MPI on Comprehensive Immigration Reform

With the State of the Union address tomorrow night and Congressional debate coming soon, the Migration Policy Institute is releasing a new publication by VIsiting Scholar Marc Rosenblum that evaluates the current immigration reform proposals from Congress and the Administration.

Dr. Rosenblum’s PolicyBrief, “Comprehensive” Legislation vs.Fundamental Reform: The Limits of Current Immigration Proposals,differs from other background materials because he not only analyzes theelements of each proposal, but also critically evaluates their potential toaddress the fundamental flaws characterizing the current immigration system.

He finds that theexisting proposals do not change the basic structure of the immigration system,and therefore do not adequately address:

• The mismatch between visa supply and demand;
• The country’s over reliance on temporary workers, who have surpassed lawful permanent resident immigrants as the primary source labor migration,
• Cumbersome and ineffective regulations to combat  wage deflation in sectors heavily affected by     immigration; and
• The presence of 11 million unauthorized immigrants.

“Comprehensive”Legislation vs. Fundamental Reform: The Limits of Current Immigration Proposals is available on MPI’swebsite at: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/ITFIAF/TF_13_Rosenblum.pdf.

A side-by-sidecomparison of current proposals is available at:
http://www.migrationpolicy.org/ITFIAF/legislation_jan06.pdf.

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