75,068 research outputs found

    Ensuring Access to Fair and Affordable Financial Services: A survey report on barriers faced by low-income immigrants in NYC

    Get PDF
    Access to fair and affordable financial services is a critical economic justice issue facing immigrant New Yorkers -- across income, language and cultural groups. Despite NYC's sizable immigrant population -- nearly 40% of New Yorkers, or close to three million people, are foreign-born -- and despite New York's status as the nation's banking capital, NYC banks are conspicuously not at the national forefront in providing services to immigrants.In 2006, the Network designed and implemented a city-wide Immigrant Banking Survey to increase understanding about immigrant New Yorkers' financial services experiences and needs. The survey gathered information about immigrants' access to bank accounts, as well as their use of credit and methods of sending remittances to their home countries. The Network survey team interviewed approximately 600 immigrant New Yorkers between August 2006 and January 2007. Surveys were gathered at community fairs, workshops, schools, churches, food pantries and other locations, as well as through on-the-street interviews. All surveys were conducted verbally by trained staff and volunteers, in respondents' native languages or a language in which they were proficient. Survey results did not differ significantly between randomly interviewed community members and constituents of nonprofit organizations. Findings presented in this report are based on 546 valid surveys completed by immigrants from 74 countries. Findings may be applied to the NYC immigrant population as a whole. The size and diversity of the sample, however, does not allow us to make generalized comparisons among all nationalities.NEDAP released a preliminary summary of survey findings in 2007. This report provides more detailed findings and includes recommendations for expanding equitable financial services access in immigrant communities

    Corruption and its Effect on Economic Development in Chile, Mexico, and Brazil

    Full text link
    In this paper, the effect of the perception of corruption on economic development will be explored. The research question addressed in this paper is: how does the perception of political corruption in Mexico, Brazil, and Chile affect their economic development? Economic development has increased significantly for all three states since 1990s, but for two of them it has been coupled with rampant corruption. The research question will be explored through a review of the current literature, a discussion of the methods, the presentation of the data and results, and finally a discussion about the results. In order to assess whether frequent corruption scandals affect economic development, the perception of corruption data was be collected from Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index on all three countries spanning from 1995 to 2017. To measure its effect on economic development, bivariate correlations between the perception of corruption, GDP per capita, Human Development Index (HDI) scores, and FDI in-flows were run to first test to see if there are relationships between the variables at all. Following this, two linear regressions were run, one with GDP per capita as the dependent variable and the other had HDI. The results showed mixed results, as it found a strong positive relationship between the perception of corruption and HDI yet found a strong negative relationship between the perception of corruption and GDP per capita

    Blurring the Boundaries Citizen Action Across States and Societies

    Get PDF
    Taking a "citizen's perspective", looking upwards and outwards, these studies offer a unique insight into how citizens see and experience states and other institutions which affect their lives, as well as how they engage, mobilise and participate to make their voices heard

    De los Derechos Humanos: Reimagining Civics in Bilingual & Bicultural Settings

    Get PDF
    Dominant approaches to teaching social studies often marginalize bilingual and bicultural students. This is particularly troubling because the explicit goal of the social studies is to cultivate civic participation. Educational inequalities are thus tied to political inequalities. In light of this, this article shares a narrative case study of the author\u27s own bilingual and bicultural approach to teaching middle school civics at a dual-language American school in Mexico. Through the illustration of a comparative civics curriculum that incorporates translanguaging practices, the author argues that embracing bilingualism and biculturalism in the social studies can lead to more expansive possibilities for justice-oriented civic education

    Economic Measurements and Quality of Life in Mexico

    Get PDF
    Using the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), the article seeks to evaluate the quality of life in modern Mexico. The GPI employs the same indicators used to arrive at per capita GDP, but adds positive and negative monetary and non-monetary actors that affect people\u27s lives. Monetary factors include income distribution, increased health care cost due to air and water pollution, and loss of wetlands. Non-monetary factors involve parenting, time spent in highways, loss of leisure time, the cost of volunteer work, and other social costs. If one takes these into account, the purchasing power and quality of life of Mexican citizens are considerably lower than the per capita GDP would indicate

    Blurred Borders: Trans-Boundary Impacts & Solutions in the San Diego-Tijuana Border Region

    Get PDF
    Over the years, the border has divided the people of San Diego County and Tijuana over language, culture, national security, public safety and a host of other cross-border issues ranging from human migration to the environment. For some, the 'us' versus 'them' mentality has become more pervasive following the tragedy of September 11, 2001, with a growing number of San Diegans focusing greater attention on terrorism and homeland security, as well as the need to re-think immigration policy in the United States as a means of fortifying the international border. This is validated by a recent KPBS/Competitive Edge research poll that found 46% of English-speaking San Diegans desiring that the U.S. impose tighter restrictions on the border. Yet the question remains: if San Diegans and Tijuana are so different, why is our shared port of entry the most busily crossed international border in the world with over 56 million crossings a year? The answer is simple. Opposites attract. The contrasts and complementarities between San Diego and Tijuana are so powerful that residents, as well as visiting tourists and business people, endure post-9/11 traffic and pedestrian delays to cross the border for work, school, cultural enrichment, maintaining family ties or sheer economic necessity

    Civic Engagement, Volunteerism and Charitable Giving: Americans Retiring in Mexico's Coastal Communities

