Birth Rate Declines for New Immigrants
“According to new analysis of government data by the Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends project, the U.S. birth rate dipped in 2011 to the lowest ever recorded. This is led by a plunge in births among immigrant women that started in 2008, with the Great Recession,” Fox News Latino writes.
“And while there was a recent drop in unauthorized immigration from Mexico, recognized as ‘the largest source country for U.S. immigrants,’ the analysis did not find a decline in the number of foreign-born women of childbearing age (15 to 44). Even so, the birth rate for Mexican immigrant women fell by 23 percent.”
Arizona Sued Over Drivers’ License Order
“Immigrant rights advocates filed a lawsuit Thursday that seeks to overturn Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s order denying driver’s licenses for young immigrants who have gotten work permits and avoided deportation under a new Obama administration policy. The lawsuit alleges the state has in effect classified young-adult immigrants as not having permission to be in the country and asks a federal judge to declare Brewer’s policy unconstitutional because it’s trumped by federal law and denies licenses without valid justification,” the Huffington Post reports.
“The Obama administration in June took administrative steps to shield as many as 800,000 immigrants from deportation. Applicants must have been brought to the United States before they turned 16, be younger than 30, have been in the country for at least five continuous years, have graduated from a high school or GED program or have served in the military. They also were allowed to apply for a two-year renewable work permit.”
Norquist Joins Amnesty Push
“Another major conservative voiced support for U.S. immigration reform this week but this one has been calling for it for a while, albeit not as loudly as he has for tax cuts. ‘Immigration is our competitive advantage against the rest of the world as an economic power,’ said Grover Norquist, the influential U.S. lobbyist and tax-reform activist,” UPI reports.
“Norquist, who spoke at Politico’s Playbook Breakfast Wednesday morning, said he’s encouraging the Republican Party to follow through on recent calls for immigration reform in the wake of election losses. The United States needs to understand that smarter immigration policy can separate the nation from Japan and China, said Norquist, the president of American’s for Tax Reform.”