Immigration
Building Opportunity: A Toolkit for Virginia’s Future
We all want to believe that if we meet our obligations and if we work hard at the things we choose to do that we’ll be rewarded with opportunities to get ahead.
Immigrants & Economy: Profiles of Virginia Business Owners
Local shops and services that provide for everyday needs are cornerstones of thriving communities, and foreign-born Virginians play an important...
Revived Travel Ban a Lose-Lose for Refugees and Virginia’s Economy
We now know that refugees are net-contributors, adding to the gross domestic product and tax base, and the recent ban hurts both vulnerable families seeking to resettle and our state’s bottom line.
Deportation: Bad for Virginia’s Children, Bad for Virginia’s Bottom Line
Deportations and discriminatory rhetoric don’t just hurt unauthorized immigrants, they hurt our families, our communities, and our state by diminishing the readiness and well-being of a large segment of our future workforce.
Working, Paying Taxes, Hitting Barriers
Despite paying taxes, unauthorized immigrants are not offered many of the social services that their taxes pay for. Essential safety net services such as Medicaid or the Earned Income Tax Credit, are not offered to unauthorized immigrants in any form, with very few exceptions. Furthermore, unauthorized immigrants in Virginia also pay a higher share of their incomes in state and local taxes than the wealthiest 1 percent of Virginians.
Immigrant Demographic and Economic Indicators for Select Legislative Districts in Virginia
The profiles linked below provide demographic and economic indicators for immigrants in select legislative districts across the state,...
Virginia Immigrants in the Economy
Pillars of Our Prosperity Virginia’s immigrants are diverse, growing in number, and are major contributors to our state’s economy. Immigrants...
The High Local Cost of Forced Immigrant Detention
The immigration system in the United States is broken, and too many Virginians are caught up in it because of minor problems with their immigration status and minor criminal charges. Virginia should not add to this by requiring local and regional jails to treat detainer requests as mandatory without a court order. And the state should not force sheriffs and regional jail officials to choose between a confusing state law and the constitutional rights of individuals, not to mention the possible costs to their local taxpayers.