Immigration 101

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

Why Don’t Immigrants Apply for Citizenship?

There is no line available for undocumented immigrants and the “regular channels” do not include them.

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Temporary Protected Status: An Overview

This fact sheet provides an overview of how Temporary Protected Status designations are made, what benefits TPS confers, and how TPS beneficiaries apply for and regularly renew their status.

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How the United States Immigration System Works

U.S. immigration law is very complex. Here's basic information about how the U.S. legal immigration system is designed.

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All Immigration 101 Content

  • Special Report

Essential to the Fight: Immigrants in the Military Eight Years After 9/11

Publication Date: 
November 9, 2009
From the Revolutionary War to the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, immigrants have made significant contributions to the United States by serving in our military forces. Today, immigrants...
  • Special Report

Breaking Down the Problems: What's Wrong with Our Current Immigration System?

Publication Date: 
October 21, 2009
While some characterize our immigration crisis as solely an issue of the 11 to 12 million unauthorized immigrants living in this country, our problems extend beyond the number of undocumented people...
  • Research and Analysis

American Roots in the Immigrant Experience

Publication Date: 
October 19, 2009
The U.S. Census Bureau recently released data on the Latino population of the United States that underscores the extent to which the immigrant experience is embedded in the social (and political)...
  • Research and Analysis

Fuzzy Math: The Anti-Immigration Arguments of NumbersUSA Don't Add Up

Publication Date: 
June 2, 2009
According to the anti-immigration group NumbersUSA, immigration to the United States is all about arithmetic: immigration...
  • Fact Sheet

The New Electoral Landscape and What It Means for Immigration Reform

Publication Date: 
December 1, 2008
IPC has compiled this one-stop analysis of all the available data on the Asian, Latino and New American vote and shows how and why they voted the way they did in the 2008 election cycle. The report...
  • Fact Sheet

Election 2008: The Importance of Latinos and Immigrants to the Economies and Electorates of the "Super Tuesday" States

Publication Date: 
November 1, 2008
During the presidential primaries, candidates and the media focused a great deal of attention on the debate over how immigrants impact state economies and the fiscal balance of state treasuries. At...
  • Fact Sheet

Election 2008 Recap: The Electoral Landscape and What it Means for Immigration Reform

Publication Date: 
November 1, 2008
IPC has prepared a fact sheet to remind policymakers, the press, and the public about the enormous influence of the immigrant, Latino, and Asian vote in the 2008 elections.
  • Fact Sheet

The Politics of Contradiction: Immigration Enforcement vs. Economic Integration

Publication Date: 
May 21, 2008
Since the mid-1980s, the federal government has tried repeatedly, without success, to stem the flow of undocumented immigrants to the United States with immigration-enforcement initiatives: deploying...
  • Special Report

Today's Immigrant Woman Entrepreneur

Publication Date: 
January 5, 2008
Immigrant women entrepreneurs are rapidly making their mark in the U.S. business sector, in every region of the country and across a large range of industries. Today, immigrant women of the post-...
  • Research and Analysis

Thinking Ahead About Our Immigrant Future: New Trends and Mutual Benefits in Our Aging Society

Publication Date: 
January 1, 2008
By Dowell Myers, Ph.D. There are two stories now being told about immigration and the future of America. Each has some basis in fact,...
  • Blog

The COVID-19 Pandemic Made USCIS Backlogs Go from Bad to Worse

July 6, 2021

Backlogs, processing delays, and revenue shortfalls are nothing new at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The agency has long suffered from severe structural problems that hurt...

  • Blog

Biden Signals Big Changes to Legal Immigration and Asylum Law with Spring Regulatory Agenda

June 16, 2021

Twice each year, the federal government publishes a “regulatory agenda,” a preview of all the proposals that are in the pipeline to become federal regulations. Last week, the Biden administration...

  • Blog

The Supreme Court Limits the Crimes That Can Lead to Near-Automatic Deportation

June 14, 2021

The Supreme Court issued a decision last Thursday in a criminal case that will have an immediate impact on immigration law. The new decision set a limit on the types of crime that can be...

