One family is the Sows, from Mauritania and now living in Ohio, whose father Amadou was arrested and was being held indefinitely in detention. Director Aaron Saidman told The Guardian that the series was intended as “a more comprehensive story of immigration, but directly from the immigrants themselves.” Along with harrowing footage and emotional interviews with the families, the series also features interviews with attorneys, advocates, and journalists to explain how the US immigration system functions and how “complicated and daunting and intimidating that system is for the immigrants who are going through it.”
“This was specifically designed to not be a political story,” Saidman said. “This is meant to be a human interest story where you can get a sense of what these people are really going through.” He added: “Hopefully this series will help accomplish this, that they understand that these people aren’t just statistics.” Selena Gomez, the show’s executive producer, wants viewers to look beyond the headlines. “I watched footage outlining their deeply personal journeys and I cried,” she wrote in Time Magazine of the series. “It captured the shame, uncertainty, and fear I saw my own family struggle with. But it also captured the hope, optimism, and patriotism so many undocumented immigrants still hold in their hearts despite the hell they go through.”