Immigration Reform

The immigration laws and regulations provide some avenues to apply for lawful status from within the U.S. or to seek relief from deportation.  The eligibility requirements for these benefits and relief can be stringent, and the immigration agencies often adopt overly restrictive interpretations of the requirements.  Learn about advocacy and litigation that has been and can be undertaken to ensure that noncitizens have a fair chance to apply for the benefits and relief for which they are eligible.  

Recent Features

Fact Sheet
The Cost of Immigration Enforcement and Border Security

Since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003, the federal government has spent an estimated $324 billion on the agencies that carry out immigration enforcement. 

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Special Report
Back to the Future: The Impact of Legalization Then and Now

While there are many facets to an intelligent immigration reform package, one thing is clear: legalization for undocumented immigrants helps all of us. 

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All Immigration Reform Content

  • Fact Sheet

The Growing Demand for Healthcare Workers in Texas

Publication Date: 
September 21, 2022
To address significant shortages of physicians and other healthcare workers, Texas must establish policies that recruit and retain local talent and give employment possibilities for immigrant...
  • Fact Sheet

The Economic Contributions of Immigrants in Texas

Publication Date: 
July 11, 2022

New research from the American Immigration Council, The Economic Contributions of Immigrants in Texas, highlights the crucial role of immigrants in the state’s workforce across the manufacturing,...

  • Fact Sheet

Tending to America's Food Supply

Publication Date: 
July 5, 2022
This fact sheet analyzes the essential role of immigrant workers in America's food production, particularly in the meat and dairy industries
  • Fact Sheet

The Economic Benefits of Proposition 308: Expanding In-State Tuition to Arizona Dreamers

Publication Date: 
June 14, 2022
This fact sheet highlights the crucial role that new Americans play in Arizona’s economy, including in some of the state’s fastest-growing and most in-demand fields, like healthcare, education, and...
  • Fact Sheet

Power of the Purse: Contributions of Hispanic Americans in the Rio Grande Valley

Publication Date: 
June 3, 2022
This fact sheet underscores the crucial role Hispanic Texans play in the Rio Grande Valley’s labor force, population growth, and economy.
  • Fact Sheet

Power of the Purse: Contributions of Hispanic Americans in the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission Metro Area

Publication Date: 
June 3, 2022
This fact sheet underscores the crucial role Hispanic Texans play in the metro area’s labor force, population growth, and economy.
  • Fact Sheet

An Overview of the Government Funding Process: Appropriations

Publication Date: 
December 15, 2021
This fact sheet aims to explain the basics of the federal government funding process, also known as appropriations, and show how it affects the world of immigration and immigration enforcement.
  • Fact Sheet

Legalization Through “Registry”

Publication Date: 
September 28, 2021
This fact sheet provides information on a provision called “registry” that allows certain non-citizens who are long-term residents of the United States, but who are either undocumented or present in...
  • Fact Sheet

Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021

Publication Date: 
August 27, 2021
This fact sheet provides an overview about the legalization program through which certain undocumented farmworkers in the United States could earn legal status.
  • Fact Sheet

Documented Dreamers: An Overview

Publication Date: 
August 20, 2021
This fact sheet provides an overview of Documented Dreamers, explains how they can age out of immigration status at 21, and summarizes the current federal legislative proposals to protect them from...
  • Advocacy

Letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano (submitted Feb. 9, 2012)

This sign-on letter expresses concerns about DHS’s implementation of the new prosecutorial discretion policy, including the agency’s failure to grant work authorization to those who receive a favorable exercise of discretion. The letter also makes recommendations to ensure that DHS fulfills its pledge to implement an effective and fair prosecutorial discretion policy nationwide.
  • Advocacy

NIJC Recommendations Regarding Implementation of the Prosecutorial Discretion Initiative (submitted Sep. 30, 2011)

This letter to several Administration officials was submitted in response to the DHS/White House announcement on August 18, 2011 that it would form a "Prosecutorial Discretion Working Group" to...

  • Advocacy

Memorandum, “Executive Branch Authority Regarding Implementation of Immigration Laws and Policies” (April 29, 2011)

This memorandum, which was released by the American Immigration Council and co-signed by two general counsels of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service, offers an overview of the scope of executive branch authority and outlines specific steps the Administration could take to forestall removals in sympathetic cases.
  • Advocacy

Letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano (submitted April 6, 2011)

This letter requests written guidance setting forth detailed criteria for the favorable exercise of prosecutorial discretion and the assignment of a high-level officer to monitor implementation of...

