Economic Development, Employment and Labor Issues

Ironbound Underground: Wage Theft & Workplace Violations Among Day Laborers in Newark's East Ward,
Immigrant Workers' Rights Clinic, Center for Social Justice, Seton Hall University School of Law, July, 2010, 25 pp

Modeled after the influential 2004 National Day Labor Study, this report illuminates the experience of some 55 largely Ecuadorian day laborers at a "shape-up" site in Newark. Fifty-eight percent of survey respondents had completed high school, and 54% were married. Almost all respondents reported being victims of wage theft, with "substantial" losses ($800 or more annually ) experienced by 38% of workers. Safety violations were also rampant. Many workers possess "a profound fear of retribution by employers," who often threaten to report immigration problems to ICE if the workers file formal complaints against employers. The authors of the report, echoing the sentiments of all people interviewed for the project, including public officials and the day laborers themselves, recommend that the City of Newark establish a hiring hall for day laborers to alleviate these problems.. The report further urges the NJ Department of Labor to "proactively" investigate the plight of day laborers in Newark and to work with law enforcement to prosecute violators.

The Impact of Immigrants in Recession and Economic Expansion,
Migration Policy Institute (MPI), June, 2010, 23 pp.
Written by Giovanni Peri (University of California, Davis) for MPI's Labor Markets Initiative, this paper charts the short- and long-term effects of net immigration on the employment and incomes of native-born workers in the United States. While most economists have shown a positive correlation over the long-run (say ten years), few have studied the short-term effects. During periods of economic weakness, Peri finds that net immigration over a one to two year period "seems to crowd out less-educated native workers." In order to mitigate these negative effects, Peri suggests that our immigration system should be more responsive to labor market conditions. Peri makes the interesting observation that some degree of adjustment already occurs, but not with family-based migration, which remains constant even in recessionary times, but in the number of legal and unauthorized immigrants who return to their countries during periods of recession. Indeed, over the last 20 years, he estimates that on average 1.5% of the foreign born population, or 600,000 people, has returned to their home countries each year. Admission numbers, he suggests, should be set to compensate for this loss and with a view toward the long-range benefits of immigration on the economy. Finally, he argues that a sufficient number of visas, perhaps 40% of the total, should be made available for less-skilled immigrants as they "appear(s) to bring benefits for the aggregate economy without harming the wages of less-educated natives in the long run."

"It's Not Just About the Economy, Stupid" - Social Remittances Revisited,
Migration Policy Institute, May 21, 2010, 6 pp.
This short paper explains the concept of social remittances, defined as the exchange of "ideas, know-how, practice and skills" between immigrants and their home country communities of origin. Using examples drawn from the experience of Dominican immigrants in Boston, the authors explain that social remittances can have both positive and negative impacts. The paper concludes with the observation that "migration research needs to span migrants' origin and destination countries and go beyond economic considerations to include the social and cultural."

The Impact of Immigration and Immigration Reform on the Wages of American Workers,
New Policy Institute, May, 2010, 22 pp
Written by Dr. Robert J. Shapiro, a former Undersecretary of Commerce in the Clinton Administration, this report includes a demographic analysis of the immigrant population in the United States, highlighting occupational niches and educational attainment, and devoting special attention to the position of the undocumented. The report reviews available studies exploring the economic impact of immigration, both legal and undocumented, on the incomes of native-born immigrants and on the economy as a whole. Among findings of note: "undocumented male immigrants have the highest labor force participation rate of any group in America principally because, compared to the native born, undocumented immigrants are twice as likely to be in households with spouses and children." According to the author, evidence indicates that comprehensive immigration reform would reverse any adverse impacts of undocumented immigration on the wages of low-skilled legal workers, both native-born and immigrant.

Across the Spectrum: The Wide Range of Jobs Immigrants Do,
Fiscal Policy Institute, April, 2010, 19 pp.
Looking at the 25 largest metropolitan areas in the United States, this report examines the occupational distribution of immigrants. Analyzing data from the 2006-2008 American Community survey, the researchers find that immigrants are distributed "surprisingly evenly" across various occupational categories. Indeed, in 13 of the 25 metropolitan areas, there are more immigrants working in the mostly higher-wage professional or white-collar jobs than in mostly lower-wage service or blue-collar jobs. However, metropolitan areas with a preponderance of higher skilled immigrants, such as Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and St. Louis, have lagged in economic performance behind cities like Atlanta, Dallas, and Minneapolis, where the majority of immigrants work in service or blue-collar jobs. Whether low-skilled immigration is a cause or consequence of economic growth can be debated, but the notion of low-skilled workers as a drag on the economy seems flawed.

