by Walter A. Ewing, Ph.D. and Benjamin Johnson for the American Immigration Law Foundation's Immigration Policy Brief

(May 2007)

A recent report from the Heritage Foundation is one in a long line of deeply flawed economic analyses which claim to estimate the contributions and "costs" of workers based solely on the amount of taxes they pay and the value of the public services they utilize. According to this line of thinking, if the taxes paid by workers do not cover the cost of the public services and benefits they receive, then these workers are draining the public treasury and, ostensibly, the economy as a whole. However, this kind of simplistic fiscal arithmetic does not accurately gauge the impact that workers of any skill level, foreign-born or native-born, have on the economy. It also is a dehumanizing portrayal of all workers who labor for low wages in physically demanding jobs that are essential to the economic health of the nation.

Among the findings of this report:

Those with lighter skin make more money; height also factors in

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Light-skinned immigrants in the United States make more money on average than those with darker complexions, and the chief reason appears to be discrimination, a researcher says.

Read full article, which appears at MSNBC.com

(This article, written by Rasario Gambino, originally appears at BBC Mundo.com )

By Delina D. Pryce

Originally published in "Hispanic" magazine, March 1999
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I always thought of former major-league baseball player Ruben Sierra as the sexiest man in the world. His dark, chocolaty skin, spicy Puerto Rican accent, and cocky attitude--together with his home runs and $6 million contract--always made for an enjoyable day at the ballpark.

But during my monologue of praise, nothing dampened my mood quicker than hearing, "Ruben's not black; he's Puerto Rican." It was a grim reminder of the ignorance that I've had to deal with ever since I was old enough to fully understand the truth.