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

U.S. immigration law is very complex, and there is much confusion as to how it works. This fact sheet provides basic information…

Birthright Citizenship in the United States

This fact sheet explains birthright citizenship, the Fourteenth Amendment, and its interpretations. Who is…

Asylum in the United States

Asylum seekers must navigate a difficult and complex process that can involve multiple government…

Presidential Debates Ignore 12 Million Elephants in the Room, Bypass Immigration

What do the economy, health care, and foreign policy have in common? They are all topics that are related to a critical issue that was not discussed in the election 2008 debates: immigration. Everyone from the Latino community to immigration advocates to probing journalists have been eagerly awaiting to hear more about what the two candidates plan to do about the 12 million undocumented people living in the United States. To date, they've heard very little. Our immigration problem isn't going to disappear just by not talking about it. As Barack Obama and John McCain were preparing for their debate last night, 300 workers were rounded up in an immigration raid at a chicken processing plant in South Carolina. In fact, as the two candidates were taking shots at one another, we can guess about 100 children in South Carolina--both citizens and non-citizens--were still left stranded, not knowing where their parents were or when they would see them again. Read More

Immigration: The Elephant in the Presidential Debates

After two presidential debates and one vice-presidential showdown, the American public is still waiting to hear what John McCain and Barack Obama have to say about the elephant in the room: immigration. Everyone from the Latino community to immigration advocates to probing journalists have been eagerly awaiting the immigration topic to be addressed by both candidates. Obama and McCain have been more than willing to address immigration in their conflicting Spanish-language ad campaigns. The debate is an opportunity for both candidates to set their records straight once and for all, including: Who really was responsible for the fall of 2007's immigration bill? What should be done about the 12 million immigrants here in the U.S. without papers? How will Obama and McCain address the problem of unscrupulous employers who hire workers, take advantage of them, and undercut their competitors? Opponents to a path to citizenship say anything that provides legal status to those here illegally is amnesty: how do Obama and McCain define amnesty? Do they support amnesty? If not, what do they support? How can Obama and McCain promise they will actually fix our immigration system rather than pass reforms that perpetuate the problem and lead to another 12 million coming in illegally in the future? Read More

Immigration Stunts in Face of Faltering Economy

Several reports including the Pew Hispanic Research Center's new study have come out over the past few months showing that the undocumented population is shrinking. However, while some restrictionists continue to hold on to the notion that the decrease in immigration is primarily due to remarkably harsh stepped-up enforcement measures, Jeffrey Passel of Pew told the New York Times that "the trend was the result of a combination of factors, led primarily by a weakening economy and rising rates of unemployment in the construction and service industries, which rely heavily on immigrant labor." Most researchers agree: "The drop reflects the weakness of the economy, particularly the sectors that employ undocumented workers like construction," said Harley Shaiken, a professor at UC Berkeley specializing in labor issues. Shaiken also said that there are a number of powerful forces reducing the numbers of undocumented immigrants. "People are less likely to risk everything to get here if they can't get a job." "They don't migrate if they are not assured a job when they get to the United States," said Wayne Cornelius, Director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at the University of California at San Diego. "For unattached males with no economic base in the U.S. and no prospects for stable employment, it may make sense to go home and try their luck again when the U.S. economy improves," he added. USA Today reported: "William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a centrist think tank in Washington, warns against giving too much credit to enforcement. He believes fewer illegal immigrants are coming because jobs are disappearing in fields such as construction." Read More

Restrictionists Use Immigrants as Scapegoat for Economic Crisis

As the U.S. rumbles through a recession, some restrictionists are exploiting the current economic crisis to mislead Americans into thinking that immigrants -- not the utter lack of financial market government oversight or the irresponsible behavior of brokerage firms -- are to blame for the current state of our economy. The Center for American Progress recently published a report highlighting comments made by ultra-Conservative journalist Michele Malkin claiming that "The Mother of All Bailouts has many fathers...But there's one giant paternal elephant in the room that has slipped notice: how illegal immigration, crime-enabling banks, and open-borders Bush policies fueled the mortgage crisis." Yet Malkin's arguemnent is based on a loose and virtually non-existent connection. First she makes the claim that half of all mortgage loans to Latinos are subprime loans and then proceeds to draw her conclusion by tying in an unrelated and incorrect statistic that 25% of subprime loans are in default (the figure is actually about 19%). Read More

