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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Report on Immigrant Welfare Use is Fundamentally Flawed—Here’s Why
It’s déjà vu all over again at the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS). Having released one flawed report on immigrant “welfare” use late last year, CIS has followed up with another that contains the same flaws. The biggest shortcoming of both reports is that they count the public… Read More
Trump’s Mass Deportation Plan Would Seriously Damage the U.S. Economy
Donald Trump’s approach to immigration seems to rest on three pillars: the construction of a big wall across the entire U.S.-Mexico border, the banning of all Muslim immigration to the United States, and the deportation of every man, woman, and child found to be in the country… Read More
Sorry Donald Trump, Immigration is Still Associated with Less Crime and Safer Communities
Donald Trump opened a political rally in Southern California last night by sharing the stage with activists who have lost loved ones at the hands of immigrants in the U.S. without legal status. While no one can minimize the pain associated with losing a family member, Trump’s motive behind… Read More
GOP Perfects Its Formula for Losing the Latino Vote
After each of the last few national elections, Republican strategists prognosticated that despite their low support among Latino voters, the Republican Party could begin to win them over by talking to them about kitchen-table issues like the economy and job creation. However, they also warned that if the party… Read More
Comments on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Draft Detainer Policy
Recommendations that DHS promulgate new regulations that ensure more effective oversight over the issuance of detainers and better protection for those subject to detainers.
Response to DHS’s request for comments in connection with a review of existing regulations (submitted April 13, 2011)
Reducing Regulatory Burden; Retrospective Review Under Executive Order 13563, 76 Fed. Reg. 13526 (Mar. 14, 2011) Read More
Polls Show Millennials More Likely to Reject Deportation and Support Path to Citizenship
In contrast to the virulent anti-immigrant rhetoric coming from several presidential candidates, new polling shows that the majority of Americans – 62 percent – support allowing undocumented immigrants to legalize and become U.S. citizens, while only 19 percent said they should be deported. Even in Arizona, a state known… Read More
Steve King’s Committee Continues Attack on President’s Immigration Actions
This week, the newly created “Task Force on Executive Overreach” and its Chairman Steve King (R-IA) held a sparsely-attended hearing on President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, specifically related to expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). Read More
Who Would Benefit from DAPA?
Within the next few months, the Supreme Court will determine whether the President’s deferred action initiatives announced in November 2014—namely, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)—constitute a lawful exercise of executive discretion. That decision will both… Read More
Former Mexican President Says Country Not Paying for a Stupid, Useless Wall
For the past several months, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump has taken a harsh stance on immigration, stating more than once that he would finish the wall between the U.S. and Mexico and ensure that Mexico pays for it. For the first time, according to NBC News, a… Read More
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