    Get PDF
    This study examines whether the American commitment to volunteerism and charitable giving is as evident among U.S. retirees in other countries as it is in the U.S., and in particular, how committed U.S. retirees in their adopted Mexican communities are engaged in civic engagement and charitable giving.As baby boomers - - the generation of 77 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 - - retire, they represent a tremendous potential resource to their communities for public service and volunteerism. A recent study undertaken by the U.S. Corporation for National Public Service (CNPS) determined that the number of volunteers aged 65 and older will increase 50% over the 13 year period from 2007 to 2020, from approximately 9 million senior volunteers to over 13 million.1 According to CNPS, that number is likely to continue to rise because the youngest baby boomers will not reach age 65 until 2029. Furthermore, research has shown that that older volunteers may derive additional health benefits from volunteering such as greater life satisfaction and lower rates of depression.2While the pool of potential baby boomers engaged in voluntary service is expected to grow in the coming years, not everyone in that population is expected to remain in the United States. In fact, due to the rising costs of retiring in the United States, a growing number of American retirees are opting to retire overseas. And, among overseas retirement destinations, Mexico is considered one of the most preferred retirement locales because of its affordability, lifestyle options, and its close proximity to the United States. To better understand perceptions and lifestyle trends of U.S. retirees in Mexico, the International Community Foundation conducted a comprehensive study of U.S retirees in Mexican coastal communities between July and November 2009. A key focus of this research included an analysis of civic engagement, volunteerism and charitable giving trends among the U.S. expatriate community. The target populations surveyed were those aged 50 years or older who are now either retired full time in Mexico or residing there on a part-time basis.Several key findings emerged from the research. Volunteerism and giving to charity is as robust among U.S. retirees living in coastal Mexico as it is among retirees in the U.S. This is especially noteworthy since relatively few of these donors receive a tax deduction for their gifts. Respondents not only give in Mexico, but continue to give in the U.S. as well. These retirees volunteer because of their strong sense of social responsibility, and desire to make a difference in their communities. They report that their volunteer efforts increase their sense of belonging in Mexico, and contribute to an increased sense of community among local neighbors and friends.Respondents engage in a wide range of volunteer activities, most prominently with education-focused charities, community projects, and the environment. Social issues such as poverty, stray animals, economic challenges, unemployment, and lack of educational opportunities for youth concern them. Many retirees are willing to get involved to solve such problems, and report they would even consider Peace Corps service should the program be expanded to include retirees.Despite their inclination to be civically involved, there is a gap between U.S. retirees and Mexican-led nonprofit organizations in Mexico. Many respondents to this survey indicated that they were more likely to start their own nonprofit or to be involved in nonprofits created by other expats than to engage in work with a Mexican nonprofit. This could be due to doubts retirees have about the accountability and transparency of Mexican nonprofits, which often exist in a nascent state. Factors such as cultural misunderstandings and language barriers may also influence the willingness of retirees to engage with Mexican nonprofits. Yet, despite these findings, many U.S. retirees have a favorable impression of Mexican nonprofits in terms of program strength and effectiveness. Nevertheless, the potential for connection between retirees and Mexican communities is rich. Many retirees are willing to consider not only volunteering and giving, but planned giving and property bequests to Mexican nonprofits. At this time, Mexican nonprofits have a limited capacity to leverage this valuable resource. Thus, there exists a very real potential, for the gap between Mexican nonprofits and the U.S. retiree community to increase. This report makes a number of specific recommendations for both Mexican nonprofits, and U.S. policy makers to make improvements and promote future collaboration in volunteerism, philanthropy, and civic engagement

    The Politics of Exhaustion: Immigration Control in the British-French Border Zone

    Get PDF
    Within a climate of growing anti-immigration and populist forces gaining traction across Europe, and in response to the increased number of prospective asylum seekers arriving in Europe, recent years have seen the continued hardening of borders and a disconcerting evolution of new forms of immigration control measures utilised by states. Based on extensive field research carried out amongst displaced people in Europe in 2016-2019, this article highlights the way in which individuals in northern France are finding themselves trapped in a violent border zone, unable to move forward whilst having no obvious alternative way out of their predicament. The article seeks to illustrate the violent dynamics inherent in the immigration control measures in this border zone, characterised by both direct physical violence as well as banalised and structural forms of violence, including state neglect through the denial of services and care. The author suggests that the raft of violent measures and micro practices authorities resort to in the French-British border zone could be understood as constituting one of the latest tools for European border control and obstruction of the access to asylum procedures; a Politics of Exhaustion

    State Immigration Policy and the Economy: Western United States

    Full text link
    States have been influenced by a variety of factors when creating local and state immigration laws. Although the enforcement of federal immigration law should not be enforced by state and local authorities, state legislatures have created their own laws in dealing with the immigrants that reside and work in their states. The research question of this paper is what economic factors influence states to introduce pro-immigrant policies? I will be looking at states in the west including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington from the years 2016 to 2017. The specific factors observed in this paper are the labor union participation, unauthorized immigrants, DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients, state revenue, and the employment increases. These factors are all linked to the economy of the state. I use inferential statistics through bivariate correlations, linear regression analysis, and logit regression analysis, to understand the significant correlations of these specific factors to whether states in the western United States implement pro-immigration policy
    • …
    corecore