  • Blog

Congress Introduces Sweeping Immigration Reform Bill ‘DIGNIDAD Act’ to Address Systematic Challenges

May 25, 2023

On May 23, members of Congress introduced what has sadly become an increasingly rare bit of legislation; a comprehensive immigration reform bill aimed at addressing large-scale systematic problems...

  • Blog

Newly Introduced Border Bill Would Create More Chaos at the Border, Not Less

May 9, 2023

With the pandemic-related expulsion policy “Title 42” set to expire May 11, the House GOP introduced its first large-scale border and immigration package on Monday. The bill combines three...

  • Blog

GOP’s Extreme Border Bill Rejects Solutions and Embraces Ending Asylum

April 19, 2023

On Monday, April 17, the House GOP introduced its first comprehensive border bill of the 118th Congress. The bill comes after months of disagreement within the caucus surrounding legislative...

  • Blog

Florida Has Everything to Lose If It Repeals In-State Tuition for Undocumented Students

March 10, 2023

Undocumented students, like millions of other students in the United States, have the ambition to succeed. College opportunities are often priceless for these students. And though a degree can...

  • Blog

Florida Doubles Down with New Law Designed to Spend Millions to Relocate Migrants

March 3, 2023

Florida made headlines last year as it passed a law allowing Governor Ron DeSantis to spend up to 12 million dollars to transport migrants out of Florida. DeSantis used over $1 million of that...

  • Blog

At Dueling Border Hearings, New House Majority Pushes Partisan Narrative Over Facts

February 10, 2023

In January, Republicans took control of the House of Representatives. After a lengthy fight over the Speaker of the House resolved, the new majority wasted no time in holding multiple hearings on...

  • Blog

Time Is Running Out for Congress to Act on Immigration This Year

December 8, 2022

Can immigration avoid a cold winter in Congress? That’s the question immigrants and their advocates are asking as time runs out on the current Congress. The fate of Afghan evacuees, Dreamers,...

  • Blog

Congress Proposes the Case Backlog and Transparency Act to Tackle USCIS Backlogs

November 11, 2022

The backlog of pending applications at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has increased exponentially in the last few years. Congress is finally taking notice. The Case Backlog and...

  • Blog

Arizona Dreamers’ Chance of In-State Tuition Rely on the Midterm Elections

November 1, 2022

While it seems like all eyes are on the states that could determine the outcome of this year’s midterm elections, it’s important to remember that the consequences of November 8 will extend beyond...

  • Blog

House GOP’s Immigration Framework Recreates Trump’s Border Wish List

August 18, 2022

As midterm election season heats up, House Republicans on the “American Security Task Force” have produced a new framework for what they say is a plan to “secure the border.” Despite the claim of...

  • Press Release

House Republicans Vote to Impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary

February 13, 2024
On Tuesday, February 13, 2024, the House Republican majority chose to continue efforts to impeach the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, holding another vote which passed, 214 to 213.
  • Press Release

Senate Border Bill a Step in Right Direction, but Falls Short in Guaranteeing Due Process for Asylum Seekers

February 5, 2024
On Sunday night, a bipartisan group of senators released the “Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024." Jeremy Robbins, Executive Director of the American Immigration Council, responds to this controversial legislation that faces an uncertain future.
  • Press Release

Report Highlights Undocumented Students’ Vital Role in Addressing Workforce Gaps

August 2, 2023
The American Immigration Council and the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration released a report showing undocumented students enrolling in U.S. colleges and universities play a crucial role in addressing workforce gaps.
  • Press Release

Civil Rights and Legal Advocates File Lawsuit Against Florida’s Anti-Immigrant Law SB 1718

July 17, 2023
Legal organizations filed a federal lawsuit challenging Florida’s new anti-immigrant law, Senate Bill 1718.
  • Press Release

Legal Advocates to File Lawsuit Challenging the Constitutionality of Florida’s Anti-Immigrant Law

July 1, 2023
The Southern Poverty Law Center, American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Florida, Americans for Immigrant Justice, and American Immigration Council have announced they will file a federal lawsuit challenging Florida’s draconian Senate Bill 1718, which goes into effect, July 1.
  • Press Release

