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Background
The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center), announced a two-part web cast series on Immigrants in the Land of Opportunity: Benefits and Challenges for States. There are record number of foreign-born individuals and their children living in the United States today—in communities of all types and sizes. Although many immigrants integrate quickly, others need support to ensure that they contribute to our economy, are civically and politically engaged and that their children are healthy and successful in school. These two web casts will explore how states can and are assisting immigrants in the "integration process."  Webcast 1 June 3, 2009 | 2:30 pm ET The first web cast explored recent trends among legal immigrants in the United States—their workforce participation, citizenship status, skills and education, and the factors impacting the well-being of their children. The discussion also included the economic and policy implications for states, the challenges immigrants and their families confront, and the impact of the economic downturn on immigrants. Speakers: - Randy Capps, Demographer and Senior Policy Analyst, Migration Policy Institute
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- Ruby Takanishi, President, Foundation for Child Development
- Karen Elzey, Executive Director, U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for a Competitive Workforce
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Children in Immigrant Families – The U.S. and 50 States: Economic Need Beyond the Official Poverty Measure
By Donald J. Hernandez, Nancy A Denton, and Suzanne Macartney
This Research Brief from Child Trends and The Center for Social and Demographic Analysis at the University of Albany, SUNY, finds that nearly one-half of children in immigrant families live in poverty when basic living and child care costs are taken into account. Drawing on Census 2000 data, it examines differences in the poverty rates between children in immigrant families and children in native-born families. -
Immigrants and the Current Economic Crisis
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Aaron Terrazas
As the nation sinks into a recession that may be the worst since the Great Depression, the economic crisis raises fundamental questions about future immigration flows to and from the United States and how current and prospective immigrants will fare. This report, a research product of MPI's new Labor Markets Initiative, examines how the number of immigrants has changed since the recession began; how legal and illegal immigration flows may change; and how immigrants fare in the labor market during downturns.
Download Report | Press Release
More on the Labor Markets Initiative -
Uneven Progress: The Employment Pathways of Skilled Immigrants in the United States
By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix with Peter A. Creticos
More than 1.3 million college-educated immigrants in the United States are unemployed or working in unskilled jobs because they are unable to make full use of their academic and professional credentials, MPI reports in the first assessment yet of the scope of the "brain waste" problem. The report analyzes and offers possible solutions for the credentialing and language-barrier hurdles that deprive the US economy of a rich source of human capital at a time of increasing competition globally for skilled talent.
Download Report | Press Release    Webcast 2
June 10, 2009 | 2:30 pm ET The second web cast explored how three states—Maryland, Florida and Illinois—have undertaken policy initiatives to assist immigrants in integrating into their new communities and the rationale behind these efforts. Speakers discussed their state's strategic investments in education, English-as-a-Second-Language, occupational training, and naturalization efforts. The discussion also considered funding opportunities available to states including new funding under the ARRA (education, workforce and human services). Speakers: -
Adam Ortiz, Special Assistant to the Secretary, Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation -
Patti Grogan, Senior Management Analyst II, Florida Department of Children and Families
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Jose Luis Gutierrez, Director, Illinois Governor's Office of New Americans
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