Immigration 101
The U.S. immigration system is complex and can be difficult to understand. These resources provide key data points, historical information, and background on hot topics in immigration. Learn the basics about immigration. Immigration in the United States is complex and ever-evolving. Start here to understand the fundamental aspects of immigration policy, its history, and its impact on both individuals and the country at large. Learn commonly used terms about immigration law and how the U.S. immigration system is designed. Explore layered topics like how and whether immigrants can become citizens, as well as what individual protections look like under the law.
How the United States Immigration System Works
- How the Immigration System Works
- June 24, 2024
U.S. immigration law is very complex, and there is much confusion as to how it works. This fact sheet provides basic information…
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Birthright Citizenship in the United States
- Birthright Citizenship
- October 16, 2024
This fact sheet explains birthright citizenship, the Fourteenth Amendment, and its interpretations. Who is…
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Asylum in the United States
- Asylum
- August 27, 2014
Asylum seekers must navigate a difficult and complex process that can involve multiple government…
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Republicans Rethinking Hispanic Strategy
Photo by AP. Yesterday a research group in Texas released extensive polling data among registered Lone Star voters, Beyond Bush, Texas Republicans in an Obama era. The report warns the Texas GOP that, "Hispanic voters won't affiliate with the GOP simply because we insist they really have nothing to complain about and ‘should' since they are socially conservative too; we need to actually listen to their concerns, tone down the rhetoric and attitude, find common ground on immigration/assimilation, and take concrete steps to make them feel welcome." Read More
Restrictionist CIS Twists Facts on “Marriage Fraud”
In a report released on December 2, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) takes aim at what it views as an under-appreciated threat to U.S. national security and the integrity of the U.S. immigration system: the alleged ease with which foreigners married to U.S. citizens can become Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) and receive "green cards." CIS scrapes the bottom of the intellectual barrel in terms of relying upon anecdote rather than evidence to derisively claim that "if small-time con artists and Third-World gold-diggers can obtain green cards with so little resistance, then surely terrorists can (and have done) the same." Even the title of the report, "Hello, I Love You, Won't You Tell Me Your Name," suggests that it is intended more as mockery rather than a substantive analysis of immigration policy. Read More
The New Electoral Landscape and What It Means for Immigration Reform
IPC has compiled this one-stop analysis of all the available data on the Asian, Latino and New American vote and shows how and why they voted the way they did in the 2008 election cycle. The report features a variety of early, exit and election-day polling which tells the story of not only a record rate turnout, but also provides insight into the greatest areas of concern for these voters. It also explores early signals from the new administration and congress with respect to immigration reform. The 2008 elections clearly demonstrated the growing power of the Latino, Asian, and immigrant vote. Not only did these groups turn out in record numbers, they also overwhelmingly rejected anti-immigrant politicians who attempted to use immigration as a wedge issue through hateful campaign rhetoric that is quickly becoming an unhealthy trademark of the Republican Party. The following report illustrates the growing electoral clout of Latinos, Asians, and New Americans; provides data on how and why they voted; and demonstrates that immigration was an issue that motivated them to the polls. Election results from races in which immigration was a hot issue show that immigrant-bashing did not work as a campaign strategy. The report also provides evidence that a majority of all voters favor comprehensive immigration reform, and details early signs from the incoming administration and Congress that point to a new direction in immigration policy. Politicians of all stripes would be wise to listen to the voices of ethnic and New American voters and not take them for granted. The analysis provided in the following pages points to the strength and growth of what may be the most important voting bloc in 21st century politics—one that now has the power profoundly to change American elections in the years to come. Read More
Virginia Seeks to Help, Not Penalize Immigrants
It looks like someone is getting the message that being anti-immigrant isn’t a winning strategy. The Virginia Commission on Immigration plans to send Gov. Tim Kaine 24 recommendations, “most of which would help immigrants instead of penalizing them.” The recommendations include creating an immigration assistance office, allowing more legal immigrants to qualify for health benefits, offering in-state tuition to immigrants who meet specific criteria, and increasing the number of English classes available. The Commission will also call upon the federal government to increase the number of visas for foreign workers and pass comprehensive immigration legislation. Commission chairman Sen. John C. Watkins, a Republican from Chesterfield, echoed the frustration that states and localities are feeling across the country and stated that, “This is really a federal issue. They have pushed it down toward the states, and the time has come for them to deal with it. We have no jurisdiction.” Read More
Did My Family Really Come “Legally”?
