I’d like to focus on the immigration reform debate in this week’s edition of the Monday Top Picks, paying special attention to new analyses of enforcement. On that topic, Walter Ewing of Immigration Impact has an intriguing take on a pivotal new report by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), and Pili Tobar of America’s Voice offers insights into how the new findings by MPI and the Center for American Progress can bolster the reform movement.
- In her article for Think Progress, Amanda Peterson Beadle notes that despite the nearly $18 billion spent on immigration enforcement in fiscal 2012, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer still thinks the border is not secure enough.
- Walter Ewing of Immigration Impact calls for an end to “enforcement-first” policies in his observations on a new MPI report that finds that the United States spent almost $18 billion on immigration enforcement in fiscal 2012 — more than was spent on all other federal criminal law enforcement agencies combined.
- Ben Winograd of Immigration Impact tells in his post, “Immigration Expert Exposes Legal Flaws in Anti-DACA Lawsuit,” of how University of Virginia law professor David Martin is debunking the claims in Kris Kobach’s anti-DACA (deferred action for childhood arrivals) lawsuit.
- In her piece for America’s Voice, “Migration Policy Institute, Center for American Progress: Time is Right for Real Immigration Reform,” Pili Tobar writes that new findings by the Center for American Progress and MPI show that far too much has been spent on border security and other immigration enforcement, pointing to the need for comprehensive reform.
- In his commentary for Colorlines, “What to Expect from Immigration Reform, and When to Expect It,” Seth Freed Wessler examines possibilities for the future of immigration reform, stressing that the only certainty is that immigration will be hotly debated in the current Congress.
Please email me if you have thoughts or comments on this week’s Top Picks, or ideas for the weeks to come. I look forward to continuing to bring you the best online commentary on immigration and refugee issues every Monday.