Community profile: Arizona

Immigrants

Financial access for immigrants: the challenges and opportunities facing U.S. depository institutions

Immigrants

Community development in dynamic neighborhoods: synchronizing services and strategies with immigrant communities

Immigrants

Federal Aid to the States: Historical Cause of Government Growth and Bureaucracy

In recent years, members of Congress have inserted thousands of pork-barrel spending projects into bills to reward interests in their home states. But such parochial pork is only a small part of a broader problem of rising federal spending on traditionally state and local activities. Federal spending on aid to the states increased from $286 billion in fiscal 2000 to an estimated$449 billion in fiscal 2007 and is the third-largest item in the federal budget after Social Security and national defense. The number of different aid programs for the states soared from 463 in 1990, to 653 in 2000, to 814 by 2006. The theory behind aid to the states is that federal policymakers can design and operate programs in the national interest to efficiently solve local problems. In practice, most federal politicians are not inclined to pursue broad, national goals; they are consumed by the competitive scramble to secure subsidies for their states. At the same time, federal aid stimulates overspending by the states, requires large bureaucracies to administer, and comes with a web of complex regulations that limit state flexibility. At all levels of the aid system, the focus is on spending and regulations, not on delivering quality services. And by involving all levels of government in just about every policy area, the aid system creates a lack of accountability. When every government is responsible for an activity, no government is responsible, as was evident in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The failings of federal aid have long been recognized, but reforms and cuts have not been pursued for years. Aid has spawned a web of interlocking interests that block reform, including elected officials at three levels of government, armies of government employees, and thousands of trade associations representing the recipients of aid. Yet the system desperately needs to be scaled back, not least because the rising costs of federal programs for the elderly are putting a squeeze on the federal budget. To help spur reform, this study examines the historical growth of the aid system and describes its failings. Congress should reconsider the need for aid and begin terminating activities that could be better performed by state and local governments and the private sector

Polishing Treadmills at Midnight: Is Refugee Integration an Elusive Goal?

It is often said that justice requires us to treat like cases alike. Accordingly, the U.S. refugee resettlement program provides all refugees—no matter where they are from, no matter their pasts—with very similar funding and services. Refugees, however, are far from alike. In this essay, I invoke Borgmann’s distinction between a “thing” and a “device” and draw on stories from my work with a resettlement agency to argue that our current, employment-driven system is in need of reform. Instead of being restricted to generic programs, refugee resettlement agencies should be funded to help each family achieve social integration in ways that best suit them

America\u27s De Facto Guest Workers: Lessons from Germany\u27s Gastarbeiter for U.S. Immigration Reform

Part I of this Note describes West Germany\u27s post-war Gastarbeiter [guest worker] program from 1961 to 1972. Part II focuses on the long-term results of the Gastarbeiter program, with special emphasis on the legal status of Turkish Gastarbeiter in Germany. This assessment concludes that guest worker programs inevitably result in the permanent settlement of foreigners in the host country. If not properly anticipated and planned for, this settlement leads to social stratification and political divisiveness. Part II also presents for comparison U.S. immigration policies and their effect on Mexican immigrant workers. The section asserts that the United States over the past two decades has implemented a de facto guest worker policy, which led to many of the same adverse consequences wrought by Germany\u27s Gastarbeiter program, including the permanent settlement and subsequent marginalization of undocumented immigrants from Mexico. Part III concludes that temporary worker programs, formal or de facto, have irreversible and adverse sociopolitical consequences for their participants and the countries that adopt these policies. Accordingly, this Note cautions against the adoption of a formal temporary worker program in the United States and argues that the permanent legalization of undocumented immigrants is the most judicious means of reversing recent trends

The Effect of Proposed Changes in Federal Public Charge Policy on Latino U.S. Citizen Children in Massachusetts

We estimate the number of U.S.-born Latino children that could be potentially affected by proposed Trump Administration changes greatly expanding the scope of the “public charge” test as a basis for denying noncitizens admission to the U.S. or adjustment to lawful permanent resident status. In addition to reducing family-based immigration, the proposed rule’s association of public benefits with adverse immigration consequences is widely expected to cause a drop in public benefit participation not just by noncitizens but by their U.S. citizen children as well. If this proposed change is implemented, Latino families – which include both noncitizen families and “mixed status” families composed of U.S. citizens and noncitizens – will be disproportionately affected. Our estimates show that between 7,000 and 17,000 U.S.-born Latino children could be expected to drop MassHealth coverage in Massachusetts were this proposed policy to take effect. A drop in coverage of this magnitude could increase the percentage of uninsured U.S.-born Latino children in Massachusetts from 2.6% to a figure between 16% and 35%