Many people assume that their family immigrated to the United States legally, or did it “the right way.” In most cases, this statement does not reflect the fact that the U.S. immigration system was very different in the past and that their families might not have been allowed to enter had today’s laws been in effect. Read More
Neo-Nazis Join Anti-Immigrant Movement
USA Today is reporting that “…the white-power movement is changing its marketing strategy to broaden its appeal.” And immigrants are at the core of its new business model. Skinheads, neo-Nazis, and Ku Klux Klan members are all joining the anti-immigrant bandwagon in an attempt to better “market” themselves to “middle America.” Jeff Schoep, head of the largest neo-Nazi group in the U.S.—The National Socialist Movement—disturbingly explained: “Historically, when times get tough in our nation, that's how movements like ours gain a foothold…When the economy suffers, people are looking for answers…We are the answer for white people…And now this immigrant thing in the past couple of years has been the biggest boon to us…The immigration issue is the biggest problem we're facing because it's changing the face of our country. We see stuff in English and Spanish. … They are turning our country into a Third World ghetto." Read More
Border Governor Janet Napolitano Favored for DHS Post
There’s no one better than a border governor to lead an office in charge of securing our borders and heading immigration enforcement and services. Recent reports indicate Governor Janet Napolitano (D-AZ) is emerging as the front runner for the position of Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under the new Democratic administration. DHS is responsible for protecting the U.S. from terrorism, responding to natural disasters, as well as heading customs and border enforcement, citizenship and immigration services, and the secret service. In choosing Napolitano, the incoming administration is tapping someone who has experience with a variety of enforcement measures, while at the same time signaling their desire to have a strong advocate for immigration reform running the agencies that manage and execute immigration policy in America. Read More
Worried About the Mortgage Market? Don’t Blame an Immigrant
Anti-immigrant zealots, as part of their never-ending crusade to blame immigration for virtually every economic and social problem in the United States, continue to insist that the collapse of the subprime mortgage market was rooted in nefarious home purchases by undocumented immigrants. On November 18, a rambling post to the “Political Awareness and Responsibility” blog managed to blame the 1965 Immigration Act, Senator Ted Kennedy, and ACORN for unleashing hordes of undocumented home buyers with subprime mortgages upon an unsuspecting American public. The author follows in the footsteps of anti-immigrant columnist and commentator Michele Malkin, who helped kicked off this round of subprime immigrant blame-gaming back in September. Read More
Philadelphia: A Reemerging Gateway for Immigrants
Throughout America, freedom fries are meeting samosas. A report released by the Brookings Institution yesterday calls Philadelphia a “remerging gateway” and home to one of the fastest growing immigrant populations in America. The quickly growing immigrant communities of metro Philadelphia, which now make up 75% of their labor market growth, include burgeoning South East Asian, Hispanic, Vietnamese and Ukrainian communities. The reason? The healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. According to the report, immigrants have “moderated population loss in the city” and are “breathing life into declining commercial areas, reopening storefronts, creating local jobs…repopulating neighborhoods on the wane and reviving and sustaining housing markets.” Read More
Data Shows Americans Support CIR, Discredits Restrictionist’s Claims
Immigration restrictionists don’t know what to do with themselves. First off, none of the vehemently anti-immigrant candidates for president got their party’s nomination (or a great deal of public support), and both presidential candidates agreed on the need for comprehensive immigration reform – including a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Restrictionist poster child Lou Barletta failed to win his election for Congress in Pennsylvania and Libby Dole in North Carolina along with other enforcement-only candidates across the country lost to candidates who supported enforcement PLUS some kind of immigration reform. In the National Review Online, Mark Krikorian--Director of restrictionist organzation Center for Immigration Studies, apparently unable to find any other light at the end of the tunnel, hopes that President Obama will continue the heavy handed enforcement measures initiated by the Bush Administration, including a vast expansion of the flawed E-Verify employment verification system. Without doing so, Krikorian claims, Obama will lose his credibility in the eyes of Americans. Read More
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