New Research Shows the Key Role Immigrants Play in 13 States’ Healthcare Workforces

February 3, 2023
The American Immigration Council reports underscore the key role of immigrant healthcare workforces of Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
  • Press Release

New Research Shows Immigrants Contributed $8.6 Billion to the El Paso Metro GDP

November 10, 2022
The new report is the first in a series of five reports highlighting immigrants' positive economic impact on Texas border communities.
  • Press Release

New Reports Shows Immigrants in the Medina Region Paid Over $168 Million in Taxes and Held Nearly $468 Million in Spending Power in 2019

November 8, 2022
New research released by the American Immigration Council—in partnership with the Greater Medina Chamber of Commerce, and Ohio Business for Immigration Solutions (OBIS) shows that immigrants contributed $900 million to the Medina, Ohio region’s GDP in 2019.
  • Press Release

New Public Charge Regulation Welcome, and More Welcoming

September 8, 2022
The Biden Administration published new public charge regulations, ensuring that immigrants from all walks of life are welcomed to the United States. The new regulations codify long-standing public charge policy that are reasonable, fair, and legally sound.
  • Press Release

The Afghan Adjustment Act Is a Pathway to Belonging in America

August 10, 2022
A a group of U.S. senators and representatives introduced the Afghan Adjustment Act, a bipartisan bill that would establish a legal adjustment of status process for thousands of Afghans currently in the United States who relocated and resettled in American communities since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
  • Blog

Biden Announces Immigration Protections for Up to 550,000 Spouses and Children of US Citizens

June 18, 2024

On June 18, the Biden administration announced two major new policies which may help provide streamlined paths to legal status for certain long-time undocumented immigrants. The first policy will...

  • Press Release

Biden Expands Immigration Protections to Undocumented Spouses and Streamlines Employment-Based Visas for DACA Recipients

June 18, 2024
On June 18, the Biden administration announced policy changes that will provide immigration relief to thousands of deeply-rooted immigrants in the United States.
  • Press Release

Biden's Executive Action Will Not Make Border More Orderly or Secure

June 5, 2024
The U.S. government needs to be able to quickly and fairly sort out migrants who have a valid asylum claim, but instead of investing in U.S. ports of entry, immigration courts, or more options for legal migration, the order focuses on harsh and arbitrary turnbacks.
  • Press Release

New Data Analysis: Immigrants Driving Opportunity, Prosperity in the U.S., Including in Swing States

June 5, 2024
A new analysis of 2022 U.S. census data highlights how, amidst the Biden administration's recent actions to limit asylum access along the U.S.-Mexico border, and in the context of ramped-up anti-immigrant rhetoric during this year’s presidential campaign, immigrants are helping make the United States a more prosperous and economically booming country.
  • Press Release

New Report Shows Immigrants Play Critical Role to Michigan’s Population Growth, Economy

May 29, 2024
Immigrants accounted for 57.7 percent of Michigan’s population growth over last decade and contributed $67.8 billion, or 9.9 percent, of the state’s total GDP in 2022
  • Press Release

Civil Rights Groups File Lawsuit to Block Iowa's Unconstitutional SF 2340

May 9, 2024
Civil rights groups filed a federal lawsuit today to block SF 2340, one of the worst, most far-reaching immigration laws ever passed in the state of Iowa.
  • Letters

Council Urges House of Representatives Against Expanding the Warrantless Surveillance of Immigrants in FISA Reauthorization Vote

Publication Date: 
April 16, 2024
The American Immigration Council sent a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives discussing the harmful impacts of a proposed amendment that would authorize intelligence agencies to conduct...
  • Blog

FY 2024 Government Funding Package Is a Mixed-Bag on Immigration

April 9, 2024

President Biden signed the final 6-bill “minibus” funding package for fiscal year (FY) 2024 on March 23, which includes funding for the agencies that implement our immigration laws. This was the...

  • Press Release

New Report Shows Immigrants in Androscoggin County, Maine Paid Over $24 Million in Taxes and Held Over $74 Million in Spending Power in 2019

April 4, 2024
Immigrants play a crucial role in the labor force in southern Maine, according to data in a new report.
  • Comments

Improving ICE Compliance with Congressional Reporting Requirements

Publication Date: 
February 23, 2024
Immigration policy experts and legal service providers developed the following recommendations with the goal of improving public access to information that Congress has required U.S. Immigration and...

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