Immigrant Policy

Background

The State and Local Coalition on Immigration

The State and Local Coalition on Immigration is a collaborative effort of six national organizations representing state and local government: The National Governors’ Association, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the National Association of Counties, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National League of Cities, and the American Public Human Services Association. Since the early 1980s, these organizations have worked individually and jointly to advance the state and local perspective on immigration before Congress and the Administration through correspondence, issue briefings, and testimony. With reductions in federal funding for domestic refugee resettlement and the passage of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, members of the Coalition began assessing the impact of immigration on public policy and its implications for state and local policymakers. Federal immigration decisions were recognized to have direct and indirect effects on state and local governments in the form of their budgets; the composition of their citizenry; the utilization and quality of their services; and the general social, political, and economic character of their communities. In 1996, the landmark federal welfare reform law revamped the welfare system, dramatically restricting immigrant eligibility for the nation's main public cash and medical assistance programs and shifting enormous responsibilities to state and local governments.

The Immigrant Policy Project

The Coalition was awarded a grant in 1992 to examine the role of state and local government in the development of “immigrant policy.” Although the federal government has exclusive jurisdiction over immigration policy (the terms and conditions for entry into the United States), states and localities have become responsible for immigrant policy (the policies that help newcomers integrate into the country’s economic, social, and civic life.)

The Immigrant Policy Project (housed at NCSL) serves state and local policymakers and their staff by providing timely, impartial, and succinct information on immigration activities at the federal, state, and local levels. This unique collaboration among the state and local groups allows the Project to listen to policymakers concerns directly and respond with targeted research that is balanced and useful for the Coalition’s constituents. The Project has focused on the federal-state-local partnership in the resettlement of immigrants and refugees, and most recently on federal welfare reform and the implications for states, localities, and the immigrant population.

The Project researches and produces publications on immigrant policy for an audience of approximately 2000 state and local policymakers and staff, immigrant coalitions, community-based organizations, service providers, and immigration specialists. Founded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Project has also received support from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The Emma Lazarus Fund, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Fannie Mae Foundation, the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement, and NCSL.

Publications

The ABCs of IDs for U.S. Immigrants. This report describes the federal system and process for issuing identification and other documents to citizens, immigrants and nonimmigants in the United States; state driver’s licenses issued to noncitizens; and consulate IDs issued by foreign governments. The report also identifies challenges in improving the integrity of IDs. (January 2005)

Immigrants to Citizens: This report tells how immigrants become U.S. citizens and, beyond the naturalization process, how they become American and active participants in our society. (July 2004)

Language Access: Helping Non-English Speakers Navigate Health and Human Services. This brief reviews the federal guidance requiring meaningful access for limited-English speakers; the size of the limited English proficient population by state; how states have obtained federal match in Medicaid and SCHIP; and state examples related to interpreter services. (January 2003)

Opportunities Under TANF for Serving Refugee and Immigrant Families: A Checklist for State and Local Policymakers. This publication identifies state initiatives in providing or adapting TANF- and MOE-funded services and programs for refugees, immigrants and/or non-English speaking clients. (January 2001)

SCHIP and Access for Children in Immigrant Families. Produced in collaboration with NCSL’s Forum for Health Policy Leadership, this paper provides an overview of citizen and noncitizen children in immigrant families in the United States and their access to SCHIP, factors affecting enrollment, and examples of state responses through state-funded care and improvements in outreach, application and enrollment. (January 2000)

America's Newcomers: Mending the Safety Net for Immigrants. This report reviews the 1995-96 federal welfare reform debates and details the significant change in immigrants' access to federal, state and local entitlements. It outlines states' choices, their 1997 legislative responses, and constitutional questions. (1998)

Affiliated Projects

Public-Private Partners to Address Nutrition and Hunger: Building State Capacity. NCSL's newly created Hunger and Nutrition Partnership will engage state lawmakers in efforts to reduce hunger and improve nutrition by creating partnerships with experts in the hunger and nutrition fields. As a result of this initiative, state decision makers will gain information on the issues and challenges in reducing hunger and improving nutrition in their communities, as well as ways to leverage public and private resources to overcome these challenges. The project is supported by The UPS Foundation.

Building the New American Community: A Collaborative Project on Integration, is an effort to foster and identify the elements of successful integration - to understand what that means, what works, what doesn't work, and why. The 3-year initiative, funded by the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement, is a response to the increasing diversity of refugees and immigrants in the United States, recent settlement patterns to "nontraditional" receiving communities, and the devolution of responsibilities for refugee and immigrant support services from federal to state government. www.ncsl.org/programs/immig/community_orr.htm

State and Local Coalition on Immigration
NCSL: Sheri Steisel, 202-624-5400
NGA: Nolan Jones, 202-624-5300
NACo: Marilina Sanz, 202-393-6226
APHSA: Elaine Ryan, 202-682-0100
USCM: Crystal Swann, 202-293-7330
NLC: Jennifer McGee, 202-626-3020

Project Staff

Ann Morse, Program Director
Katherine Gigliotti, Policy Associate

Websites

Immigrant Policy Project:
www.NCSL.org/programs/immig/
Building the New American Community:
www.ncsl.org/programs/immig/community_orr.htm