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2. Mass Incarceration Retards Racial Integration
- Author:
- Peter Temin
- Publication Date:
- 04-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET)
- Abstract:
- President Nixon replaced President Johnson’s War on Poverty with his War on Drugs in 1971. This new drug war was expanded by President Reagan and others to create mass incarceration. The United States currently has a higher percentage of its citizens incarcerated than any other industrial country. Although Blacks are only 13 percent of the population, they are 40 percent of the incarcerated. The literatures on the causes and effects of mass incarceration are largely distinct, and I combine them to show the effects of mass incarceration on racial integration. Racial prejudice produced mass incarceration, and mass incarceration now retards racial integration.
- Topic:
- Education, War on Drugs, Mass Incarceration, Integration, and Racism
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
3. Solidarity in Isolation? Social Cohesion at a Time of Physical Distance
- Author:
- Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan and Aliyyah Ahad
- Publication Date:
- 07-2021
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
- Abstract:
- In addition to its widespread public-health and economic impacts, the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged social cohesion in many countries by forcing changes in how people interact. Physical connection, the most human response to collective adversity, has been largely out of reach during long periods of lockdown, social distancing, and remote work and learning. The temporary closure of public spaces such as libraries and schools has also limited the spontaneous, casual encounters that can build bridges between disparate groups. This MPI Europe report explores ways to assess the pandemic’s effects on social capital and social infrastructure in Europe and North America. It also presents an initial analysis of how and where social cohesion is in peril and where it may actually be gaining strength, and highlights the importance of governments taking an inclusive approach and prioritizing social cohesion as societies move toward recovery. The authors identify three trends: Bridges between groups are weakening, even as new forms of connection may be strengthening bonds within existing networks. Immigrant integration programs have worked hard to move their offerings online, but digital tools may capture only a fraction of what in-person programming can and they may leave behind some people who most need assistance overcoming integration barriers, such as those with limited access to and familiarity with technology. A wide range of volunteering, mutual aid, and other grassroots forms of solidarity have emerged during the pandemic, but it remains to be seen which can make the switch from emergency response to longer-term engagement.
- Topic:
- Immigration, Citizenship, Integration, Social Cohesion, Social Capital, COVID-19, and Civic Engagement
- Political Geography:
- Europe, North America, and Global Focus
4. A Rockier Road to U.S. Citizenship? Findings of a Survey on Changing Naturalization Procedures
- Author:
- Randy Capps and Carlos Echeverría-Estrada
- Publication Date:
- 07-2020
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
- Abstract:
- Becoming a citizen benefits immigrants and U.S. communities in a variety of ways, including by promoting integration and enabling immigrants to vote and run for public office, sponsor close relatives for immigration, and travel visa free to many countries. Citizens also earn more than noncitizens with similar characteristics, and these higher earnings lead to greater economic activity and higher tax payments. For the approximately 9 million immigrants eligible to naturalize, however, the hurdles to becoming a U.S. citizen appear to be growing. This report presents the Migration Policy Institute’s analysis of a 2019 national survey conducted by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center of 110 naturalization assistance providers. The study aims to understand how U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) naturalization procedures have changed during the Trump administration. USCIS continues to approve the vast majority of citizenship applications, with an approval rate that has hovered around the 90-percent mark since fiscal year 2010, but the time it takes to process an application has grown considerably. This appears to be due at least in part to changing adjudication policies and practices, including those described by the surveyed organizations: About one-quarter of survey respondents reported their clients missed interviews when USCIS sent notices to incorrect addresses, sent them too late, or sent them to the attorney but not the applicant. Interviews had doubled in length, from 20–30 minutes to 45–60 minutes, according to one-quarter of respondents. More than one-third reported USCIS more often issued requests for evidence to support applications, especially for documents related to tax compliance and income, continuous residency and physical presence, marriage and child support, and criminal history. USCIS officers asked detailed questions not directly related to citizenship eligibility, and administered the English and civics tests differently, often more strictly, according to 10 percent of respondents. These changes were underway before a trio of new 2020 developments that threaten to further increase the application backlog and make it more difficult for eligible immigrants to access citizenship: a COVID-19-related suspension of USCIS operations for three months, the likely furlough of two-thirds of the agency’s staff due to a major budget shortfall, and a planned increase in the cost of filing a citizenship application alongside new restrictions on eligibility for fee waivers for low-income applicants.
