CIS Sensationalism Once Again: Our Study (which We funded With Restrictionist Dollars) Shows We Are Right

There are many news stories ( here is another) about the restrictionist group, the Center for Immigration Studies, latest report purporting to show that the undocumented population is down by as much as 11 percent.  (At some point, I will blog about how and why the Center should not be treated by journalists as a nonpartisan research group when in fact it is an unabashedly partisan restrictionist group that, to my knowledge, has never released a “report” with conclusions that are inconsistent with its restrictionist positions; for these reasons, respectable academics do not rely in CIS “research” or “reports” in serious scholarship — except to criticize it in some way).  Respected demographer Jeffrey Passel, who is quoted in many of the stories, has questioned the methodology of the study and the magnitude of the drop in the undocumented population.

The advocates at the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports the increased immmigration raids — including Postville, I presume –and enforcement and state and local immigration measures, claim that its study shows they were right.  But, as we all know, the U.S. economy has been in the doldrums, if not a recession, for quite a while.  And, given that undocumented immigration is largely job driven, we would expect less migration — and more return migration — with a faltering economy with fewer jobs and a growing unemployment rate.  (See this Immigration Policy Center report making similar arguments.).  So, we should be careful before we let the restrictionists declare victory, rub the noses of immigrant advocates in it, and demand more enforcement.

KJ