Immigration Reform

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.

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. 

  • 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. 

All Immigration Reform Content

  • Research and Analysis

Immigration Scare-Tactics: Exaggerated Estimates of New Immigration Under S.2611

April 1, 2006
The debate over S. 2611, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, has been clouded by grossly exaggerated estimates of the likely scale of future immigration under the bill.
  • Special Report

Guest Workers Program with a Path to Legalization

April 1, 2006
As we have seen in the last month, segments of the United States media, policy leaders, and populace continue to be obsessed with the issue of undocumented immigration to the United States. Turn...
  • Research and Analysis

Achieving 'Security and Prosperity': Migration and North American Economic Integration

February 1, 2006
Most of the border-enforcement and immigration-reform proposals currently being considered in Washington, DC, are not comprehensive or adequate solutions to the issue of undocumented immigration. The...
  • Research and Analysis

Playing Politics on Immigration: Congress Favors Image over Substance in Passing H.R. 4437

February 1, 2006
Congressional representatives who supported H.R. 4437—the Border Protection, Anti-Terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005—are most likely to represent districts with relatively few...
  • Research and Analysis

More Than a Temporary Fix: The Role of Permanent Immigration in Comprehensive Reform

January 1, 2006
The immigration debate once again is dominated by narrow thinking and the search for simplistic solutions to complex problems. Most lawmakers and the press have come to equate “immigration reform”...
  • Special Report

From Denial to Acceptance: Effectively Regulating Immigration to the United States

November 1, 2004
U.S. immigration policy is based on denial. Most lawmakers in the United States have largely embraced the process of economic “globalization,” yet stubbornly refuse to acknowledge that increased...
  • Research and Analysis

An Unlikely Fit: Will the Undocumented Apply for a Temporary Status?

February 1, 2004
A guest worker program that lacks a clearly defined path to a permanent status is an unlikely fit for many of the 9.3 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States, most of...
  • Fact Sheet

Out of Sync: New Temporary Worker Proposals Unlikely to Meet U.S. Labor Needs

The temporary worker program now taking shape in Congress is unlikely to provide the U.S. economy with the numbers or kinds of workers that U.S. industries need.
  • Blog

A Variety of Legislation Has Been Introduced in Congress to Protect Dreamers

September 27, 2017

The announcement of the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative has hit home for many. The public has demonstrated a strong distaste for taking away young, undocumented...

  • Blog

Travel Ban 3.0: What You Need To Know

September 25, 2017

Just as the Trump administration’s 90-day ban on travel from six Muslim-majority countries was set to expire, it announced the third version of its travel ban Sunday evening. This latest version...

  • Blog

Welcoming Week Opens Its Arms to Immigrants Across the Country

September 15, 2017

Each year, a series of events and community gatherings take place across America that bring both the foreign- and native-born together to build inclusive communities. These “Welcoming Week”...

  • Blog

Trump Administration Issues New Visa Sanctions on Four Countries, In Retaliation for Their Stance on Deportation

September 14, 2017

Following through on a directive from President Trump made during his first week in office, the State Department on Monday invoked a rarely-used law to impose visa restrictions on Cambodia,...

  • Blog

New Anti-Immigrant Bill Creates Over-Broad ‘Gang’ Penalties, Putting Even Churches at Risk

September 13, 2017

This week House Republicans are set to vote on yet another anti-immigrant bill that attempts to scapegoat immigrants and grant far reaching enforcement powers to the Department of Homeland...

  • Blog

States and NGOs Sue Trump Administration Over DACA Termination

September 7, 2017

With the Trump administration announcing it was ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative on Tuesday, a number of states, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and DACA...

  • Blog

The DACA Affair: The Epitome of Injustice

September 6, 2017

On January 13, 1898, the novelist Émile Zola penned a now famous open letter in the French newspaper L’Aurore, accusing the French government of anti-Semitism for falsely convicting military...

  • Blog

Trump Bows to Threats by Attorneys General and Ends DACA Initiative

September 5, 2017

The Trump administration brought the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals initiative (DACA) to an end on Tuesday, striking one of the largest blows to America’s immigrant community since taking...

  • Blog

Trump Administration Ends DACA: Places 800K Young Immigrants at Risk for Deportation

September 5, 2017

The Trump administration announced the end of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) today. This means no new applications will be accepted and only those individuals with current DACA that...

  • Blog

As Texans Struggle for Survival, Judge Puts SB4 Largely On Hold

August 31, 2017

Texas’ Senate Bill 4 (SB4), the state’s punitive, anti-immigrant law slated to go into effect on September 1, was largely blocked by a Texas Judge late Wednesday evening. SB4 was passed into law...

  • Blog

Despite Bipartisan Amendments, House Committee Passes Enforcement-Focused Bill

July 26, 2018

The House Appropriations Committee passed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill that provides the agency with its budget for Fiscal Year 2019, which begins October 1, 2018. The...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Upholds President Trump’s Muslim Ban

June 26, 2018

The Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decision in Trump v. Hawaii on Tuesday, upholding the third iteration of the president’s Muslim Ban. The decision by the closely divided court, which...

  • Blog

Here Is the Latest on President Trump’s Family Separation Policy

June 21, 2018

President Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday in response to public outcry about family separation – a horrific policy that has led to the forced separation of over 2,000 minor children...

  • Blog

Confused About the Current Status of DACA? Here Is What You Need to Know

May 16, 2018

The Trump administration’s attempt to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative set off a slew of lawsuits attempting to stop the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from...

  • Blog

Government to Criminally Prosecute More Migrants and Separate Them From Their Children

May 8, 2018

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced they will be stepping up prosecutions of individuals along the southern border. There is much folly in deciding...

  • Blog

Delays in the Increase of Seasonal Worker Visas May Prove Too Late for Certain Industries

May 7, 2018

Failure to get H-2B (seasonal worker) visas approved has put Maryland’s seafood industry in jeopardy. Almost half of the Eastern Shore’s crab houses do not have workers they need to pick the meat...

  • Blog

This Controversial Immigration Enforcement Program Threatens U.S. Communities

April 9, 2018

In an era of increased immigration enforcement, it is even more important to understand the ways in which some states and localities collaborate with the federal government. Recent research also...

  • Blog

Congress Reaches A Deal to Fund Government for the Year Without Solution for Dreamers

March 23, 2018

This week Congress passed a $1.3 trillion bill to fund the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year, running through September 30, 2018. Though the legislation includes record levels of...

  • Blog

The Department of Justice Sues California Over Its ‘Sanctuary’ Policies

March 7, 2018

A lawsuit challenging several California laws filed Tuesday is the U.S. Justice Department’s latest salvo in the ongoing policy and legal battle regarding “sanctuary” policies. The complaint,...

  • Blog

The Senate Fails to Find a Way Forward for Dreamers

February 16, 2018

The United States Senate had a golden opportunity this week to legislate a permanent solution for Dreamers—however a week that began full of hope ended as a dud, with no bill passing and the...

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