Getting Your Professional License in Ontario: The Experiences of International and Canadian Applicants: Final Report
Office of the Fairness Commissioner, February 11, 2010, 82 pp + appendices
In 2007, the Province of Ontario created the Office of the Fairness Commissioner to ensure that licensing procedures for regulated professions, such as engineering and healthcare, did not discriminate against foreign-trained immigrants. In 2008, the Office undertook a comprehensive research study to understand the experiences of both native-born and foreign license applicants. This report, based on survey responses from 3,784 people across 37 regulated professions, as well as input from five focus groups, and a literature review, summarizes the findings. A key recommendation is that regulatory bodies need to make their procedures clearer and more transparent, a reform that would be welcome by all applicants, whether native-born or international.

Financial Literacy Programs for Immigrants,
Municipal Action Guide, National League of Cities, Winter, 2010, 3 pp
This primer explains the rationale for developing financial literacy programs for immigrants, describes various program types, contains links to useful resources, and gives examples of successful programs.

Immigration and Wages: Methodological Advancements Confirm Modest Gains for Native Workers,
Economic Policy Institute, Briefing Paper, February 4, 2010, 29 pp.
As immigration flows have surged in the U.S. in recent years, there has been great interest in the labor market impact of immigration on native-born Americans. Although most economists agree that immigration has had a small but positive impact on the wages of native-born Americans overall, researchers differ as to whether specific categories of native-born Americans, e.g. those without a high school education, have been adversely affected by immigration. Looking at data from 1994 to 2007, this study disaggregates the native-born population by age, gender, and education level, and finds that the positive trend is fairly uniform through all sub-groups of native-born workers. The only group experiencing a downward trend in wages is earlier immigrants, who presumably compete more directly with newer immigrants. However, the data doesn't permit a breakdown of the immigrant population by type of status, e.g. undocumented vs. undocumented, or type of visa, so, as the author acknowledges, key questions remain unanswered by this study.

Raising the Floor for American Workers: The Economic Benefits of Comprehensive Immigration Reform,
Center for American Progress and Immigration Policy Center, January, 2010, 25 pp.
This paper makes the counter-intuitive argument that the current enforcement-only approach to irregular migration, has failed to deter illegal migration, "wasted billions of taxpayer dollars," and created "a host of unintended consequences," including spurring the growth of human smuggling operations, choking off "circular migration," and propping up low-wage labor markets "and ironically, creating a greater demand for unauthorized workers." Noting that Mexico is undergoing "one of the fastest declines in fertility ever recorded in any nation," as evidenced by the increasing age of apprehended immigrants, the author suggests that population pressure as a driver of migration from Mexico will likely diminish in the future. The author also reviews research conducted on the economic impact of the 1986 legalization program; evaluates the economic consequences of three different reform scenarios; and concludes that a comprehensive approach, providing a pathway to legalization, will "generate an annual increase in U.S. GDP of at least 0.84 percent," while "boost(ing) wages for both native-born and newly legalized immigrant workers."

Immigrants and the Economy: Contribution of Immigrant Workers to the Country's 25 Largest Metropolitan Areas,
Fiscal Policy Institute, December, 2009, 42 pp.
Produced with support from SEIU Local 32BJ, this report finds that immigrants in major U.S. metropolitan areas contribute to the economy in proportion to their share of the local population. The authors also observe that "economic growth and growth in the immigrant workforce go hand in hand," although the question of cause and effect remains unclear. The report also notes that immigrants work in jobs across the economic spectrum and earn wages that are comparable to native-born workers in most categories. One notable exception is blue collar jobs, where immigrants earn considerably less. In the service sector, earnings are low both for immigrants and native-born workers. Even though immigrants make up 20% of all union members in the 25 metro areas, the unionization rate for immigrants is lower than for native-born workers - 10% compared to 14%. In addressing these problems, the report suggests "setting a higher standard for the earnings of workers," particularly in the service and blue collar sectors, with obvious implications for union organizing.

