Sotomayor Introudces Supreme Court to Phrase "Undocumented Immigrant"

Posted on December 10, 2009 by Austin Kennedy

The Supreme Court on Tuesday released its first four decisions in argued cases this term, which also happens to be Justice Sonia Sotomayor's first term.  All four decisions were relatively minor, but one stands out on account of Sotomayor's word choice.  According to the New York Times, Justice Sotomayor's opinion in the case, Mohawk Industries v. Carpenter, No. 08-678, included the Supreme Court's first use the term "undocumented immigrant".  In contrast, the term "illegal immigrant" has apparently appeared in a dozen earlier decisions.  

Though many will make much of this utterance, I doubt that Justice Sotomayor labored over this particular word choice.  It's not that I think that her word choice is insignificant, but I doubt that she consciously devoted much thought to how she'd describe people who are allegedly in the United States without proper authorization.  Rather, as the daughter of Puerto Rican parents who moved to the United States during World War II, Judge Sotomayor relates to the immigrant experience, whether it be of the 'documented' or 'undocumented' variety.  Language is the process through which we define the world around us and our role within it.  In choosing (consciously or not) to pen the phrase "undocumented immigrant", rather than "illegal alien', Judge Sotomayor humanizes individual people who too often are dismissed and described with words designed to create the impression of a faceless mass of criminality.   Not too shabby for her first opinion. 

 

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Immigrants' Important Economic and Political Impact In Iowa

Posted on December 2, 2009 by Austin Kennedy

The Immigration Policy Center (formerly American Immigration Law Foundation) is a great organization that provides highly valuable practice advisories to immigration lawyers while also lobbying for pragmatic immigration laws and providing a vitally sane voice on the economic and cultural impact of immigration in the United States.   In other words, an important part of their mission is to disseminate quality, objectively verifiable information that disputes common myths about immigration here in the U.S.

To this end the IPC has recently released the result of research and analysis which shows immigrants, Latinos, and Asians are clearly an important part of Iowa's economy, labor force, and tax base.  Immigrants and their children are a growing economic and political force as workers, consumers, taxpayers, and entrepreneurs.  Immigrants and their children will continue to play a key role in shaping the economic and political future here in Iowa. 

Highlight's from IPC's research and analysis include: 

  • In 2007 Iowa was home to 117,437 immigrants;
  • 34.5% of immigrants in 2007 (or 40,473 people) in Iowa were naturalized U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote;
  • Latinos accounted for 4.0% (or 119,522) and Asians 1.6% (or 47,809) of Iowa's total population in 2007;
  • The 2008 purchasing power of Latinos totaled $2.4 billion and Asian buying power totaled $1.7 billion in Iowa in 2007;
  • Unauthorized immigrant families in Iowa paid between $40 million and $62 million in state and local taxes in 2007;
  • If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Iowa, the state would lose $1.4 billion in expenditures, $613.4 billion in economic output, and approximately 8,819 jobs. 

As you can see, Iowa isn't the homogeneous state many assume it to be.  Immigrants' economic, cultural and political impact on Iowa will only continue to grow in the coming years. 

 

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