Sheriff Joe's Nemesis Win Pulitzer Prize

Reporters Ryan Gabrielson and Paul Gillin of the East Valley Tribune (suburban Phoenix) wan the journalistic Pulitizer Prize for local reporting by exposing Sheriff Joe Arpaio's immigration round-ups for the fraud they are. (See Immigration Policy Center release.)


THE UNDOCUMENTED AND THE ECONOMY
The Immigration Policy Center (IPC) reviewed academic and government studies on the impact of undocumented immigrants on the economy. Its conclusion is that their contribution, rather than costing American workers their jobs or raising citizens' taxes as nativists generally claim, has been generally positive. It would be even better, for the immigrant and all workers and tax-payers, if there were comprehensive immigration reform.

Just some of IPC's conclusions:

• an "enforcement only" immigration policy is costly (not only for wallsm and increased enforcement personnel), but also is ineffective;
• more than half the undocument workers pay taxes and shore up Social Security with payments while not eligible for benefits;
• workers "in the shadows" are often "paid off the books" and so cost federal and local government lost income;
• with legalization workers would be free to demand better wages anupdate their skills, thus raising their own income -- workers legalized in 1986 have increased their standard of living by 15% -- and provided better for their families;
• Hispanics and Asians, many of them immigrants, are entrepreneurtial and so with their small businesses have create millions of jobs and earned billions of dollars.

These are just some of the conclusions of the IPC report. It can be found at it website -- immigrationpolicy.org.