One in Ten Latinos Asked for Papers for LWL: Living While Latino

The current climate of undeterred public immigrant-bashing along with an immigration policy of "attrition through enforcement" has cultivated unfettered hatred and bigotry against an entire ethnic population. A recent survey by the Pew Hispanic Center shows its toll: half of all Latinos, immigrant and non-immigrant, say that their situation in this country is deteriorating and is worse now than it was a year ago. One in seven Latinos are reporting ethnic discrimination in finding or keeping a job and 10% said the same thing about housing. But the most stunning finding is that nearly one-in-ten Hispanic adults--native-born US citizens and immigrants alike--report that, in the past year, the police or other authorities have stopped them and asked them about their immigration status. One in ten Latinos were stopped and asked for "papers." What can that statistic represent other than a gross abuse of power by federal and local authorities? Vicious public denunciations of undocumented, brown-skinned immigrants -- once limited to hard-core white supremacists and a handful of border-state extremists -- are increasingly common among supposedly mainstream anti-immigration activists, media pundits, and politicians and are surely fueling the problems that Latinos are facing. While their dehumanizing rhetoric typically stops short of openly sanctioning bloodshed, much of it implicitly encourages or even endorses violence by characterizing immigrants from Mexico and Central America as 'invaders,' 'criminal aliens,' and 'cockroaches.' In Virginia, a Prince William County and ardently anti-immigrant community task force appointee has suggested spending tax dollars to look into whether "illegal aliens have a preferred breeding season." He has also referred to undocumented immigrants as "scourge that's plaguing neighborhoods" and an "invasion of this country." Read More

America’s Voice Addresses CIS’ Ludicrous Claims

Last month, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) published a ludicrous report blaming immigrations for extreme weather, rising sea levels, changing ecosystems, melting glaciers, and dying polar bears. In other words, CIS was claiming that immigrants are responsible for climate change. America's Voice--an immigrant advocacy organization--to address CIS' claims and "tell it like it is...a bunch of… well… watch the video." CIS isn’t the only group to blame immigrants for environmental problems–they join the ranks of hate and restrictionist groups like the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the American Immigration Control Foundation, and the Social Contract Press. It doesn’t take a scientist to figure out that CIS’ primary concern isn’t the environment. Read More

Voodoo Science Raises Specter of Immigration-Fueled “Overpopulation”

In a September 2 Washington Post op-ed, “How Many Americans?,” Steven Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies presents a nightmare scenario in which immigrant-fueled population growth in the U.S. degrades the environment and strains infrastructure and the economy over the next half century. The arguments upon which Camarota builds his case are commonplace among immigration restrictionists, but they rely upon flawed logic and a highly selective reading of available evidence that does not withstand close scrutiny. At first glance, the restrictionist argument is attractive in its simplicity: stringent immigration controls, less immigration, fewer people, more resources, a better environment. However, as with so many simple arguments about complex topics, it misses the point. Over-population is not the primary cause of U.S. environmental woes. Read More

CIS At It Again With Noncitizen Voting Claim

This week the Center for Immigration Studies released a report entitled “Allowing Noncitizens to Vote in the United States? Why not” and hosted a panel to discuss it at the National Press Club. The thin attendance at the event can only mean that CIS is beginning to lose its credibility among mainstream media and the reasons why were evident. After the author of the report went through his findings, he and the rest of the panelists basically said noncitizen voting is an isolated occurrence and even failed to become public policy in “a liberal enclave” like San Francisco. The only example they held up and used repeatedly was a 20-year old example of the small town of Takoma Park, Maryland (pop. 17,000) where non-citizens are allowed to vote in local elections. Read More

McCain Feels the Heat from Anti-Immigration Movement

John McCain was an early supporter of comprehensive immigration reform, but in this presidential campaign, McCain has changed his position to come down harder on the issue. Many political analysts say he did so to appease anti-immigration activists in key swing states-Arizona, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, and Nevada. Read More

Congress Event Perpetuates Myth that Immigrants are Criminals

This morning, Republican members of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration perpetuated the persistent myth of immigrant criminality with their event on “The Toll of Illegal Alien Criminals on American Families.” The event was spearheaded by Lamar Smith (R-Texas), Steve King (R-Iowa) and Howard Coble (R-NC). Tensions ran high as witnesses ranging from bereaved family members to the President of the Houston, Texas, Police Officers’ Union, to the Chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors made the case that the loss of innocent citizens is a direct result of not cracking down on “illegals” in the US. The witnesses demanded policies that would make life so miserable for immigrants, that they would be driven to self-deport. One witness even received enthusiastic applause after suggesting birth-right citizenship be repealed. Read More

Make a contribution

Make a direct impact on the lives of immigrants.

Donate Today Make a Monthly Gift

Immigration Topics

Tools & Resources

Our Impact

Building Connection

Get Involved

Immigration 101

Immigration 101

Make a direct impact on the lives of immigrants.