Tara Watson
@taraelizwatson.bsky.social
Director Brookings Center for Economic Security and Opportunity. Former Treasury DAS and professor @williamseconomics. Economics of immigration and the safety net. Author of The Border Within: The Economics of Immigration in an Age of Fear.
We did our best to distill the extraordinary Administration actions on immigration over past 100 days into ~3500 words. In many ways what we feared, in some ways worse. But the public is starting to have a change of heart. www.brookings.edu/articles/100...
100 Days of immigration under the second Trump administration
In a short time, the administration has shifted nearly every aspect of immigration policy in the anti-immigrant direction.
brookings.edu
We joined forces with the Center for Migration Studies NY to contemplate the possible implications of widespread detention and deportation for the millions of US citizen children who live with someone lacking status, and for the child welfare system. www.brookings.edu/articles/wha...
What will deportations mean for the child welfare system?
5.62 million U.S. citizen children live with an undocumented parent, siblings, grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins, or family friends.
brookings.edu
The Trump Administration’s use of the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File for immigration enforcement undermines the integrity and solvency of Social Security. Here is an assessment from Tara Watson and me. See next post on a piece from CBPP. www.brookings.edu/articles/imm...
Immigrants and the Social Security death master file
Adding immigrants to the Social Security death master file undermines both the integrity and the solvency of the Social Security system.
brookings.edu
This is an important point, and illustrates how interconnected the war on immigrants, the war on trade, and the war on knowledge really are. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | Trump is killing one of our strongest exports
The president wants to balance U.S. trade deficits? He can’t do it without this industry he hates.
washingtonpost.com
The NYT and WaPost report the Trump Administration is erroneously adding immigrants to what is known as the “death master file” who are not deceased and have legally obtained an SSN. The Social Security Administration has accepted an initial list of about 6,000 immigrants. 1/5
Stuff of distopian nightmares. Social Security classifies thousands of immigrants as dead, as part of Trump crackdown www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Social Security classifies thousands of immigrants as dead, as part of Trump crackdown
The tactic is aimed at putting pressure on undocumented immigrants to leave the country.
washingtonpost.com
Helpful thread on the steps on the process between the House budget vote today and the major cuts to Medicaid and SNAP that seem likely.
Bobby Kogan@bbkogan.bsky.social · 2y agoThe House just passed its budget resolution, so reconciliation is now officially underway. This is their bill to destroy Medicaid and SNAP while cutting taxes disproportionately for the rich. THIS IS VERY REAL and can be enacted even if all Ds vote no. Thread on what's to come and WHERE TO FIGHT.
Data on deportations are not being published. The numbers DHS is telling the press aren't plausible. Transparency and accuracy of government statistics should be a top 5 issue, even with everything else going on. www.newsweek.com/mass-deporta...
How many migrants has Trump deported? White House announces new numbers
The Department of Homeland Security touted a significant rise in removals of illegal immigrants on Tuesday.
newsweek.com
I'm not "the kind of doctor that helps people", but once in a while can do a bit of good. Proud that my amicus brief with @stanveuger.bsky.social played a role in this temporary victory for Venezulan TPS www.nytimes.com/2025/03/31/u...
I've been looking at the Fox website daily for the last two months. Comparing top story headlines to NYT/WaPo is like entering an alternative universe. But not since yesterday. This thing might have legs.
Too much of what I'm reading focuses on whether individuals "should" be deported or deportable. The first-order thing is that there are due process protections immigrants have, even if undocumented and even if unsympathetic.
I've been following @daralind.bsky.social and @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social to understand the Mahmoud Khalil situation. A green card holder can be deported on foreign policy grounds without a crime, unclear if that process is happening. The chilling effect on political speech results either way.
Dara Lind@daralind.bsky.social · 2y ago“State can’t revoke a green card, but US law does say that if the Sec State thinks you’re a foreign policy problem, that’s grounds (for an immigration judge, as asked by DHS) to revoke your green card” is probably why people get annoyed with imm wonks But it’s true and important! Process matters!
