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The Graying of America: Shifting Demographics and Implications for Immigration Reform

February 23, 2022

This report from the Baker Institute's Center for the United States and Mexico explores how new immigration policies can help maintain a strong economy as a growing number of older Americans leave the workforce.

International Student Inclusion and Success: Public Attitudes, Policy Imperatives, and Practical Strategies

May 17, 2021

This issue brief summarizes results from a series of surveys evaluating U.S. voters' attitudes and perceptions regarding international students. Three iterations of the survey were administered in March 2017, December 2019, and February 2021 in partnership with the Winston Group and with support from the Charles Koch Foundation.Key findings from the surveys include:A clear majority of those surveyed believe international students make significant academic and diplomatic contributions and have a positive impact on domestic peers.For example, 58 percent of respondents indicated they believe that "international students are valuable additions to campuses because they bring intellectual talent and energy to campuses."The belief that students from abroad "take seats" from U.S. students persists; however, there is growing confidence in international students' academic qualifications and preparedness.There is prevailing sentiment that international students should be "encouraged" to study in the United States. However, there is a lack of support for a concerted effort to grow the number of international students here.There is support for international students remaining in the U.S. after completing their studies.Overall impressions of the favorability of international students have not diminished since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic; however, there is interest in ensuring that incoming international students—and all travelers from abroad—do not spread the virus.Though a minority view, there is some level of concern that international students are improperly vetted or do not adhere to visa regulations.When it comes to policy implications, the issue brief recommends actions for policymakers to take to strengthen and restore international student enrollment to pre-pandemic levels, and to facilitate institutions' ability to enroll the number of students they can effectively support.The issue brief also pulls from ACE's 2021 report Toward Greater Inclusion and Success: A New Compact for International Students to make recommendations for refining campus practices.

Incarcerated Immigrants in 2016: Their Numbers, Demographics, and Countries of Origin

June 4, 2018

This brief uses American Community Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau to analyze incarcerated immigrants according to their citizenship and legal status for 2016. The data show that all immigrants—legal and illegal—are less likely to be incarcerated than native-born Americans relative to their shares of the population.

Immigration and the Welfare State: Immigrant and Native Use Rates and Benefit Levels for Means-Tested Welfare and Entitlement Programs

May 10, 2018

Overall, immigrants are less likely to consume welfare benefits and, when they do, they generally consume a lower dollar value of benefits than native-born Americans. This appears contrary to the study conducted by the CIS (Publication 3), but Cato claims its work is more accurate because it examines individuals with immigration status, while CIS measures welfare use by households headed by immigrants (which often contain multiple native-born Americans).

Do Immigration Enforcement Programs Reduce Crime? Evidence from the 287(g) Program in North Carolina

April 11, 2018

This paper examines 287(g)'s implementation across multiple counties in North Carolina and identifies its impact on local crime rates and police clearance rates by exploiting time variation in regional immigration enforcement trends. The 287(g) program did not affect the crime rate in North Carolina or police clearance rates but it did boost the number of assaults against police officers.

Free Expression on Campus: What College Students Think about First Amendment Issues

March 12, 2018

First Amendment freedoms continue to be tested on U.S. college campuses as higher education institutions strive to achieve goals that can occasionally come into conflict. These include encouraging the open discussion of ideas and exposing students to people of different backgrounds and viewpoints while making all students feel included and respected on campus. In 2016, Gallup, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Newseum Institute conducted a landmark, nationally representative study of college students. The survey found that students believed First Amendment freedoms were secure, and they generally preferred that campuses be open environments that encourage a wide range of expression. However, students supported restrictions on certain types of speech, such as hate speech, and many were sympathetic to students' attempts to deny the press access to campus protests, such as those that occurred over race-related issues in the 2015-16 school year.

Criminal Immigrants in Texas: Illegal Immigrant Conviction and Arrest Rates for Homicide, Sexual Assault, Larceny, and Other Crimes

February 26, 2018

This brief uses Texas Department of Public Safety data to measure the conviction and arrest rates of illegal immigrants by crime. In Texas in 2015, the criminal conviction and arrest rates for immigrants were well below those of native-born Americans. Moreover, the conviction and arrest rates for illegal immigrants were lower than those for native-born Americans. This result holds for most crimes.

A New Estimate of the Cost of Reversing DACA

February 15, 2018

Using data on the age and educational outcomes of nearly 3,000 college students who are DACA recipients this study forecasts their income in the ensuing decade to estimate the total economic and fiscal impact over the next decade of allowing this cohort to remain in the country and legally pursue employment.

Immigrant Entrepreneurship: Trends and Contributions

November 1, 2017

This article analyzes recent U.S. data to examine how immigrants during the last 15 years have contributed to entrepreneurship through self-employment and earnings. It aims to address the questions of how do immigrants contribute to recent U.S. self-employment trends, in what industries are immigrant entrepreneurs concentrated, and how do their earnings compare to those of U.S.-born entrepreneurs?

Immigrants Assimilate into the Political Mainstream

January 19, 2017

This report separates immigrant political and policy opinions by citizenship status. Noncitizen immigrants cannot vote but their political opinions are mostly similar to those of natives. However, naturalized citizen-immigrants who can vote have political opinions even closer to those of natives and are near-fully assimilated into the political mainstream.

Terrorism and Immigration: A Risk Analysis

September 13, 2016

This report attempts to analyze the likelihood of an American perishing in a terrorist attack on U.S. soil committed by a variety of foreign-born classifications (tourist, refugee, illegal immigrant, etc.).