Small-town Immigration

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Immigration on the Internet

Luciana Diehl

If you are reading this, you must be curious about immigration. Perhaps it is just a casual interest, a desire to be a well-informed citizen on a debate that is roiling the country. Or maybe you have the passionate concern of the advocate, eager to learn enough to convince others of your perspective. In either case, there are lots of ways to satisfy your curiosity without leaving your computer.

You can get informed with newspapers and other general-interest publications (but not with Epoch Times conspiracy theories, please); the New York Times and Washington Post search engines are great sources, and excellent NPR reports are available online.  

Perhaps you want to learn about research and policy. You will find more than you knew you wanted with an exploration of the resources of the Migration Policy Institute and Brookings. You can get serious about the numbers with the Pew Research Center—immigration is a principal research topic and the organization compiles comprehensive demographic information about Hispanics—or with TRAC Immigration, a source of data on immigration enforcement. (TRAC  will tell you such interesting stuff as the average amount of time that a deportation case takes to be resolved—almost 2 ½ years as of January 2021). 

Then there are the interest groups that focus solely on immigration policy and its consequences. The information they provide can be very useful, not least because it will reveal where they stand on fundamental issues like how many immigrants should come to America and what their status should be. 

America’s Voice, for instance, is very frank that its mission is to “build the public support and political will needed to enact policy changes that secure freedom and opportunity for immigrants in America.” It provides information on campaigns for expanding asylum and protecting holders of TPS (Temporary Protected Status) but also delivers a daily digest of all immigration-related news, whether it supports the mission or not. The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the largest group on the other side of the debate, seeks to reduce immigration and assure “a rational system of ordered entry,” and its reporting of immigration news reflects that perspective. 

The vast resources of the Internet offer readers information on immigration quite beyond general-interest publications and special-interest sites. The web is the place to go for legal services. Do you have a friend whose child is making the tortuous journey to the southern border and needs legal help with defending her right to be in the U.S.? Send her to KIND (Kids in Need of Defense) or to the Safe Passage Project. Hundreds of public interest lawyers are affiliated with CLINIC, the national network representing low-income immigrants all over the country.

In recent years state laws and resolutions have regulated such matters as unauthorized immigrants’ eligibility for drivers’ licenses and, in 2020, for health care benefits during the pandemic. The National Conference of State Legislatures issues an annual report on bills, both beneficial and restrictive, that affect immigrants. Some states have organizations, like Minnesota’s Center for Rural Policy and Development, that include immigration issues in websites focused on economic growth.

If you are interested in how immigrants are faring in small towns, check out The Daily Yonder, which has pointed out that if President Trump’s 60-day ban on international migration had gone into effect, it would have worsened population decline in rural areas.

The diversity of information sources on the web reminds us that immigration issues today are all-encompassing. Immigration history is American history, it is said, and these days that history is shaping a new American identity. Our keyboards are portals into what we need to know.

This article does not provide information for immigrants on how to adjust their status.

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