Immigration 101

The enforcement of immigration laws is a complex and hotly-debated topic. Learn more about the costs of immigration enforcement and the ways in which the U.S. can enforce our immigration laws humanely and in a manner that ensures due process.

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.

READ MORE

Fact Sheet
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.

READ MORE

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.

READ MORE

All Immigration 101 Content

  • Blog

Undocumented Population Continues to Decline in the U.S.

January 25, 2016

Despite significant job growth and an economic recovery over the last few years, the undocumented population in the United States has continued to decline. According to a new report by the Center...

  • Blog

Xenophobic Immigration Policy Would Wreck the U.S. Economy

January 22, 2016

The GOP candidates for President are falling over one another to demonstrate who would be the “toughest” on immigrants and who would finally make U.S. borders “secure.” Leading the way is Donald...

  • Blog

U.S. Children of Undocumented Immigrants Set up for Failure by Current Policies

January 14, 2016

U.S. children are clearly at a disadvantage if they have at least one undocumented parent. According to a report by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) released yesterday, of the estimated 5.1...

  • Blog

Our Top 10 Most-Read Posts of 2015

December 23, 2015

As 2015 comes to a close we revisit the year’s most-read blog posts on ImmigrationImpact.com. The top 10 posts include analysis of the presidential candidate’s immigration policy positions,...

  • Blog

Hardening Immigration Platforms of the Republican Presidential Candidates

December 16, 2015

During the final GOP public debate of 2015, Republican candidates continued articulating what they would do on immigration if they were commander-in-chief. Many of the candidates have already...

  • Blog

Giving the Immigration Facts a Fighting Chance

December 14, 2015

As we move through the 2016 presidential election cycle, the issue of immigration will continue to be a central topic of the debate. The United States is at a tipping point after more than two...

  • Blog

Trump’s Muslim Immigration Policy, Unconstitutional and Unworthy of America

December 8, 2015

The latest, outrageous proposal out of the Trump for President campaign came via a “Statement on Preventing Muslim Immigration” where the candidate calls “for a total and complete shutdown of...

  • Blog

Due Process, Enforcement Reform and Family Unification Top Sanders’ Platform

December 2, 2015

Senator Bernie Sanders, a contender for the Democratic nomination for President, recently released his updated and vastly expanded immigration platform. His initial plan was short on detail;...

  • Blog

Millions of Immigrants Could Become U.S. Citizens—and Voters

November 30, 2015

Politicians who demonize immigrants do so at their own peril. Immigrants are already a key voting bloc in many states. And they are only going to get stronger as more and more of them become...

  • Blog

Talking Turkey on Immigration 2015

November 25, 2015

Today, I have the pleasure of following in the footsteps of Mary Giovagnoli, who, during her five years at the American Immigration Council, entertained and enlightened us with her annual blog...

  • Blog

Lawmakers Are Blaming Undocumented Immigrants for the Opioid Epidemic

February 15, 2018

The scapegoating of immigrants for crime in the United States was on full display at a February 15 hearing of the House Judiciary Committee. The hearing was devoted to exploring the ways in which...

  • Legal Resources and Litigation

Statement for the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security on "The Effect of Sanctuary City Policies on the Ability to Combat the Opioid Epidemic"

February 15, 2018
The statement includes our report, The Criminalization of Immigration in the United States, which details empirical data demonstrating that immigration is not linked to higher crime rates.
  • Blog

Immigrants Bring Home the Gold for the U.S. Olympics Team

February 14, 2018

From their meme-worthy Opening Ceremony gloves to some stunning wins on the halfpipe, Team USA has started the 2018 Winter Olympics off with a bang. Early victories in the Pyeongchang, South Korea...

  • Blog

What Views Do Millennials Hold Around Immigration?

February 12, 2018

The Millennial Generation constitutes the most racially and ethnically diverse generation America has ever known. Millennials are the largest living generation by population size (79.8 million in...

  • Blog

A New Report Shows the Continuing Overcriminalization of Immigrants

February 9, 2018

After more than a century of research and analysis, it has become quite clear that immigrants are far less prone to criminal conduct than the native-born population. And yet researcher John R....

  • Blog

U.S. Government Skews Terrorism Data to Add Fuel to the Anti-Immigrant Fire

January 23, 2018

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a report which comes to a rather predictable conclusion: most of the “international terrorists” in the United...

  • Blog

What You Need to Know About Foreign-Trained Doctors in the U.S. Healthcare System

January 17, 2018

There are more than 247,000 doctors with medical degrees from foreign countries practicing in the United States. A fourth of all physicians in the nation are foreign-trained—the majority of whom...

  • Special Report

Foreign-Trained Doctors are Critical to Serving Many U.S. Communities

Publication Date: 
January 17, 2018
U.S. immigration policies significantly limit the ability of these doctors to immigrate to and practice in the United States. As policy-makers debate what immigration reforms would best serve the...
  • Blog

Trump’s Derogatory Comments Revive Racist Legacy in Immigration Policy

January 12, 2018

Media outlets around the globe reported on President Trump’s disparaging comments regarding nationals of certain countries. According to the Washington Post, during a discussion with lawmakers in...

  • Blog

How Criminalizing Communities of Color Has Driven the Anti-Immigrant Narrative

January 11, 2018

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, taken away Temporary Protected Status for Salvadorans in the United States, and staged raids...

Most Read

  • Publications
  • Blog Posts
  • Past:
  • Trending