The Economics and Policy of Illegal Immigration in the United States,
Migration Policy Institute, Labor Markets Initiative, December, 2009, 16 pp.
This paper highlights the importance of unauthorized immigrant workers as a source of low-skilled labor in the American labor market, especially in the agriculture, construction, food processing, building cleaning and maintenance sectors. The author reviews the positive and negative impacts of illegal migration on the American economy and its workers. Observing that such labor was "unofficially tolerated" in the United States up to 2006, recent efforts to control illegal immigration may be undermined by renewed demand for low-skilled labor during future periods of economic growth, a demand that cannot be easily satisfied by a better educated and less flexible domestic labor force. Noting that sufficient legal visas are currently unavailable to satisfy the need for low-skilled workers, the author suggests that Congress would have to "revamp entirely the manner in which employment visas are allocated" if it is serious about reducing future illegal inflows.

Tied to the Business Cycle: How Immigrants Fare in Good and Bad Economic Times
Migration and the Global Recession,
Migration Policy Institute, September, 2009, 127 pp
This report updates an earlier MPI study seeking to gauge the impact of the global recession on world migration trends. The authors find that people are generally staying put, i.e. not leaving home countries, nor returning, except paradoxically in certain E.U. countries like Ireland and the United Kingdom, that permit the free flow of migrants from countries in eastern Europe. In the U.K., for example, almost half the 1.4 million Eastern Europeans who came during the period between May 2004 and March 2009 have returned. The report notes "a significant deterioration in immigrant employment rates...across a wide number of countries," including among Mexicans and Central Americans in the United States. Other sections of the report discuss the internal movement of migrants in countries like China, the results of "pay-to-go schemes" in countries like Spain and Japan, and trends in remittances.

Human Development Report 2009, Overcoming Barriers: Human Mobility and Development,
United Nations Development Program (UNDP), 2009, 229 pp.
Since 1992, the UNDP has commissioned annual Human Development Reports to focus global attention on key development issues. For the first time in its history, UNDP has chosen to focus its 2009 report on the link between mobility and development. Noting that "conventional approaches to migration tend to suffer from compartmentalization," the authors view migration in its broadest context, looking at the roughly 1 billion people who move each year, including the estimated 740 million who are "internal migrants," the 214 million who are regular (legal) international migrants, and the 50 million who are irregular international migrants. So-called "north-south migration," the authors note, is not as prevalent as many think. Nearly half of all international migrants move within their region of origin and about 40 percent move to a neighboring country. The authors propose a "six-pillar" package of reforms intended to "maximize the human development impact of migration," including opening up more legal channels for international low-skilled migration, fewer barriers to internal migration, and ensuring basic rights for migrants everywhere.

Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers: Violations of Employment and Labor Laws in America's Cities,
Center for Urban Economic Development (University of Illinois at Chicago), National Employment Law Project, UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, 2009, 65 pp.
Based on a survey conducted in 2008 with a representative sample of over 4,000 low-wage workers in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City, 70% of whom were immigrants, this report concludes that "the core protections that many Americans take for granted - the right to be paid at least the minimum wage, the right to be paid for overtime hours, the right to take meal breaks, access to workers' compensation when injured, and the right to advocate for better working conditions - are failing significant numbers of workers." The authors stratify their data by particular industries, as well as by place of birth (foreign-born or native-born), gender and ethnicity. They also extrapolate from their data the extent of "wage theft" for the broader low-wage population, estimating that in one week alone, more than 1 million workers in the three cities have at least one pay-related violation, resulting in a loss of $56.4 million per week. The authors believe that conditions have likely worsened as the recession deepened in late 2008.

Fulfilling the Promise: Integrating Immigrant Skills into the Urban Economy,
Cities of Migration, Archived Webinar, July 28, 2009
This one-hour international webinar features a presentation by Elizabeth McIsaac, Executive Director of the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council, a ground-breaking initiative to integrate skilled immigrants into the urban economy. The work of the Council is designed to make Toronto more economically competitive in the North American environment. With over 50 corporate partners, the Council works on both the individual and systemic level to effect change. To date, the Council has arranged over 4000 mentorship opportunities for immigrants. Another project called "Career Bridge" provides paid immigrant internships. Samples of TV ads used by the Council are included in the webinar. The Council's approach is now being replicated across Canada through a program called Allies, Inc. (http://www.maytree.com/integration/allies.). Another presenter discusses how the program is being implemented in New Zealand.

