This month we present two web sites representing two very well-respected organizations that are often at the center of the national debate on immigration – the National Immigration Forum and the Center for Immigration Studies. The National Immigration Forum is generally viewed as being very pro-immigration while the Center for Immigration Studies usually advocates for a more controlled, smaller immigration program (though neither organization should be looked at as having a single narrow viewpoint).
The Center for Immigration Studies site opens with a brief description of the organization’s mission:
“The Center for Immigration Studies is a non-partisan, non-profit organization founded in 1985. It is the nation’s only think tank devoted exclusively to research and policy analysis of the economic, social, demographic, fiscal and other impacts of immigration on the United States.
Much of the analysis of immigration issues has been carried out by ethnic, business or foreign-policy interests that have given little attention to immigration’s impact in the nation as a whole or to assessing the impact comprehensively. The information needed for sound debate of immigration policy has too often been selective, narrowly focused or altogether absent.
It is the Center’s mission to expand the base of public knowledge and understanding of the need for an immigration policy that gives first concern to the broad national interest.”
The CIS web site contains the tables of contents for the current and back issues of the Center’s Immigration Review journal. Each issue, one article is published on the web site. The site also contains a bibliography of the Center’s publications as well as ordering information. Mark Krikorian, the CIS’ executive director maintains a superb e-mail mailing list for academics, policymakers, journalists and others with a serious interest in immigration policy. Through the list, CIS distributes announcements, news items, reviews, queries, etc. and is very objective in allowing a wide variety of opinions to be heard by the list’s subscribers. The list is not open so you should send any request to be added to [email protected] asking to be subscribed to CISNEWS and explaining who you are and the nature of your interest in immigration policy. Finally, the site contains an excellent list of links to immigration resources on the Internet including a very extensive list of academic resources.
The National Immigration Forum’s web site opens with a large portion of Ellis Island, the nation’s immigration museum. By clicking on the picture, the reader is then taken to the NIF mission statement:
“The National Immigration Forum supports the reunification of families, the rescue and resettlement of refugees fleeing persecution, and the equal treatment of immigrants under the law. We encourage immigrants to become US citizens and promote cooperation and understanding between immigrants and other Americans.”
The site later goes on to describe the organization, founded in 1982, as “employing an effective combination of advocacy, media work, targeted research, and public education” in order to provide “accurate, reliable data to our nation’s policy makers, the press, and the public about the invaluable contributions of newcomers to our multi-ethnic society.”
The site contains a number of helpful resources. The NIF publishes a magazine, The New Americans, and portions of that publication are reproduced at http://www.immigrationforum.org/race.htm. The NIF’s quarterly publication The Golden Door, also is reproduced at the site. If readers click on the button “Current Immigration Issues” and “Immigration Facts” they will find background articles containing basic fact sheets on immigration as well as analysis of breaking immigration news and major immigration laws and regulations.
The NIF site has a discussion forum hosted on its web site which allows readers to discuss immigration-related issues of the day. Finally, the NIF’s publications list is linked at http://www.immigrationforum.org/resources.htm. That address will also take readers to a list of Internet immigration sites.
Disclaimer: This newsletter is provided as a public service and not intended to establish an attorney client relationship. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk. The information provided in this article has not been updated since its original posting and you should not rely on it until you consult counsel to determine if the content is still valid. We keep older articles online because it helps in the understanding of the development of immigration law.