PART ONE

The first half of the program looked at the most contentious piece of the policy puzzle: unauthorized immigrants and their children – those who are unauthorized themselves and those born here, who are U.S. citizens. A panel of social scientists and journalists avoided arguments about immigrant rights or moral imperatives. Instead, they focused on the costs – to America and American taxpayers – of allowing this next generation to grow up on the margins of society, ill-educated, lacking skills and with so little hope that they see no reason to do well at school or work.

One of the panel's most telling points: a study of Mexican immigrant children born in the 1980s found that those whose mothers entered the U.S. legally or attained legal status completed 1.5 to two more years of schooling than those whose mothers never got right with the law. Children of unauthorized parents – even those who are legal themselves – are less likely to finish high school, less likely to go to college, less likely to speak English well and less likely to get a good job. A back-of-the-envelope calculation of the economic cost of the 5.5 million kids of unauthorized parents already living in the U.S.: $38 billion over the course of their lives.

PARTICIPANTS

Frank Bean professor at University of California-Irvine
Madeline Zavodny professor at Agnes Scott College
Philip Kasinitz professor at City University of New York
Helen Thorpe author of Just Like Us: The True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America
Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa author of Becoming Dr. Q: My Journey from Migrant Farm Worker to Brain Surgeon

MODERATOR Kirk Semple reporter for the New York Times

Read Frank Bean's presentation.

Read Frank Bean's paper on how having unauthorized parents affects children’s educational attainment.

Listen to part one.

The second half of the program was about politics. How have the politics of immigration changed over the decade? What does the 2012 presidential debate tell us – is there any realistic hope of addressing the issue, now or after the election, in a more constructive way? And how can those looking for a solution reframe the case for reform?

A panel made up of journalists, advocates and a pollster – with some help from the audience – offered an array of ideas. Expand the frame beyond immigration (a priority for less than 5 percent of voters) to American economic competitiveness (a priority for 75 percent). Illustrate the costs of not educating the workforce of tomorrow. Help voters understand how much the government has already done to bring illegal immigration under control. Help Americans grasp the political and social change happening in Mexico. And more. The common thread: frame the issue in terms of American interests, not moral absolutes.

PARTICIPANTS

Jon Clifton partner at Gallup
Tamar Jacoby fellow at the New America Foundation and president of ImmigrationWorks USA
Matt Yglesias Moneybox columnist for Slate magazine
Simon Rosenberg president of NDN

MODERATOR Andrés Martinez vice president and editorial director at the New America Foundation