Health Worker Shortages & the Potential of Immigration Policy

Foreign-born and foreign-trained professionals play an important role in the delivery of health care in the United States. This report examines the important role of immigrant doctors and nurses -- many of whom have receivedtheir training abroad -- in the U.S. health industry, using new Census Bureau data as well as information from numerous interviews with health industry experts

Marching Towards the American Dream: Illinois Immigrant Citizens Settle in Chicago Suburbs

While long a factor in "urban elections", immigrant populations are changing the political landscape in Illinois. Immigrant citizens and the U.S. born children of immigrants are fast becoming the critical voting blocks in Chicago's suburbs this November and beyond. A Research Brief, titled "Marching Toward the American Dream: Illinois Immigrant Citizens Settle in Chicago Suburbs" was released by the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR). It is based on the recently released U.S. Census figures for 2005 and reveals that over the past five years the number of immigrants in the state has increased by 177,000, a figure greater than the population of Aurora, Illinois's second largest city. Some key findings of the report: - Naturalized immigrants and their U.S. born children now represent 19% of all eligible voting age people in llinois. - The number of naturalized immigrants in suburban Chicago rose by 127,000 persons, or 38 percent, in the last five. - The number of immigrant citizens in the suburbs (460,000) dwarfs the number in the City of Chicago (229,000)

Today We March, Tomorrow We Vote

As millions of immigrants marched across the U.S. in the historic mobilizations for immigration reform in spring 2006, they chanted: "Today We March, Tomorrow We Vote". Skeptics dismissed the marchers, pointing out that neither the undocumented nor legal permanent residents (green card holders) can vote. This report finds that there are 14.25 million potential voters among legal immigrants who are currently eligible to naturalize and the 16-24 year old U.S. born children of immigrants. This includes 12.4 million potential new voters who can be eligible to participate in the 2008 elections. The current Republican-led legislative attacks on immigrants and red-hot anti-immigrant demagoguery sparked the spring 2006 immigrant rights marches and are currently driving record increases in citizenship applications by legal immigrants. They are also likely to drive increases in the registration and voting rates of U.S. born children of immigrants. This could dramatically -- and negatively -- affect the outcome of the 2008 Presidential election for the Republican Party, as well as Republican prospects in numerous state elections

Illinois Immigrant Political Almanac

Immigrants make up a growing part of Illinois' population. As immigrants settle in thisstate, become citizens, and register to vote, we are also playing an increasingly key role in our state's electorate. This report documents the growth of Illinois immigrant voters, not just in size but also in our share of the total electorate. It also demonstrates how immigrant voters are settling in key areas of the state where they could swing elections and thus determine the balance of power on the state and federal level

Benchmarks of Immigration Civic Engagement

Immigrant civic engagement is an increasingly critical issue for the United States. Immigrant civic engagement may take various forms, but naturalization, voting registration and voter turnout are key measures or benchmarks. This report examines immigrant civic participation in terms of immigrants' current engagement, the capacity of states to provide naturalization and voting registration, and the impact that immigrants are having on the adult citizen population in the U.S

Undocumented Immigration by Congressional Districts

In this IPC Policy Brief, author Rob Paral uses new census data to update his earlier IPC report (Playing Politics on Immigration: Congress Favors Image over Substance in Passing H.R. 4437) on the number of undocumented immigrants in U.S. congressional districts

Uninsured Persons in Illinois Legislative Districts

Health and Disability Advocates and Rob Paral and Associates have developed estimates of uninsured persons in Illinois by state legislative districts. These estimates of the uninsured household population are categorized by poverty level and age. This report presents the basic distributions by age and poverty status. This report produced by Rob Paral and Associates in collaboration with United Power for Action and Justice and Heartland Alliance

Economic Progress via Legalization: Lessons from the Last Legalization Program

The data analyzed in IPC's latest Special Report, Economic Progress via Legalization, indicates that unauthorized immigrants who gained legal status in the 1980s through the legalization provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) experienced clear improvement in their socioeconomic situation. Between 1990 and 2006, the educational attainment of IRCA immigrants increased substantially, their poverty rates fell dramatically, and their home ownership rates improved tremendously. Moreover, their real wages rose, many of them moved into managerial positions, and the vast majority did not depend upon public assistance. The findings presented in this report support the notion that legalization of unauthorized immigrants can play a role in promoting economic growth and lessening socioeconomic disparities. Reforming our immigration system is not an obstacle to getting our economy back on track

Power and Potential: The Growing Electoral Clout of New Citizens

Immigrants - and groups in which immigrants are a large percentage of the population, such as Latinos and Asian/Pacific Islanders (APIs) - are a growing portion of the U.S. electorate. In a closely contested presidential race, the growing ranks of "new citizens" - foreign-born individuals who become "naturalized" U.S. citizens - are increasingly important political players. This report uses U.S. Census data from the 1996 and 2000 election years to describe key characteristics of immigrant, Latino, and API voters. The findings include: New CitizensIn 2000, there were 10.7 million adult new citizens in the United States, 6.2 million of whom were registered to vote and 5.4 million of whom actually voted.Although new citizens in general have lower rates of voter turnout than natives, new citizens who are registered to vote have higher rates of voter turnout than natives who are registered to vote.In just the four-year period from 1996 to 2000, the number of adult new citizens rose by 30 percent, the number of those registered to vote increased 20 percent, and the number who voted grew by 24.7 percent.New citizens accounted for more than half of the net increase in persons registered to vote between 1996 and 2000.The votes of new citizens are particularly important in "battleground" states - such as Arizona, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Washington- where victory or defeat in an election may be decided by relatively few votes.The percentage of immigrants who were naturalized citizens rose from 37.5 percent in 1996 to 39.7 percent in 2000.Latinos and Asian/Pacific IslandersIn 2000, there were 13.2 million adult, U.S.-citizen Latinos, of whom 7.6 million were registered to vote and 5.9 million actually voted. There were 4.6 million adult, U.S.-citizen APIs, including 2.4 million registered to vote and 2 million who in fact voted.While Latinos and APIs in general have lower rates of voter turnout than non-Latino "Whites," the turnout rates of Latinos and APIs who are registered to vote is close to that of Whites who are registered to vote.The numbers of Latinos and APIs who became U.S. citizens, registered to vote, and actually voted increased substantially between 1996 and 2000. The number of Whites registered to vote declined by 0.5 percent during this period.Latino and API voters accounted for more than a third of all new voters added to the rolls between 1996 and 2000

Where is Illinois Now and Where is it Going?

Granted statehood in 1818, Illinois is slightly over two centuries old. During that time, in approximately fifty-year segments, our state has embodied trends that defined our nation. The early 1880s brought westward expansion by European migrants and the taking of natives’ land. The second half of that century saw a population explosion and rapid urbanization. In the first part of the twentieth century, Illinois industrialization was essential to helping our nation win two world wars and establishing the United States as the pre-eminent world power. Most recently, a new half-century period can be identified. One of profound social and economic change for the state. No longer was Illinois on an endless growth trajectory. Residents shifted their preference to live in one part of the state or another, leaving rural areas for urban and suburban places, including those not in Illinois. The typical Illinoisan looks different: new communities of African Americans, Asians, and Latinos have appeared. Politically, there is a growing divide among the state’s internal regions. These are all profound shifts, and each deserves exploration to understand where our state is going. In this essay, I try to sketch out some of the broad transformations that we are experiencing in our state. On the one hand, I provide a snapshot of where we are today and how we compare to some of our neighbors, but I spend more time on how we have become a different state over the last half-century and how much of our evolution may not be positive for the state as a whole