Today is "Giving Tuesday" – the well-meaning but contrived attempt to counter the rampant commercialization of the Christmas season. (Maybe next year, I'll invent Wonky Wednesday to promote donations specifically to think tanks!) Contrived or not, everybody's doing it, so here's why you should direct some of your giving this Tuesday to the Center for Immigration Studies.
The Center attained new levels of influence in the debate this past year and we are more optimistic than ever before about what we can achieve going forward. Whatever you think of President-elect Donald Trump, he has embraced the "attrition through enforcement" strategy we pioneered a decade ago and has used much of our work to craft his immigration platform.
This is why we exist as an organization: to educate policymakers, regardless of political affiliation, on how to design and implement a workable immigration plan that better serves the national interest. And now our work is being used by those who will be working in the White House and the executive departments. In addition, we testify before Congress more often than any other immigration group and regularly meet with legislators and their staffs. Our research has even been cited in Supreme Court opinions.
We've attained this level of influence through years of hard work. We've published more than a thousand studies and thousands of blog posts, covering the immigration issue from every conceivable angle. Simply put, we have become the trusted and reliable go-to source in Washington on immigration.
We do all of this with a tiny staff on a relatively small budget. Nearly every other group in the debate – from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the many ethnic pressure groups – has a vested interest in promoting immigration and is bankrolled by big business and/or the federal government. The Center, on the other hand, relies on donors like you to produce sound research that serves the American people.
So this Tuesday, give back to those around you by giving to a group that has always countered the special interests and will continue to serve the national interest.