July 24, 2014
By Manuel Pastor, Justin Scoggins, Vanessa Carter, and Jared Sanchez in partnership with the Center for American Progress
Please note: reports dated earlier than June 2020 were published under our previous names: the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) or the USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII).
This report released by the Center for American Progress and the Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration detailed just how important the actions of both parties and the president on immigration reform are to one of the fastest-growing segments of the electorate: the children of immigrants. The U.S.-born children of unauthorized immigrants alone will be able to cast 11 million ballots over the course of the next five presidential elections, and they will be watching to see how both parties address immigration.
The effect of today’s divisive immigration politics may be even greater than numbers previously analyzed, as historical evidence and current polling point to the fact that immigration is a touchstone issue in voting preferences for the children of all immigrants.
The report asserted that political inaction on immigration reform fails to recognize the mixed-status realities of many families, eliminates the potential financial benefits to these families and to society at large, and is likely to entrench a second generation against political actors perceived as holding up immigration reform progress.
Los Angeles Times Op-Ed: GOP focused on the wrong set of children (July 23, 2014)
Republicans are focused on the wrong set of children — and on the wrong set of voters. Instead of raising a hue and cry over the “threat” represented by thousands of unaccompanied minors entering the U.S. from Central America, they should be mindful of the millions of children already here who are U.S.-born citizens of undocumented and documented immigrants.
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