There are only limited circumstances under which legal permanent residence can be revoked. I hope there is more to this than currently being reported, b/c ICE rounding up green card holders in retaliation for activism is clearly at odds with democracy & rule of law. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/09/n...
ICE Arrests Pro-Palestinian Activist at Columbia
Mahmoud Khalil, who recently completed a graduate program at Columbia, has legal permanent residency, his lawyer said.
nytimes.com
This is really useful for people trying to understand what is going on with immigration, especially since the monthly OHSS statistics are "delayed while under review".
Jed Kolko@jedkolko.bsky.social · 2y agoImmigration slowdown might be hitting the job market. Employment in industries with more unauthorized immigrants contracted in the past two months. Job growth much stronger in industries with fewer unauthorized immigrants. (Gonna be tracking this one every month.)
As I used to do on that other site, it's great to follow @aaronsojourner.org here to get quick &useful anaysis on the monthly jobs report.
Aaron Sojourner@aaronsojourner.org · 2y agoHappy #JobsDay! At 8:30 am ET, BLS delivers the most-important signals abt how economy is changing. Forecasts’ center: +170K jobs Unemployment rate (UR) stable at 4.0%
This Covergence group was perhaps the most politically diverse group I've ever worked with. We came up with some common principles to make things better for working families with young children. convergencepolicy.org/event_post/2...
2025 Policy Agenda for Family Flourishing
Get Tickets Reflections from the Convergence Collaborative on Supports for Working Families Hosted by Convergence Center for Policy Resolution at the Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy Date/...
convergencepolicy.org
I wrote about what we might expect from the US Dept of Education's Office for Civil Rights under Trump given what they've signaled & their early activity. So far, we have pretty clear evidence of the admin's plans to weaponize OCR to promote discrimination. www.brookings.edu/articles/wit...
With Trump back in office, what’s next for the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights?
Rachel M. Perera examines how the Trump administration is reshaping the Office for Civil Rights to align with its agenda.
brookings.edu
@luciegschmidt.bsky.social, Lara Shore-Sheppard and I describe how the safety net has grown and changed since 1996. www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
Did Welfare Reform End the Safety Net as We Knew It? The Record since 1996
(Winter 2025) - This paper examines the evolution of the safety net for low-income families since welfare reform in 1996 promised to "end welfare as we know it". The total package of supports has beco...
aeaweb.org
So sorry to hear about the passing of Sandy Jencks. He was the genuine article and I am priviliged to have learned from him.
Paul Starr@starrprospect.bsky.social · 2y agoOn the loss of a model of intellectual integrity and courage—Christopher Jencks. He showed us how to wade into troubled waters and come out the stronger for it. @theprospect.bsky.social prospect.org/health/2025-...
But imagine how you'd feel if BLS reported 0% inflation. Legit independent economic statistics are absolutely essential and we shouldn't take them for granted. www.ft.com/content/311a...
US inflation unexpectedly increases to 3% in January
Figure bolsters case for Federal Reserve to proceed slowly with interest rate cuts
ft.com
"I believe very strongly that our largest social program needs to be bipartisan, and right now, there could not be a larger divide on the Hill about that." Read a conversation with Wendell Primus about how to fix Social Security before 2033.
Conversation with Wendell Primus about how to fix Social Security
Amy Goldstein asks Wendell Primus about his proposal to restore solvency to the Social Security system and other bipartisan improvements.
brookings.edu
Finally joining BlueSky, happy to be here! Wendell Primus has led an effort to show that it is possible to preserve SS solvency and eliminate poverty among the elderly. Expanding immigration is part of the solution. www.brookings.edu/articles/fix...
Fixing Social Security
Wendell Primus, Tara Watson, and Jack Smalligan outline a roadmap for strengthening and restoring solvency to the Social Security program.
brookings.edu