- Topic:
- Immigration, Law, Citizenship, Naturalization, and Integration
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
5. Which English Learners Count When? Understanding State EL Subgroup Definitions in ESSA Reporting
- Author:
- Julie Sugarman
- Publication Date:
- 03-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
- Abstract:
- Data about English Learner (EL) students in the United States are more plentiful than ever. Under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA), states must report a wide range of information about their students’ English language arts and math standardized test scores, graduation rates, and more. They must also break these data down to show how students with certain characteristics—subgroups including racial/ethnic groups, students with disabilities, and ELs—are doing. This wealth of data is meant to help policymakers, practitioners, and community members identify schools that need to do a better job of helping ELs learn. But for this to be possible, it must be clear who states are including in the EL subgroup—something that varies across types of data and that is not always clearly marked on state student performance reports or online dashboards. This brief aims to help data users understand how the composition of the EL subgroup varies, and why understanding these technical differences matters when making decisions about how ELs and schools are faring. It also discusses how breaking data out further for certain groups of ELs such as newcomers, students with interrupted formal education, and long-term ELs could benefit decision-making.
- Topic:
- Education, Immigrants, Language, and Integration
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
6. Native Language Assessments for K-12 English Learners: Policy Considerations and State Practices
- Author:
- Julie Sugarman and Leslie Villegas
- Publication Date:
- 06-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
- Abstract:
- Standardized tests play a central role in the U.S. education system, shaping how states hold schools accountable for ensuring that all students have equitable access to a quality education. Schools and districts sometimes also use testing data for high-stakes decisions about teacher pay and whether students can move on to the next grade. It is thus crucial that standardized assessments are able to accurately capture what students know and can do. But for English Learner (EL) students, test scores may not fully reflect how much they have learned in a subject if they cannot demonstrate their knowledge in English. The federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) encourages states to consider offering native language assessments as a test accommodation for ELs. Yet official guidance and research are limited on how to use such assessments effectively, and only 31 states and the District of Columbia use such tests. Depending on factors such as students’ English proficiency levels and the language(s) in which they receive instruction, these tests may be a good fit for some ELs but not others. This policy brief explores key policy and practical questions for states considering implementing or expanding their use of native language assessments. It also provides an overview of the choices made by the jurisdictions that already use them—including the subjects and languages in which native language assessments are offered and how they were created. Finally, the brief offers recommendations for the federal government, states, and local actors that could help build understanding of when these tests work well and how to make them more widely available.
- Topic:
- Education, Immigrants, Language, Integration, and ESL
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
7. Supporting Immigrant and Refugee Families through Home Visiting: Innovative State and Local Approaches
- Author:
- Caitlin Katsiaficas
- Publication Date:
- 10-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
- Abstract:
- Home visiting programs are increasingly popular in communities across the United States. A two-generation model for health and social service provision, home visiting is designed to support both young children and their caretakers to promote their health, well-being, and long-term outcomes. For immigrant and refugee families, home visiting can also offer integration-related supports, such as by helping parents navigate unfamiliar early childhood, health, and social service systems. But even though they make up an important segment of the at-risk populations these programs aim to serve, immigrant and refugee families are less frequently enrolled in home visiting programs than families in which the parents are U.S. born. This brief highlights strategies adopted by some states and counties to address this gap. To do so, it looks at four case studies: King County, Washington; San Diego County, California; Illinois; and Massachusetts. Working with different populations and in varied funding environments, these state and local efforts illustrate key steps policymakers and program administrators can take to boost the equity and quality of home visiting services for immigrant families, such as by: explicitly including at-risk immigrant families in program needs assessments and prioritizing them for services alongside other at-risk families; incorporating community input into program design; adjusting procurement processes to level the playing field for community-based organizations that seek to offer home visiting services and are well positioned to connect with families of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds; and supporting research on what program models work well for immigrant and refugee families.
