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Center for Immigration Studies

The Center for Immigration Studies, founded in 1985, is a think tank “devoted exclusively to research and policy analysis of the economic, social, demographic, fiscal, and other impacts of immigration on the United States.” The center’s research and policy positions are conservative, and it advocates a “pro-immigrant, low-immigrant” position, which “seeks fewer immigrants but a warmer welcome for those admitted.”

Its website contains a number of reports and other publications, which can be viewed by topic, such as immigration numbers, history, legal and illegal immigration, costs, refugees, and assimilation and citizenship. While many of its papers are written to buttress the center’s support for tighter limits on immigration, other publications, including profiles and numbers of foreign-born populations, are straightforward analyses of Census Bureau data. The center’s director of research, Steven A. Camarota, has been widely quoted in the media on immigration matters.

The center has received grants from conservative foundations including the Sarah Scaife Foundation and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, according to those organizations’ annual reports.

Comments: Journalists often turn to CIS when looking for a conservative point of view on immigration.

Political Leanings: Conservative