Under their Immigration Policy Project, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) produces reports three times a year on state laws that “address legal immigrants, migrant and seasonal workers, refugees or unauthorized immigrants.” On August 9 the NCSL presented the 2011 Immigration-Related Laws and Resolutions in the States for the period January-June.

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Texas Governor Rick Perry is facing an important dilemma as he kicks off his campaign for the 2012 presidential election. What will be his national position on immigration?

Although some people in the center may agree, liberals dislike Perry’s support for legislation banning sanctuary cities, giving local authorities more power for immigration enforcement, and his efforts to promote additional controls along the Mexican border. But conservatives—who form the base of the Republican Party that will decide on his nomination—claim his position is not sufficiently tough on unauthorized immigration.
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Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia—as well as other 11 Latin American nations—have filed a brief against Alabama’s immigration law (HB56). As Edward Still, the attorney who presented the brief said, the countries “want to make sure their citizens are treated correctly and they have a sovereign interest in the way in which immigration law is carried out by the United States.”

The brief—filed in the U.S. District Court in Huntsville—was also signed by Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. The countries see HB56 as threatening the rights of their citizens and “raises substantial challenges” to their relationship with the United States.
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In July the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) launched a report examining the trends in immigrant integration in the United States and its impact on the country’s economic future. The Economic Integration of Immigrants in the United States: Long- and Short-Term Perspectives highlights the role immigrants and their children have played in the U.S. productivity and competitiveness; and how the 2007-2009 economic crisis has made them more vulnerable and could negatively affect the upward socioeconomic mobility they have experienced so far. Considering baby boomers are moving towards retirement, the integration of immigrants into the U.S. labor force is a fundamental component of the long-term strategy to maximize the country’s output.

The report is divided in three sections. First section characterizes immigrant labor force in the United States and it throws interesting data. Foreign-born participation in the workforce, for example, has increased since the 70’s while the native-born share has stabilized and even decreased starting 1990.
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