As Immigrants Move In, Americans Move Up,
Free Trade Bulletin No. 38, Center for Trade Policy Studies, Cato Institute, July 21, 2009, 9 pp.
Authored by Daniel Griswold, the Director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies, this policy brief argues that there is a causal relationship between immigration since 1990 and poverty reduction in the United States, particularly among native-born African-Americans. "For every poor immigrant family we 'imported' during that time, more than three native-born families were 'exported' from poverty." He also argues that the nature of the "underclass" has changed. "Members of today's more immigrant and Hispanic underclass are more likely to work and less likely to live in poverty or commit crimes..." Griswald urges Congress to reject "misguided fears about 'importing povery'" and to "pursue a policy of expanding legal immigration for low-skilled workers.."

Massachusetts Immigrants by the Numbers: Demographic Characteristics and Economic Footprint,
The Immigrant Learning Center, June, 2009, 51 pp.
Prepared by researchers at the Institute for Asian American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this report offers a sweeping view of the immigrant population in the State of Massachusetts. Unlike other recent state-level reports on immigration, this study digs deeper into the data by differentiating between "established" and "recent" immigrants, i.e. those in the U.S. less than 10 years. The report analyzes the educational attainment and occupational profile of immigrants; examines income, sales, and property tax payments by immigrants; provides data on transfer payments; and reviews rates of immigrant institutionalization in juvenile facilities, correctional institutions, and nursing homes. Overall, the report paints a favorable picture of immigrant contributions to the state.

Untying the Knot, Part I, The Unemployment and Immigration Disconnect,
Immigration Policy Center, May, 2009, 12 pp.
Untying the Knot, Part II, Immigration and Native-Born Unemployment Across Racial/Ethnic Groups;
Immigration Policy Center, May, 2009, 12 pp.
In this series of special reports, the Immigrant Policy Center finds no apparent connection between high levels of recent immigration and unemployment. Indeed, there appears to be an inverse relationship between the two, i.e. in areas with high levels of recent migration, unemployment rates are lower than in rural areas or in the former great industrial centers of the Midwest, where there are fewer immigrants. Part II focuses on the impact of immigration on native-born minorities, particularly African-Americans. One noteworthy finding is that in the ten states with the highest percentages of recent immigrants, the average unemployment rate for native-born blacks is about 4 percentage points lower than in the 10 states with the lowest percentages of recent immigrants. The authors conclude that the presence of immigrants is a function of the job-creating strength of the local economy, and that the causes of unemployment should be sought elsewhere.

Assessing the Economic Impact of Immigration at the State and Local Level,
Immigration Policy Center, April 28, 2009, 5 pp.
This brief reviews 16 studies completed since 2002 that suggest that immigrants in general - and the undocumented specifically - make a positive net contribution to state economies, particularly if the lifetime contributions of immigrants are taken into consideration.

A Portrait of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States,
The Pew Hispanic Center, April 14, 2009, 42 pp.
In this comprehensive study, researchers from the Pew Hispanic Center found that unauthorized immigrants are 4% of the U.S. population and 5.4% of its workforce. Although more widely dispersed throughout the country than in the past, unauthorized immigrants continue to settle in high numbers in states like New Jersey, New York, Florida, Illinois, and Texas. Pew estimates that New Jersey's unauthorized population increased from 400,000 in 2005 to 550,000 in 2008, while the unauthorized share of the state's labor force increased from 6.4% to 9.2%, or 425,000 workers. Nationally, two-thirds of unauthorized immigrants work in the service, construction, and production sectors. In addition, 47% of unauthorized immigrants ages 25 to 64 have less than a high school education, as compared with 8% of U.S. born-population in the same age category.

Immigrant Workers in the Massachusetts Health Care Industry: A Report on Status and Future Prospects,
The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc., March, 2009,
65 pp.
This report examines the contribution of immigrants to the Massachusetts health care industry -- "the most important employment sector of the Massachusetts economy with almost half a million workers." The report treats immigrants not only as a source of labor in crucial segments of the industry (the quantitative factor) but also as workers skilled in bridging the language and cultural barriers that often impede the delivery of quality health care to diverse patient populations (the qualitative factor). In this sense, the authors contend that foreign-born health care workers "add value to the quality of health care for everyone." In addition, the report notes a strong correlation between the presence of immigrants in local labor markets and the concentration of health care infrastructure in certain communities. Examining specific occupational profiles, the authors note that immigrants tend to cluster at the upper end (e.g. 51% of medical scientists and 40% of pharmacists) and lower end (36% of health technologists and 33% of aides) of the health care employment market in the state. Beyond official statistics, the report also notes the importance of immigrants in the "gray market" of workers hired directly by individuals and families. Finally, the report urges public and private investments in workforce development programs aimed at incorporating foreign-born health care workers into the health care industry and devotes one section of the report to "promising practices and programs" designed to achieve this goal.

