On September 28, District Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn upheld the central provisions of HB 56—Alabama’s immigration law. While the rhetoric surrounding this law has focused on the adult undocumented population (a group said to be responsible for taking jobs from those who are here legally and being a strain on public services), the immediate impact of HB 56 was witnessed among Alabama’s Hispanic children.

Section 28 of HB 56 orders elementary and secondary schools in Alabama to determine “whether the student enrolling in public school was born outside the jurisdiction of the United States or is the child of an alien not lawfully present in the United States.” Fearing that section 28 facilitate deportations, thousands of parents kept their children home on last Friday and more than five percent of the 1,435 Hispanic students in the state didn’t show up for class.
(more…)

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.
(more…)

At a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security on Tuesday, Microsoft called on lawmakers to reform the immigration system in order to attract and retain high-skilled workers. Brad Smith, the company’s general counsel and senior vice president for legal and corporate affairs, said that “if done right, attracting the talents of the best and brightest from other countries can help, rather than hurt, prospects for American workers because in an innovation economy, jobs often beget jobs.” The hearing—titled The Economic Imperative for Immigration Reform—was presided by Judiciary Chair Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and was attended by other business leaders, higher education representatives and immigrant communities, as well as three American mayors.

Schumer and Subcommittee member John Cornyn (R-Texas) insisted on the need for high-skilled immigration policy in order to strengthen the U.S. competitiveness. Smith’s testimony before the Subcommittee echoed this sentiment, describing the needs of Microsoft. “Because of shortages and intense competition,” Smith said, “filling our talent needs remains a serious challenge. For example, in May Microsoft had 4,551 unfilled job openings, of which 2,629 were for computer science positions. In 2011, it has taken us on average 65 days to fill openings for experienced candidates in core tech positions in the United States. Our continued ability to help fuel the American economy depends heavily on continued access to the best possible talent.”
(more…)

In a letter posted in the Bellingham Herald, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez highlighted the positive impact immigration reform would have over the U.S. economy. Echoing what other studies and economists have said in the past, Locke and Gutierrez insisted reform is a way to create jobs, retain talent, and promote entrepreneurship.

The letter began with an emphasis that: “America’s economic future depends on the strength and innovative capacity of our people. We must make the American workforce the strongest in the world.” Education and training for Americans, and the ability to attract foreign skilled people “with innovative capacity and entrepreneurial energy”—the U.S. secretaries said—are key policies to create the jobs of the future.
(more…)