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…
Read More
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…
Read More
Asylum in the United States
- Asylum
- August 27, 2014
Asylum seekers must navigate a difficult and complex process that can involve multiple government…
Read More
Pew Report Reveals Continuing Importance of Immigrants to Housing Market
A recent report from the Pew Hispanic Center sheds new light on the value of immigration to the U.S. economy—even in the midst of a recession. The report, which examines the impact of the housing market's boom-and-bust cycle on minorities and immigrants in the United States, found that the latest housing "bust" which began to unfold in 2005 has had less of an impact on immigrant homeowners than on native-born homeowners. Although immigrants are still less likely to own homes than the native-born (just as native-born blacks and Latinos are less likely to own homes than native-born whites), rates of homeownership have declined faster for the native-born than for immigrants since the onset of the current housing crisis. The findings of the Pew report are a far cry from the shrill claims of anti-immigrant commentators such as Rush Limbaugh, who not long ago helped propagate the fabricated claim that the crumbling of the housing market was precipitated in no small part by millions of undocumented immigrants defaulting on subprime mortgages. Read More
Immigration Inching Towards Reform One Year After Postville Raids
Today, May 12, 2008, marks the one-year anniversary of the immigration raid in Postville, Iowa, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted the largest workplace immigration raid in U.S. history, arresting 389 immigrants at the Iowa Agriprocessors meatpacking plant for the crime of working without proper authorization. Aside from the tragedy of separating families and decimating a local economy, the raid symbolizes the failed enforcement-only policies of the Bush administration and serves as yet another grim reminder of the desperate need for fair and comprehensive immigration reform. Last May, undocumented immigrants in Postville were rounded up, charged as serious criminals for using false Social Security numbers or residency papers, and some even sentenced to five months in prison without being informed of their rights. An interpreter, Dr. Erik Camayd-Freixas, who assisted as a translator during these below-the-belt trials described the event as a “twist in Dickensian cruelty:” Read More
Anti-Immigrant “Advocates of Extremist Views” Raise National Criticism, International Concern
Today, a San Francisco Chronicle editorial holds talk-show host Michael Savage, along with his colleagues Lou Dobbs and Jay Severin, accountable for the consequences of their anti-immigrant remarks: Demonization of Mexican and other Latino immigrants is fueling hate crimes and violence against them, and it's time for America's leaders and media to put a stop to it all... At a time when the nation is overcoming its black-white divisions and an African American is in the White House, the FBI reports that hate crimes against Latinos grew 40 percent over four years, reaching 830 in 2007, the last year measured. The Chronicle's editorial comes shortly after Jay Severin, a radical right-wing talk show radio host from Boston, was indefinitely kicked off the air after making some brazen anti-immigrant comments and the UK's decision last week to ban Michael Savage from entering the country in an effort to keep "advocates of extremist views" from provoking social turmoil. Yet as Savage threatens to sue British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith for libel, he continues to defame immigrant populations and entire ethnic groups. Read More
Sheriff Joe Arpaio to Recruit and Arm Citizens, Neo-Nazis “Have His Back”
Rather than cleaning up his police department and addressing allegations of racial profiling and discrimination, Arpaio has decided to recruit and arm more Maricopa citizens in the absence of state funds. Back in April, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in Arizona voted to postpone the acceptance of $1.6 million from the state to help pay for County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's controversial immigration enforcement tactics. Observers said the decision could signal that the board is concerned by federal inquires into Arpaio's practices that stem from his hard-line immigration tactics which include the deputization of volunteer "posses" to perform immigration sweeps, armed workplace raids, and set up checkpoints. Read More
Obama Budget Not a Replacement for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
The Obama Administration appears increasingly poised to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform, as promised. Yesterday the White House announced budgetary initiatives that signal a change in priorities and pave the way for immigration reform. At the same time, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, testified before the Senate yesterday about her plans to protect our borders and enforce our immigration laws in smarter and more effective ways. While the changes are welcome, they're still just fiddling along the edges of a real solution. Comprehensive immigration reform is the only real way to fix the problem. Read More
Olbermann Blames “Republican Echo Chamber” for “Making Scapegoats Out of Mexicans”
This week, Keith Olbermann went after right-wing pundits who are scapegoating immigrants for the swine flu epidemic. During his MSNBC show, Olbermann condemned comments made by Michelle Malkin, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, and others: In responding to Swine Flu, however, the Republican party‘s chosen talking heads have opted for an oldie but goodie. Our third story tonight, making scapegoats out of Mexicans... Well, yes, you [Michelle Malkin] are a racist. Exactly how does that apply, though, to the people who the Centers for Disease Control confirmed actually carried the Swine Flu from Mexico to the U.S., a group of Catholic school students from New York City, who spent Spring Break in Cancun. Uncontrolled Catholic immigration, open borders for private school kids reckless? Read More
Anti-Immigrant Hysterics’ Swine Flu Blame-Game Generates Blowback
Jay Severin, a radical right-wing talk show radio host from Boston, has been indefinitely kicked off the air after making some brazen comments, including calling Mexicans "primitives" and "women with mustaches and VD" who "leech" off the U.S.. More specifically, Boston's WTKK-FM decided to suspend Jay Severin after the following comments sparked deep concern among Mexicans and other Latinos in Boston: So now in addition to venereal disease and the other leading exports of Mexico -- women with mustaches and VD -- now we have swine flu. ... We should be if anything surprised that Mexico has not visited upon us poxes of more various and serious types considering the number of crimminalieans already here. Read More
All Signs Point Toward Immigration Reform
The stars continue to align for comprehensive immigration reform. The President continues to call for movement this year, Congress is beginning the legislative process, and DHS is realigning their priorities to focus on the root causes of undocumented immigration. FIRST, at yesterday's press conference marking the end of his first 100 days, President Obama stated: "we want to move this process. We can't continue with a broken immigration system. It's not good for anybody. It's not good for American workers. It's dangerous for Mexican would-be workers who are trying to cross a dangerous border." Read More
Obama Moving “Full Steam Ahead” On Immigration Reform
At a news conference commemorating his 100th day in office, President Obama indicated that his administration is planning on moving “full steam ahead on all fronts” on immigration reform. Obama told Telemundo reporter, Lori Montenegro, that he hopes to convene working groups to start building a framework for how immigration… Read More
Nativists Blame Immigrants for Swine Flu—and Everything Else
Nativist commentators and activists have wasted no time in pinning the blame for the current outbreak of swine flu in the United States on the same target they usually choose when assigning responsibility for any social, economic, political, or natural disaster: immigrants—especially undocumented immigrants. Following in the footsteps of Lou Dobbs, who in 2007 made the ludicrous claim that undocumented immigrants were importing leprosy into the country, anti-immigrant commentators such as Michelle Malkin and Glenn Beck are now claiming without a shred of evidence that undocumented immigrants from Mexico are importing swine flu. Even Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona is getting in on the act. Having turned his police department into a local immigration-enforcement agency devoted more to tracking down undocumented workers than actually fighting crime, Arpaio is now portraying himself as a defender of public health; readying his jail for a "potential outbreak" of swine flu, and outfitting his deputies with "hundreds of protective gear kits" in the event they encounter an undocumented swine-flu carrier in the desert. Read More
Make a contribution
Make a direct impact on the lives of immigrants.
