This Week in Immigration Reform — Week Ending March 18

Week Ending March 18

This week in immigration: Local, state, and national organizations express support for administrative relief; and new study provides data on potential recipients of relief.

NCLR kept the community informed with staff quoted in MSNBC, Medill News Service, El Hispano News, EFE, Notimex, and EFE.

Amicus briefs in favor of administrative relief continue to pour in to Supreme Court: In anticipation of April’s oral arguments in the case of United States v. Texas, organizations across the country continue to express support for the President’s executive actions. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia filed an amicus brief last week, as did a group of faith-based organizations and the leaders of nearly 120 cities and counties (44 of whom reside in states that oppose relief). A national op-ed talks about lessons the Supreme Court can learn from California on immigration, and the Hill posted an op-ed touting the need for Congressional leadership on immigration reform. Additionally, Atlanta’s mayor and police chief, Georgia’s four Democratic congressional representatives, and three immigrant rights groups signed on to a brief in support of relief, which can be found here.

New study examines potential beneficiaries of administrative relief: A new study released by the Center for Migration Studies analyzes the potential recipients of President Obama’s executive actions which could provide a reprieve from deportation to an estimated 5 million individuals. The study finds that DAPA and enhanced DACA recipients have “robust and longstanding ties” to the United States, as 89 percent of DAPA beneficiaries are parents of U.S. citizens, 7% have lawful permanent resident children, and 4 percent have both U.S. and lawful permanent resident children. Additionally, three-quarters of DAPA-eligible individuals are in the labor force, and 94 pecent of those in the labor force are employed. 77 percent of the estimated 3.7 million potential DAPA beneficiaries are in the 18 to 44 age group, and 81 percent have resided in the United States for 10 years or more.

This data falls in line with other studies touting the benefits of administrative relief previously highlighted here, including ITEP’s study on the state and local tax contributions of the undocumented population, MPI’s study on DAPA’s potential effects on families and children, and MPI’s profile of U.S. children with unauthorized immigrant parents.