Immigration and America's future : a new chapter : report of the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future / Spencer Abraham and Lee H. Hamilton, co-chairs ; Doris Meissner [... and others].

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Abraham, Spencer.

Hamilton, Lee.

Meissner, Doris M.

Migration Policy Institute.

Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States--Emigration and immigration--Government policy.

United States.

Emigration and immigration.

Government policy.

Emigration and immigration--Government policy.

Physical Description:

xxii, 153 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm

polychrome

Place of Publication:

[Washington, DC] : Migration Policy Institute, [2006]

System Details:

Executive summary and prefatory materials available on Task Force web site.

text file

Summary:

Immigration is both the oldest and newest story of the American experience. Immigration has helped define the United States, enable growth and prosperity, and shape a dynamic society. Yet just as it has been a vital ingredient in America's success, it generates changes that can be unsettling and divisive.

The nation's attention is focused on illegal immigration because it is the most dramatic manifestation of policies that are outdated and increasingly disconnected from the economic and social forces that drive immigration. Today's debate, however, side-steps the broader question that looms for America's future: What kind of immigration policy and system would harness the benefits of immigration to advance US national interests in the 21st century?

The Migration Policy Institute convened the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future in cooperation with the Manhattan Institute and the Division of United States Studies and the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars to grapple with that question. The Task Force's report and recommendations are based on careful analysis of the economic, social, and demographic factors driving today's large-scale immigration, illegal and legal. Its core conclusion is that immigration is essential to US national interests and will become even more so in the years ahead. To harness the benefits and minimize the disadvantages of immigration, the United States must fundamentally rethink its policies and overhaul how it manages immigration.

The Task Force recommendations articulate a vision that promotes US global competitiveness in the context of post-9/11 security imperatives, while also tackling many of the technical details that have made immigration such an intractable public policy problem. This report should serve as a durable foundation upon which to build the discourse and policies that can meet the challenges and opportunities that immigration poses for the 21st century.

Contents:

I. Introduction

II. Why is immigration important?

The economy and demography of the 21st century

Immigration and the identity of the country

Foreign policy and national security

III. What is wrong with US immigration policy and practice?

Illegal immigration

Temporary immigration

The legal immigration selection system

Filling a vacuum : state and local roles

IV. An immigration policy and system for the 21st century

The current debate

New assumptions

V. Attracting the immigrants the United States wants and needs

Numbers and categories of immigration

Flexibility in the immigration system : the Standing Commission on Immigration and Labor Markets

VI. Enforcing the rules

Employer verification

Enforcement at US borders

Immigration enforcement and national security

Protecting workers

Other enforcement

VII. Immigrant integration

Integration policy challenges

The unauthorized population

VIII. Strengthening institutional capacity

Policy processes and interagency coordination

Policy information

Implementing new mandates

IX. The regional context of immigration

Economic development

Migration management.

Notes:

"September 2006."

"Convened by the Migration Policy Institute in partnership with Manhattan Institute and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars."--Task Force web site.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

097428193X

9780974281933

OCLC:

72820862