Pew Hispanic Center – Chronicling Latinos Diverse Experiences in a Changing America

Some of the descendants of today’s native Americans are also the descendants of today’s Mexican Americans.  For thousands of years there has been a natural migration from well below the Rio Grande to cold northern parts of what is today’s “Upper Midwest.”  The region today that is loosely made up of the Dakotas, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois. Ironically, even the then pilgrims were considered “illegal aliens” by the then natives.  The same natives who “hosted them” and welcomed the pilgrims in what we now call “Thanks Giving.”  Certainly the then natives must have thought of the pilgrims as “illegal aliens” but gave them quarter and kindness nevertheless.

But “my oh my” how times have changed and how the Thanksgiving tables have been turned.  The immigration debate promises to change how we all define America and maybe even begin to tie together a North American Continent that continues to play a role for new comers.  We may yet get the facts straight and muster up some of that native hospitality that made that long cold winter of immigration survivable for the original pilgrims.  

We may yet repair the growing divisions in our country and continue to be a beacon of giving, welcoming and building for future generations.  Like the Statue of Liberty, a symbol with open arms, allowing our culture to continue to welcome and thank all of us who were here before the next comers, like the native Americans who taught us that Thanks Giving lesson.

Get the facts at Pew.  The Pew Hispanic Center continues to provide resources and leadership in this important area:

“The nation’s total immigrant population reached a record 40.4 million in 2011, according to an analysis of Census Bureau data by the Pew Hispanic Center. Over the last decade, the number of immigrants in the U.S. has grown by more than 9 million. The number of unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. grew in the early part of the decade before peaking at 12 million in 2007. It is now at 11.1 million as of 2011, the last year for which an estimate is available.”

Related:

New Data: Statistical Portrait of the Foreign Born, 2011

Report: Unauthorized Immigrants: 11.1 Million in 2011

Report: Net Migration from Mexico Falls to Zero

via Pew Hispanic Center – Chronicling Latinos Diverse Experiences in a Changing America.

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Senators Agree on Blueprint for Immigration – NYTimes.com

There is no more important driver of American development and perhaps no more important force which forged her character than immigration.  Of course, the country has been shaped by two types of immigration: that forged by the pilgrims running away from European oppression and that forged today by individuals seeking the benefits of that more perfect union created by the former.  Save of course the folks that came here in chains and those whose opinion and labor were controlled, devalued and defines by patriarchy.

Today we stand at an important crossroads of political insecurity, economic paranoia and cultural differentiation that threatens the existence of one American no matter who is here now or who comes thereafter.  America stands divided and many of her children choose not to vote, find it increasingly difficult to vote or do not have a civic status that allows them to do so.

This is the scenario that exists now as we ponder closing the doors of immigration and focusing on processing perhaps a hundred years of so called “illegal immigration.”

The New York Times reports on an initial bipartisan proposal by the current intelligentsia on the hill.  The proposal seems to strike a curious compromise between close the doors and keep anymore of them out and deal with all these folks that “leaked in here.”

In any case, this now nascent debate on immigration seems to be taking shape.  Stay posted… as we at the Policy ThinkShop think this through with you…  Send us a note and tell us what you think?

“A bipartisan group of senators has agreed on a set of principles for a sweeping overhaul of the immigration system, including a pathway to American citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants that would hinge on …”

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U.S. Birth Rate Falls to a Record Low; Decline Is Greatest Among Immigrants | Pew Social & Demographic Trends

In some of the most interesting and unexpected demographic news from recent census data, the Pew foundation published a report addressing the unexpected drop in births for the USA and even a greater drop by foreign born women living in the US.

“The U.S. birth rate dipped in 2011 to the lowest ever recorded, led by a plunge in births to immigrant women since the onset of the Great Recession.

The overall U.S. birth rate, which is the annual number of births per 1,000 women in the prime childbearing ages of 15 to 44, declined 8% from 2007 to 2010. The birth rate for U.S.-born women decreased 6% during these years, but the birth rate for foreign-born women plunged 14%—more than it had declined over the entire 1990-2007 period.1 The birth rate for Mexican immigrant women fell even more, by 23%.

Final 2011 data are not available, but according to preliminary data from the National Center for Health Statistics, the overall birth rate in 2011 was 63.2 per 1,000 women of childbearing age. That rate is the lowest since at least 1920, the earliest year for which there are reliable numbers.2 The overall U.S. birth rate peaked most recently in the Baby Boom years, reaching 122.7 in 1957, nearly double today’s rate. The birth rate sagged through the mid-1970s but stabilized at 65-70 births per 1,000 women for most years after that before falling again after 2007, the beginning of the Great Recession.

In addition to the birth rate decline, the number of U.S. births, which had been rising since 2002, fell abruptly after 2007—a decrease also led by immigrant women. From 2007 to 2010, the overall number of births declined 7%, pulled down by a 13% drop in births to immigrants and a relatively modest 5% decline in births to U.S.-born women.

Despite the recent decline, foreign-born mothers continue to give birth to a disproportionate share of the nation’s newborns, as they have for at least the past two decades. The 23% share of all births to foreign-born mothers in 2010 was higher than the 13% immigrant share of the U.S. population, and higher than the 17% share of women ages 15-44 who are immigrants. The 2010 birth rate for foreign-born women (87.8) was nearly 50% higher than the rate for U.S.-born women (58.9).”

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An Awakened Giant: The Hispanic Electorate is Likely to Double by 2030 | Pew Hispanic Center

Republican long money and impossible voting lines could not keep Latinos from voting in large numbers that made an Obama second term possible and the future of Latino voting power here to stay.   The midterm elections look likely now to cement a new Latino electorate as a key player in the American civic imagination.

