Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Summary
Few politicians have studied United States immigration and immigration policies as comprehensively as the late civil-rights icon, the first African American congresswoman to come from the Deep South, and chairwoman of President Clinton’s Commission on Immigration Reform, U.S. Representative Barbara Jordan (TX). The bi-partisan commission produced guiding principles for American immigration policies as well as specific recommendations – all but one recommendation was unanimous.
This week Parsing Immigration Policy features Eric Ruark, director of research at NumbersUSA, an immigration advocacy organization that has become the unofficial steward of the Jordan Commission’s reports and research. Ruark discusses the Jordan Commission’s report, how the Commission defined the purpose of immigration laws and the key recommendations, including a reduction in legal immigration and ending illegal immigration. Jordan advocated for a system that was in the best interest of the American people and protected the most vulnerable U.S. workers as opposed to employers.
Jordan’s early death freed President Clinton from backing the Commission’s recommendations.
As a follow-up to the discussion of formulating U.S. immigration policy, this week’s closing commentary explains a different method of setting levels of Immigration. Mark Krikorian, the Center’s executive director and host of Parsing Immigration Policy, describes and advocates the Jordan Commission’s recommendation of emphasizing the desired categories of immigrants, rather than numerical caps.
Related Reports
Remembering Barbara Jordan and Her Immigration Legacy
The Unifying Voice We Need in the Immigration Debate
Barbara Jordan Made 1994 a High-Water Mark in the Effort to Stop Illegal Immigration
Barbara Jordan’s Vision of Immigration Reform
Host
Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.
Guest
Eric Ruark, director of research at NumbersUSA.
Follow
Follow Parsing Immigration Policy on Ricochet, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts
Subscribe to Parsing Immigration Policy by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.