• Latin America, America Latin: The Dynamics of Immigration and Integration in the Western Hemisphere

  Staff:	Shannon K. O'Neil, Douglas Dillon Fellow for Latin America Studies

  May 22, 2007 - May 22, 2007

  An estimated twelve million illegal immigrants live in the United States, up from five million just ten years ago. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2005 some 78 percent of this population was from Latin America. Despite these startling statistics, U.S. immigration law has not changed in twenty years. There is agreement across the political spectrum that the status quo does not work and that immigration reform is necessary, said Deborah W. Meyers, senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute. Yet as migration policy experts, immigration lawyers, and journalists discussed in a recent symposium hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations, “The Dynamics of Immigration and Integration in the Western Hemisphere,” the specifics of how to reform U.S. immigration law have provoked heated debate. Panelists discussed the contentious dynamics of U.S. immigration reform from the perspectives of U.S. policymakers, the general public, and immigrants themselves. The symposium was the final event in this year’s “Latin America, America Latin” series at the Council, organized by Council Fellow for Latin America Studies Shannon O’Neil and made possible by the generosity of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

  Summary Report of Symposium: Downloadable PDF

  
  

   

  • Meetings  
  • Further Readings  

   

  Meetings

  Latin America, America Latin: The Dynamics of Immigration and Integration in the Western Hemisphere: Dynamics of Integration--Exclusion, Assimilation, or Transformation? (Session 2)

  Symposium

  
  May 22, 2007

  Related Project: Latin America, America Latin: The Dynamics of Immigration and Integration in the Western Hemisphere

  Speakers:	Eliseo Medina, International Executive Vice President, Service Employees International Union
  	John Trasvina, President and General Counsel, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
  	Arturo Vargas, Executive Director, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials
  Presider:	Julia Preston, National Correspondent covering immigration, The New York Times

  Transcript: Council on Foreign Relations Half-Day Symposium on Latin America, America Latin: The Dynamics of Immigration And Integration in the Western Hemisphere
  Audio: Latin America, America Latin Symposium: Session 2: Dynamics of Integration: Exclusion, Assimilation, or Transformation? (Audio)
  Video: Latin America, America Latin Symposium: Session 2: Dynamics of Integration: Exclusion, Assimilation, or Transformation? (Video)

  This meeting is on the record.

   

  Latin America, America Latin: The Dynamics of Immigration and Integration in the Western Hemisphere--Dynamics of Entry (Session 1)

  Symposium

  
  May 22, 2007

  Related Project: Latin America, America Latin: The Dynamics of Immigration and Integration in the Western Hemisphere

  Speakers:	Stephen Pitti, Professor of History and American Studies, and Director of Ethnicity, Race, and Migration, Yale University
  	Deborah Meyers, Senior Policy Analyst, Migration Policy Institute
  	Cyrus Mehta, Founder and Managing Attorney, Cyrus D. Mehta & Associates, P.L.L.C.
  Presider:	Ray Suarez, Senior Correspondent, The Newshour with Jim Lehrer

  Transcript: Council on Foreign Relations Half-Day Symposium on Latin America, America Latin: The Dynamics of Immigration and Integration in the Western Hemisphere
  Audio: Latin America, America Latin Symposium: Session 1: Dynamics of Entry (Audio)
  Video: Latin America, America Latin Symposium: Session 1: Dynamics of Entry (Video)

  This meeting is on the record.

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  Further Readings

  Council Report: The Economic Logic of Illegal Immigration

  Daily Analysis Brief: The Ys and Zs of Immigration

  Op-Ed: “The Fundamental Flaws of Immigration Reform” by Shannon O’Neil (washingtonpost.com)

  Op-Ed: “Not Enough Immigrants” by Shannon O’Neil (Los Angeles Times)

  Op-Ed: “The Low Risk From Immigrants” by Sebastian Mallaby (Washington Post)

  Campaign 2008: Issue Tracker—The Candidates on Immigration

  Foreign Affairs: “Immigration Nation” by Tamar Jacoby (November/December 2006)

  More on Immigration

  to top

• The Global Finance Regime

  

  Explore the international finance regime with a new interactive from CFR's program on International Institutions and Global Governance.

  New Council Special Reports

  
  

  Enhancing U.S. Preventive Action

  Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.

  The United States in the New Asia

  For more than a decade, the United States has mostly watched from the sidelines as Asian countries organize themselves into an alphabet soup of new multilateral groups. In this report, the authors review the relationship between pan-Asian and trans-Pacific institutions and suggest policy guidelines for a new U.S. approach to this new Asian landscape.

  Complete list of Council Special Reports

  New Books

  Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.

  

  In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.

  In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.

  Complete list of CFR Books

  David Rockefeller Studies Program Contacts

  For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:

  James M. Lindsay
  Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
  +1.212.434.9626 (NY); +1.202.509.8405 (DC)
  jlindsay@cfr.org

  Janine Hill
  Deputy Director of Studies Administration
  +1.212.434.9753
  jhill@cfr.org

   

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