Report on Port Truckers' Survey at the New Jersey Ports, School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University, February, 2009, 38 pp.
Through extensive interviews with 299 truck drivers operating as "independent contractors" in the ports of Newark, Elizabeth, and Bayonne, and focus groups with another 70 truckers, the authors of this report found general dissatisfaction with low pay, sub-standard benefits, and unsafe working conditions. Describing port trucking in Newark as a "broken system," the authors assert that port operators are "externalizing the costs of the port system," by forcing the public to cover the cost of health problems associated with environmental pollution from old and poorly maintained diesel fueled trucks. The authors also contend that these practices "add billions of dollars to the cost of doing business in New Jersey." Two-thirds of the 7,000 drivers in New Jersey are Latino immigrants.
http://www.smlr.rutgers.edu/DavidBensman/News/BensmanDriver_Survey_Report%201%2023%2009.pdf

Immigrants and the Current Economic Crisis: Research Evidence, Policy Challenges, and Implications, Migration Policy Institute, January, 2009, 31 pp.
This report analyzes available data, including a review of migration patterns during earlier economic crises, to reach some preliminary conclusions about the impact of the economic downturn on future immigrant inflows and outflows. Legal immigrants who entered the country on family reunion visas and humanitarian entrants are less likely to leave the country than irregular migrants, although even the latter have incentives to remain, especially if tightened security on the southern border prevents their return later and job opportunities become available elsewhere in the United States. The report finds that low-wage immigrants may be particularly vulnerable to economic hardship, because of their disproportionate presence in hard-hit industries like construction and their lack of eligibility for safety net services, if undocumented or in legal status for less that five years.
http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/lmi_recessionJan09.pdf

Estimating the Contribution of Immigrant Business Onwers to the U.S. Economy, Office of Advocacy, Small Business Administration, November, 2008, 35 pp.
This study examines how immigrant entrepreneurs contribute to U.S. business ownership, formation, and income. It includes national and state-level statistics, as well as data by nationality and industry category. Immigrants constitute 12.5% of all business owners in the United States, but more than 20% in the states of California, Florida, Hawaii, New Jersey and New York.
http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs334tot.pdf

Uneven Progress: The Employment Pathways of Skilled Immigrants in the United States, Migration Policy Institute, October, 2008, 66 pp.

This report examines the plight of 1.3 million college-educated immigrants who are unemployed or working in unskilled jobs. An important explanatory factor is the non-recognition of foreign academic and professional credentials by state and local government. Contending that this situation represents a "serious waste of human capital," and noting that the problem is most severe for Latino and African immigrants, the report discusses model programs in other countries to address this problem. The report also proposes a research agenda on the subject, including an effort to quantify the economic costs of underemployment, a study to determine the impact of discrimination, and a systematic effort to catalog best practices.

http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/BrainWasteOct08.pdf

Report of the Joint Enforcement Task Force on Employee Misclassification to Eliot Spitzer, Governor State of New York, February 1, 2008, 29 pp.
In September 2007, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer created an interagency strike force consisting of six agencies to address the problem of employers who wrongly classify employees as independent contractors or pay workers off the books as part of the underground economy, thereby depriving workers of the benefits and protections guaranteed under state and federal law. Immigrant workers are particularly vulnerable to these practices. This report looks at the history of the task force initiative, including research supporting the need for such a group, and discusses initial actions and prosecutions by each of the partner agencies. The report concludes with a series of "lessons learned," along with a discussion of logistical and legal issues hampering the work of the Task Force, including data sharing restrictions and inconsistent worker classification policies among the partner agencies.
http://www.labor.state.ny.us/pdf/Report%20of%20the%20Joint%20Enforcement%20Task%20Force%20on%20Employee%20Misclassification%20to%20Governor%20Spitzer.pdf

Unregulated Work in the Global City: Employment and Labor Law Violations in New York City, Brennan School of Justice, New York University School of Law, 2007, 126 pp.
This report summarizes the results a groundbreaking, multi-year study of widespread labor law violations in New York City. According to the authors, conditions are so egregious that the Progressive/New Deal social contract "has broken down." Most workers in this "invisible economy" are immigrants, both documented and undocumented. The report identifies 13 different industry clusters where "unregulated work" is common and includes detailed reports on each industry. Finally, the report defines basic principles to guide public policy reform.
http://www.brennancenter.org/dynamic/subpages/download_file_49436.pdf

