Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The East Valley Tribune this past weekend published a report about a new Morrison Institute for Public Policy study, "2010: Illegal Immigration: Perceptions and Realities."
The executive summary of the Morrison Institute for Public Policy study is here. 2010: Illegal Immigration: Perceptions and Realities — Morrison Institute
The study is here. 2010: Illegal Immigration: Perceptions and Realities (download file)
The East Valley Tribune report is here. New report clarifies reality vs. perception in immigration debate:
Those who follow immigration warn the debate has spun out of control, in part because some assertions behind the arguments are wrong – and making a messy issue even worse.
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The Morrison Institute for Public Policy began its campaign for calmness in recent days, issuing a report on the perceptions and realties of immigration. The institute looked at nine assertions about immigration, including its impact on crime, the economy, schools and the workforce. It found illegal immigration is no doubt a problem, but not always to the extent it's often portrayed.
The study's author acknowledges simple answers would make the issue easier. But senior policy analyst Bill Hart said the debate could become more civil if people considered the nuances of illegal immigration.
"So often a clear-cut answer just isn't there, and that's not real popular all the time," Hart said. "We just hope that it helps people focus more carefully on facts and data and less on emotional appeals to help us all get through this."
The institute doesn't advocate a position on immigration issues. That includes SB 1070, the measure that gives police broader powers to arrest illegal immigrants.
* * *
The Morrison Institute knows immigration issues will survive regardless of SB 1070's fate. As the debate advances, it seeks to have all sides consider its findings while being viewed as a neutral researcher.
"Regardless of which side in a debate it might help or hurt, our aim is to try to put out information that may help people think more clearly about this and help the debate be more productive and less shrill," Hart said.
PERCEPTION VS. REALITY
The Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University released a paper on the perceptions and realities of immigration. The report notes 9 common assertions – and whether they are solid, not provable or false.
1) Virtually all Arizonans consider undocumented immigration a threat.
• REALITY: 70 percent of Arizonans supported a law to authorize police to stop and verify the immigration status of anybody suspected of being an illegal immigrant, according to an April Rasmussen poll. At the same time, 57 percent favored a policy welcoming all immigrants except criminals, those who threaten national security or those here for welfare benefits.
2) Most violent crime is committed by undocumented immigrants.
• REALITY: That sentiment doesn't separate types of crime, such as drug cartel violence in Mexico, crime by drug smugglers against their rivals and general crime. Arizona's crime levels have declined or been level for years. From 1999 to 2006, states with high numbers of immigrants like Arizona saw crime drop more than the national average.
3) Undocumented immigrants are entering Arizona in record numbers.
• REALITY: The flow peaked about a decade ago. It has slowed or even stopped since the economic decline. The Department of Homeland Security estimated 460,000 undocumented immigrants in Arizona in 2009.
4) Undocumented immigrants are a drain on the economy.
• REALITY: They contribute sales tax dollars and billions of dollars annually in federal payroll taxes by workers who are ineligible to collect the benefits. They provide cheap labor that reduces costs. However, they hold mostly low-wage jobs, rely heavily on public services and send money to their home nation. It's probably impossible to calculate the net economic effect in a way both sides would find conclusive.
5) Arizona's prisons are bursting with undocumented immigrants.
• REALITY: The Department of Corrections reports 15 percent of inmates are "criminal aliens." About 19 percent of inmates are undocumented in the Maricopa County Jail system.
6) Stiffer laws and tougher border enforcement will rid Arizona of undocumented immigrants.
• REALITY: This has begun, with illegal crossers falling from 600,000 in 2000 to 241,000 in 2009. It's doubtful most undocumented families would leave because they've been welcomed over the past decade for their labor and have established their lives here with children who were born as U.S. citizens.
7) Undocumented immigrants flood the public health system.
• REALITY: Undocumented immigrants have been ineligible for the AHCCCS health care plan for the poor since 2004. But by law, hospitals must treat everybody in an emergency room, which is partially reimbursed by the federal government. Arizona hospitals report losing $24 million a year for treating undocumented patients. That sum is 6 percent of the $392 lost a year for treatment of all under insured or uninsured patients. Some studies show undocumented immigrants use emergency rooms less than native-born people.
8) Undocumented immigrants take jobs from native-born Americans and depress wages.
• REALITY: Undocumented immigrants are overrepresented in the low-skilled workforce because the native population is aging. The upcoming wave of Baby Boomer retirements will likely make immigrants the only source of growth among workers 25 to 55 for decades to come. However, low-wage natives are hurt because immigrants push down wages and create competition for those jobs. Low-wage immigrants also pay low tax rates.
9) The influx of children of undocumented immigrants is overwhelming public schools.
• REALITY: That number is not counted in Arizona. Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, pushed a bill to count them but the measure got stalled. Federal law prevents schools from denying education to illegal immigrants. Several foundations calculate 11.9 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., with 1.5 million undocumented children. About 3.5 million children of illegal immigrants are citizens or here legally. Of Arizona's 1 million school children, 150,000 are in English Language Learner programs.
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One cannot determine the number of undocumented children in public schools in AZ, by using language as the variable. Here is the process in AZ, of how a child is labeled an English Language Learner.
Parent fills out a registration form with three questions: 1)What is the first language your child spoke? 2)What is the child’s primary language? 3) What language is spoken in the home?
If ANY of those answers are something other than English, the child becomes a PHLOTE (Primary home language ther than English). Children labeled as PHLOTES, take a test of speaking, reading, and writing in English. A majority of students will fail this test, because it is an end of the year grade level test. For instance, a Kinder comes in as a PHLOTE. Most kinders in Aug., cannot read nor write, so they fail the test. Fail the test, you’re an ELL.
Since parents don’t realize that those three questions determine the language status of a child, thay often write Spanish/English, thinking people will understand their child is bilingual. Instead it ends up segregating them into four hour English language learner blocks in the school.
We’ve had children at my school, who speak NO Spanish and end up as ELLs. Obviously the system is flawed, and in no way can language determine the citzenship of a person. I know plenty of (citizen) parents, who want their children to be bilingual, so they speak almost exclusively to them in Spanish, until they enter school.