Parsing Immigration Policy, Episode 13

Immigration has dominated headlines over the past week, and this week’s episode of Parsing Immigration Policy brings together Center for Immigration Studies experts to analyze these issues. The roundtable discussion covers the recent federal court ruling on DACA, the newly released border apprehension numbers for June, and the possibility of Senate passage of an amnesty via a budget "reconciliation" rule.

In a new video, the Center for Immigration Studies examines the conveyor belt carrying migrants from countries beyond Central America and Mexico – including from terrorist-plagued countries – to the U.S. border.

Read more: The U.S. migration crisis in plain view at the Costa Rica-Nicaragua border

Unemployment and employment among the foreign-born and native-born

An analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies of Bureau of Labor Statistics data for May 2021 shows that while the official unemployment rate (share actively looking for work) of both the native-born and immigrants has fallen significantly, it remains higher than before Covid.

There are reasons to be concerned about whether the bills presently pending before Congress strike the right balance between expeditious processing sufficient to meet the looming 9/11/21 withdrawal deadline, while simultaneously ensuring the security and public health safety of American citizens. This is because the bills waive or eliminate important public health and national security safeguards presently built into the law.

Millions of illegal immigrants have Social Security numbers, potentially allowing them to receive cash payments from the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Additional Child Tax Credit. We estimate that illegal immigrants may receive between $3.8 and $4.5 billion from the two programs. This is in addition to the $4.4 billion we have previously estimated illegals likely received in stimulus checks this year.