Principles for an Immigration Policy to Strengthen & Expand the American Middle Class, Drum Major Institute for Public Policy, 2007 Edition, 28 pp.
This report argues that any debate over immigration policy must be tied to a discussion of the dilemma of the American middle class in general. A two-tiered job market exploiting the labor of undocumented immigrants is detrimental to the interests of U.S.-born workers. The report proposes a two-part test for evaluating current immigration reform proposals.
http://www.drummajorinstitute.org/pdfs/Immigration_postprintREV.pdf

Immigrant Entrepreneurs in the Massachusetts Biotechnology Industry, Immigrant Learning Center in collaboration with researchers at Boston University, June, 2007, 15 pp.
This report argues that immigrants have been key contributors to the creation of new businesses and intellectual capital in the Massachusetts biotechnology industry. Among the more noteworthy conclusions are: 25.7 percent of Massachusetts companies in this industry have at least one foreign-born founder; these companies produced over $7.6 billion in sales and employed over 4,000 workers in 2006; the founders come from nations across the globe, but with a preponderance from Europe, Canada or Asia; and the companies are largely involved in developing disease treatments or studying the "map" of the human genome. The immigrant entrepreneurs, therefore, tend to specialize in the most complex, risky, life science-intensive aspects of biotechnology to seek knowledge directly applicable to human health.
(Abstract reposted through agreement with the Immigrant Learning Center and the Immigration Research and Information web site)
http://www.ilctr.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/immigrants_in_biotechnology.pdf

The Integration of Immigrants in the Workplace, Institute for Work and the Economy,
July, 2006, 60 pp.
This report summarizes the findings of a two-year project funded by The Joyce Foundation to identify effective ways to integrate immigrants into the workforce. Input was received from a national Advisory Committee of 41 individuals, and participants in 7 community forums. The report is organized according to the 7 major lessons learned by the project, one of which is that "strategies directed explicitly at immigrants must be components of a broader range of initiatives that support the entire workforce." The report is noteworthy for its attention to the diverse backgrounds and needs of immigrants, including both lower skilled immigrants and foreign-trained professionals.
http://www.workandeconomy.org/images/The_Integration_of_Immigrants_in_the_Workplace_Pre-publication_Release_7-31-06.pdf

On the Corner: Day Labor in the United States (Executive Summary), January, 2006, 36 pp.
Funded in part by two national foundations, this report is one of the first in-depth studies of day laborers in the United States. It is based on a national survey of 2,660 day laborers randomly selected at 264 hiring sites in 20 states and the District of Columbia. The report provides a wide range of demographic information, including wages, working conditions, family circumstances, and occupations.
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/issr/csup/uploaded_files/Natl_DayLabor-On_the_Corner1.pdf

Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Neighborhood Revitalization, Study prepared for the Immigrant Learning Center by the Mauricio Gaston Institute and the Institute for Asian American Studies,
University of Massachusetts, Boston, December, 2005, 49 pp.

This report examines the impact of immigrant entrepreneurs on three neighborhoods in Boston: Allston Village, East Boston, and Fields Corner, as well as on the cities of Lawrence and Lowell The study finds that immigrant entrepreneurs contribute to the economy and quality of life of the neighborhoods they serve in the following ways: reviving commerce and investment in areas that had declined, providing needed products and services, addressing the particular needs of distinctive ethnic niches, expanding beyond those niches, incubating new businesses; attracting new customers, providing some employment opportunities, improving the physical quality and appearance of buildings and surrounding areas, and enhancing public safety (Abstract reposted through agreement with the Immigration Research and Information web site).
http://www.ilctr.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/immigrant_entrepreneur.pdf

Worker Centers: Organizing Communities at the Edge of the Dream, Economic Policy Institute, December 14, 2005, 24 pp.
This briefing paper by Janice Fine summarizes the findings of a major research study on more than 100 immigrant worker centers published by Cornell University Press. Worker Centers are defined as "community-based and community-led organizations that engage in a combination of service, advocacy, and organizing to provide support to low-wage workers." Unlike traditional immigrant service organizations, worker centers emphasize organizing and advocacy as lynchpin activities. The author discusses the commonalities in their operation and the challenges faced by the centers.
http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/bp159