  • Blog

Biden’s First Budget Is A Missed Opportunity to Overhaul Immigration Enforcement

June 1, 2021

President Biden released the first budget proposal of his presidency on May 29, a landmark for any new president. A presidential budget generally reflects the goals of the administration and can...

  • Blog

Biden Administration Revokes Trump’s Health Insurance Visa Ban

May 18, 2021

President Biden revoked a proclamation issued by former President Trump in 2019 that required nearly all prospective immigrants to demonstrate that they would be covered by private health...

  • Blog

As US Birth Rate Declines, Programs Like Social Security Need Immigration to Survive

May 11, 2021

Birth rates are falling in the United States at the same time more Americans are reaching retirement age. Together, these two trends present enormous economic challenges for the nation. A growing...

  • Blog

Yes, All Immigrants Can Get the COVID-19 Vaccine—Even Those Who Are Undocumented

April 7, 2021

Since the start of the pandemic, many immigrants have been left out of federal COVID-19 relief packages. Both undocumented immigrants and some people in mixed-status households have been excluded...

  • Blog

Immigration Policies Based on Deterrence Don’t Work

April 2, 2021

Over the last two months, the Biden administration has been pressured to carry out another crackdown at the border as the number of arriving families and children rise. But officials making these...

  • Blog

Why We Must Improve Immigration Agency Transparency – And How to Do It

March 15, 2021

The Biden administration must improve transparency in the U.S. immigration system. Such efforts go hand in hand with strengthening democratic institutions. Under the Freedom of Information Act (...

  • Blog

How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Affected Immigration: One Year Later

March 11, 2021

It’s been one year since the COVID-19 pandemic first affected immigration on a global scale. The impact has been swift, devastating, and long-lasting. On March 11, 2020, former President Trump...

  • Blog

Fact Check: Migrants Aren’t the Ones Smuggling Fentanyl Into the United States

September 7, 2022

There is no doubt that fentanyl is a major problem inside the United States. Over the last decade, rising availability of fentanyl has caused a spike in overdose deaths across the nation. In 2021...

  • Press Release

American Immigration Council Hosts New American Fellows Showcase in Brooklyn to Highlight Immigrant Voices and Advocacy

September 7, 2022
The American Immigration Council will host the New American Fellows Showcase to amplify advocacy and immigrant voices.
  • Blog

The Economic Impact When International Students Return Back to Campus

August 31, 2022

As hundreds of thousands of students prepare to go back to school this fall, it’s important to consider the outsized role international students play in both campus life and the United States...

  • Blog

How Schools Welcome Newly Arrived Immigrant and Refugee Students

August 25, 2022

School is back in session. For many states and localities across the country, that means welcoming newly arrived immigrant and refugee youth into the classroom. There will be increased need for...

  • Blog

Who Enforces Immigration Policy Anyway?

August 10, 2022

The lack of a major overhaul in the United States’ immigration system for roughly thirty years has created an ecosystem where states have attempted to insert their authority over immigration,...

  • Blog

Debunking Major Myths About Immigrants’ Socioeconomic Status in the US

August 4, 2022

Opponents of immigration often claim that European immigrants who came to the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries are radically different than the Latin Americans and Asians...

  • Blog

Immigration Agencies Get Hit with Record-High Lawsuits as Delays Worsen

July 20, 2022

Lawsuits asking courts to order government employees to decide long-pending immigration filings have increased sharply in the past year. According to a recent report by the Transactional Records...

  • 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,...

  • Blog

This Independence Day, Local Communities Lead on Celebrating Immigrants

July 5, 2022

As communities across the United States came together this past weekend to commemorate and reflect upon our country’s independence, the holiday holds special significance for one group in...

  • Blog

New Report Reveals Why USCIS Is Plagued by Enormous Backlogs and Wait Times

June 29, 2022

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) operates under a flawed funding model. This virtually guarantees that the agency will always be under-funded and under-staffed. As a result, USCIS...

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