- Topic:
- Education, Refugees, Immigrants, and Integration
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
8. The Future of the Automotive Industry: Dangerous Challenges or New Life for a Saturated Market?
- Author:
- Annamaria Simonazzi, Jorge Carreto Sanginés, and Margherita Russo
- Publication Date:
- 11-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET)
- Abstract:
- The automotive industry is undergoing a radical transformation. New social, technological, environmental and geopolitical challenges are redefining the characteristics of a saturated market, opening new scenarios while offering opportunities for the entry of new players. These challenges are bound to trigger reorganization of the global value chain between old and new suppliers and car makers and their suppliers, affecting the distribution of employment, the regionalization of production and the dynamic evolution of the comparative advantage of nations. In this paper we address the issue of the reorganization of global value chains in the face of these challenges. The analysis will compare the relative position of core and peripheries in the North-American and European macro-regions, focusing on Mexico, which represents a significant case study for analysis of the impact of the digital transformation on the domestic value chain in an “integrated periphery”, and of trade agreements on the location policies of big multinationals. The dependency of the Mexican automotive industry on the strategic decisions of global players is considered a factor of great vulnerability, especially in a context of rapid change in the patterns of consumption, technologies and international trade agreements. For Mexico, as for European producers in the integrated and semi-peripheries, the main challenge in the near future will be posed by the radical transformation the industry is going through in electrical and autonomous-driving vehicles, which sees regions and players outside the traditional automotive clusters in the lead. The transformations taking place are bound to change the global structure of automotive production. The rise of new competitors from the emerging economies and would-be entrants from other sectors, competing in mastering the new digital and software technologies, threatens the established structure of the industry. The pandemic has led to a spectacular acceleration in the process of change, while heightening uncertainty about future developments. This is why the governments of leading countries are joining in the race, wielding carrots and sticks in support of their industries and in the endeavor to encourage risk-taking and investment in research and innovation, step up e-vehicle production while providing for the necessary infrastructures, and guarantee their companies a place in the new industry.
- Topic:
- Markets, Networks, Integration, Decarbonization, Digitalization, Production, and Automotive Industry
- Political Geography:
- Europe, North America, and Mexico
9. Credentials for the Future: Mapping the Potential for Immigrant-Origin Adults in the United States
- Author:
- Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
- Abstract:
- As the U.S. workforce ages, baby boomers retire, and birth rates decline, the United States is facing an estimated shortfall of 8 million workers between now and 2027. At the same time, the U.S. economy is becoming ever more knowledge-based. Having a marketable postsecondary credential, whether an academic degree or a professional certification or license, has become more of a necessity to secure a job that pays a family-sustaining wage. Amid these economic changes, immigrant-origin adults—that is, immigrants and their U.S.-born children—are projected to be the primary source of future labor-force growth. Yet about 30 million of the 58 million immigrant-origin adults in the country as of 2017 did not have a postsecondary credential, representing 30 percent of all U.S. adults without one. These immigrants and their children are thus an important target group for efforts by governments, educational institutions, civil society, and employers to boost the credential attainment of U.S. workers. This report offers a first-of-its-kind profile of immigrant-origin adults without postsecondary credentials, including a look at key sociodemographic characteristics, geographic distribution, and factors such as English proficiency and legal status that can affect their access to workforce programs. It also considers the labor-market returns of nondegree credentials, finding that immigrant-origin adults who hold such certifications or licenses have higher rates of labor-market participation, higher wages, and lower unemployment than counterparts who lack them. “Helping a significant share of these 30 million immigrant-origin adults obtain postsecondary credentials,” the authors conclude, is “a critical tool in meeting national and state education goals, addressing current and projected labor shortages, and raising labor productivity.”
- Topic:
- Education, Immigration, Economy, Vocational Training, and Integration
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
10. Creative Financing Could Help Cities Like Portland, Maine, Integrate Asylum Seekers and Tackle Other Challenges
- Author:
- Matthew Eldridge and Charles Cadwell
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Urban Institute
- Abstract:
- This summer, several hundred asylum seekers—most fleeing violence in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo—arrived in Portland, Maine, igniting a debate on how to support these new arrivals, most of whom have immediate housing and service needs, as well as issues related to trauma and navigating a new country, and whether to encourage more immigration to bridge local labor shortages. The responsibility of providing services for asylum seekers—unlike refugees, who have access to some supports—falls into a gray area without clearly delineated roles for local, state, and federal government agencies. If granted asylum, these individuals would be eligible for federal supports, but that process could take months or years. Capacity constraints among local service providers are limiting their ability to expand services to meet these new needs. Although there may be long-term, quantifiable benefits for integrating these new, mostly younger residents into communities with workforce needs, the short-to-medium-term integration and support costs, coupled with unclear funding responsibilities and tight budgets, present barriers to action.
- Topic:
- Refugees, Asylum, and Integration
- Political Geography:
- Africa, North America, Angola, United States of America, and Congo