“Enforcement First” Policy Based on Fear, Not Facts

Photo courtesy of Steve Hillebrand, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via Wikimedia Commons A common thread connecting the messages of many anti-immigration reform supporters is the notion that the US-Mexico border is a porous, lawless no man’s land through which criminals and terrorists freely flow. This underlines a policy position commonly held by elected officials,…
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Migration and Flint Residents

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It is difficult to compare and U.S. public health disaster to Syria’s civil war, but Flint residents and Syrian refugees do share some similarities (and many differences) when it comes to migration. We penned an analysis up on The Monkey Cage Blog in the Washington Post. Read more here. “At the moment, there is no…
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Creating a Culture of Fear: Stop the ICE Raids on Refugee Families

Last week, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson was in Dearborn, Michigan as part of an initiative to discuss the importance of reporting suspected terrorist activity in Muslim-predominant communities across the country. Secretary Johnson was to use his time in the state to promote self-policing mechanisms put forth by the fledgling Countering Violent…
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The Usual Caveats Apply: Amendments to the Visa Waiver Program

On Thursday January 21, 2016, changes to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program (VWP) went into effect, including an addition to the program titled “Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015.” As usual, the new law and its exceptions are causing major debate among  U.S. government officials and could have a negative effect on U.S.-Europe relations. According…
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A Balancing Act: The Supreme Court’s Decision Tips the Scales for Legal Answers on Immigration

Photo: Joe Ravi CC-BY-SA 3.0 On Tuesday January 20, 2016, The Supreme Court announced that it will review President Obama’s executive action on immigration reform. The case of United States v. Texas will be set for argument in April, making it almost certain that there will be a final ruling by the end of June.…
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A Brief History of Immigrants and Their Contributions to Detroit

Cadillac Square was home to the Detroit farmers market (1841-1891). By 1880, significant numbers of Italian & Polish immigrants were moving to the rapidly growing city. Photo: UM School of Public Health Detroit has long been a destination for immigrants. Decades before the economic decay, the 2013 bankruptcy, and even prior to French colonization, various…
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12th Annual Immigration Law & Policy Conference Recap

On October 29, 2015, we attended the 12th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference in Washington D.C. The day-long event was hosted by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) and Catholic Legal Immigration Network, INC (CLINIC) and took place at Georgetown Law Center. It was great to spend a day with other immigration professionals, policymakers, analysts,…
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