Gabriela joined OK Policy as an Immigration Policy Analyst in August 2021. Raised in Oklahoma City, she graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies with minors in German, Arabic, and International Security Studies. During college Gabriela had internships at the Council on American-Islamic Relations Oklahoma, the Office of former Congresswoman Kendra Horn, and she took part in events to help educate first-generation Latinx students on how to attend college. Gabriela looks forward to using her skills at OK Policy to work towards a more equitable future for all Oklahomans.
Contrary to popular rhetoric, undocumented immigrants pay billions of dollars in federal, state, and local taxes. Nearly three decades ago, the Internal Revenue Service created the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number so individuals ineligible for a Social Security Number could comply… Read more [More...]
The federal government took less than 100 days after President Trump’s inauguration to mount an unprecedented and wholesale attack on immigrant families in America, regardless of their immigration status or criminal history. The Trump administration is destroying lawful pathways into… Read more [More...]
Instead of meaningfully addressing problems that Oklahomans face, lawmakers are once again choosing to target and criminalize our immigrant friends and neighbors for political gain. So far this session, legislators filed a flurry of anti-immigrant bills, such as House Bill… Read more [More...]
More from OK Policy:
• What you need to know about the minimum wage in Oklahoma
• SQ 832: Minimum Wage Increase | Information and Resources
Almost one in six Oklahomans live in poverty, yet for 15 years, Oklahoma lawmakers… Read more [More...]
State Question 834 would amend the Oklahoma Constitution to clarify that only citizens of the United States are qualified to vote in the state. [More...]
In Oklahoma, undocumented immigrants contributed $227.5 million in state and local taxes in 2022. Undocumented immigrants pay higher state and local tax rates (8.9%) than the top 1 percent of Oklahoma households (6.4%). [More...]
Oklahoma voters will be asked to consider State Question 832 to increase the state's minimum wage. This page provides up-to-date information and resources on SQ 832. [More...]
Immigration is a complex issue, and gridlock in Congress has resulted in states venturing deeper into a legal area reserved solely for the federal government. In a state like Oklahoma, this means that lawmakers introduce punitive immigration policies meant to… Read more [More...]
Authored by Anthony Capote, Senior Policy Analyst at Immigration Research Initiative; David Dyssegaard Kallick, Director of Immigration Research Initiative; and Gabriela Ramirez-Perez, Immigration Policy Analyst for the Oklahoma Policy Institute.
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Immigration is hardly a new social trend… Read more [More...]
In a time of rising costs and inflation, there is one key policy change that lawmakers can pass to help small businesses, working Oklahomans, and our economy: Raise the minimum wage. Research shows that raising the minimum wage is good policy. A minimum wage is intended to act as a baseline to ensure that employers compensate their workers fairly for their hard work by providing a wage that can cover basic living expenses. [More...]