| Your weekly summary from the Council. |
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For over a century, the U.S. has applied the principle of jus soli, or birthplace-based citizenship, to grant American citizenship to anyone born on U.S. territory. Over the past few decades, anti-immigrant politicians have advocated to deny birthright citizenship, primarily to children of undocumented immigrants. |
It was only 10 months ago when the U.S. set record highs at the border, with roughly 250,000 migrants taken into Border Patrol custody in December 2023. But today, border apprehensions are running steady at their lowest level in four years, with just 54,000 Border Patrol migrant encounters in September. |
In the last two years, nearly 500,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela have arrived in the United States to live and work here legally. They have come under a program known as “CHNV,” named for the nationalities of its beneficiaries. The future of the program – and by extension the people who have benefited from it – has been unclear until this month. |
Across the globe, immigrants are increasingly being blamed for committing crimes, with right-wing groups often leading the charge. In the United States, this rhetoric has intensified as politicians aim to demonize immigrants during the election season. However, a wealth of research has discredited this myth, demonstrating that higher shares of immigrants are not correlated with higher crime rates and that immigrants are not more likely to commit crimes than the U.S.-born. |
During the final weeks of the 2024 election, much attention has been paid to the Great Lakes Region, also known as the “Rust Belt," for the cluster of swing states in the area.
The issue of the economy gets brought up often in the Great Lakes Region, which once suffered major declines, as manufacturing moved south and overseas. But the region is bouncing back—in large part thanks to immigrants.
In this new report from the American Immigration Council, we discuss how immigrants are playing a pivotal—and growing—role in this revival.
By bolstering fast-growing industries like advanced manufacturing and healthcare, they are helping create more opportunities for communities and families that have lived in the area for generations.
Read more: Building Community and Fueling Growth: The Role of Immigrants in Reviving the Great Lakes Region |
For over a century, the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has guaranteed that every child born "within the jurisdiction of the United States" is a U.S. citizen, regardless of their parent's immigration status.
Some political leaders, however, have pushed to restrict birthright citizenship, attempting to deny it to children born in the United States to undocumented immigrant parents.
This new fact sheet from the Council explains birthright citizenship, the Fourteenth Amendment and its interpretations, who is eligible for birthright citizenship, and whether it can be taken away.
Read more: Birthright Citizenship in the United States
The scapegoating of ethnic and religious minorities is well-tread historical ground in the United States, and immigrants have always made for an easy target.
Chinese, Irish, Italian, Muslim, Mexican — all these people and more have been falsely accused of bringing crime into the United States, particularly during times of economic or political unease.
Today, some politicians are peddling the same, tired myth, this time of a “migrant crime surge” among immigrants who recently arrived in the country.
However, a robust body of research shows that welcoming immigrants into American communities not only does not increase crime but can actually strengthen public safety. This new fact sheet from the Council aims to debunk the myths surrounding immigrants and crime.
Read more: Debunking the Myths of Immigrants and Crime
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“[The Council’s] analysis of the Heritage Foundation’s own database of 1,500 ‘proven instances of voter fraud’... found ‘just 10 [cases] involving people living in the country illegally.' Ten people in the last four decades! That is statistically nothing. More people die from hippo attacks every year.” |
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