“The record number1 of Latinos who cast ballots for president this year are the leading edge of an ascendant ethnic voting bloc that is likely to double in size within a generation, according to a Pew …”

via An Awakened Giant: The Hispanic Electorate is Likely to Double by 2030 | Pew Hispanic Center.

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Latino Voters in the 2012 Election | Pew Hispanic Center

The Republican and Democrat parties are focusing on everything else but the role of the Latino vote in the 2012 election.  This is in part due to the fact that either party lacks an internal capacity to develop an intelligent conversation on the role that the vote has played.  Even the Democratic machine, at the national level, which supposedly had the upper hand on voter micro data and demographics, has not come out with an intelligent discussion on the role of the Latino vote.  The Pew Foundation has shared some resources that could enlighten such a discussion….  The Policy ThinkShop provides this link for those who are looking at this issue towards making the current administration accountable to the Latino vote and in making sure the Latino vote continues to come in and count once it has its impact going forward…

Feel free to post your comments on how this material is useful to you, your organization and to developing policy that addresses Latino community needs and interests…

“Latinos voted for President Barack Obama over Republican Mitt Romney by 71% to 27%, according to an analysis of exit polls by the Pew Hispanic Center, a Project of the Pew Research Center.1

Obama’s national vote share among Hispanic voters is the highest seen by a Democratic candidate since 1996, when President Bill Clinton won 72% of the Hispanic vote.

The Center’s analysis finds that Latinos made up 10% of the electorate, as indicated by the national exit poll, up from 9% in 2008 and 8% in 2004.2 The analysis also shows that as a group, non-white voters made up 28% of the nation’s electorate, up from 26% in 2008.3″

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State of denial | The Economist The Policy ThinkShop Proposes that there is now a “NEW AMERICAN ELECTORATE”

The London Economist provides some sober analysis on the Republican meltdown that represents the Presidential Election of 2012.  The Republican disconnect between the young, women and Latinos could spell a new era of demographic consequences that are now clearly irreversible and that will mandate Republican philosophical change that may not be possible for another generation.  Millionaire money, gerrymandering and voter suppression is clearly not enough to the blossoming diversity and generational succession that is now apparent in the “NEW AMERICAN ELECTORATE.”

“FOR conservatives casting about for comfort, there are plenty of plausible reasons to dismiss talk of a crisis. Mitt Romney could have run a better campaign. He reacted slowly when Barack Obama defined him as a heartless plutocrat, and flip-flopped on policies so frequently that even campaign allies struggled to keep …”

 

This Economist article is only one soul-searching conservative attempt to explain the current state of the Republican mind.  It may take Conservatives, Tea Party stalwarts and Right Wingers another decade to figure it out.  By then, the NEW AMERICAN ELECTORATE may have moved on.  America is moving forward right past the right, its billionaires and its antiquated vision of “a real america”.

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The future of the Republican Party: The more things change | The Economist

AT THE national level, the result of yesterday’s election could hardly be less interesting. Barack Obama remains president. The size of the Republican majority

via The future of the Republican Party: The more things change | The Economist.

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President Obama’s Success – NYTimes.com

NYTs weighs in on how the Country has spoken demanding

• jobs, spreading the tax burden and rejecting politics of deceit

“President Obama’s dramatic re-election victory was not a sign that a fractured nation had finally come together on Election Day. But it was a strong endorsement of …”

via President Obama’s Success – NYTimes.com.

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Obama offers a glimpse of his second-term priorities | Reuters

Reuters article sees clear messages in President Obama’s second term platform …

 

“President Barack Obama predicted passage of immigration reform and a deficit-reduction deal, offering a fresh glimpse of his …”

via Obama offers a glimpse of his second-term priorities | Reuters.

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Rumors of Castro’s Death, Fifty Years After the Cuban Missile Crisis : The New Yorker

The dissident Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez, who has herself been denied permission for years, wrote in a tweet, “The first thing I thought when I heard about the new migration law was ‘Fidelism is in tatters, it’s coming undone’”—followed by an emoticon denoting astonishment:

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Romney’s Stance on Obama Reprieves Worries Young Immigrants – NYTimes.com

An immigration stance that Mitt Romney took with little fanfare this month has created turmoil for many young immigrants living in the country illegally, lawyers and immigrant advocates …

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Up to 1.7 Million Unauthorized Immigrant Youth May Benefit from New Deportation Rules | Pew Hispanic Center

Up to 1.7 million of the 4.4 million unauthorized immigrants ages 30 and under could potentially qualify for a new Obama administration program that goes into effect tomorrow that would shield them from deportation and enable them to apply for temporary but renewable work permits, according to new estimates from the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center.

Announced on June 15, 2012, by U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano, the new program, known as “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,” potentially provides relief from deportation for eligible unauthorized immigrants who are ages 30 and under and arrived in the U.S. before age 16.

The new Pew Hispanic Center estimate of 1.7 million potential beneficiaries is an increase over the estimated 1.4 million potentially eligible unauthorized immigrants reported by the Pew Hispanic Center (2012) in June, when DHS announced the new policy. Since then, DHS (2012) has provided more detail on program eligibility, publishing updated guidelines on August 3, 2012. As a result, the Pew Hispanic Center estimates that as many as 320,000 more unauthorized immigrants may be eventually eligible for relief from deportation. These additional potential beneficiaries are unauthorized immigrants ages 16 to 30 who came to the U.S. as children, currently do not have a high school diploma and are not enrolled in school. According to the updated eligibility guidelines, if these young people enroll in school by the date of their application, they could become eligible for relief from deportation.1

via Up to 1.7 Million Unauthorized Immigrant Youth May Benefit from New Deportation Rules | Pew Hispanic Center.

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