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.

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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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.

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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

  • Blog

Say It With Me: Undocumented Immigrants Pay Taxes

April 17, 2017

Each year, undocumented immigrants file their tax returns, just like all Americans. They pay federal, state, and local taxes, in addition to income, property, and sales taxes. However, there are...

  • Blog

It’s Not up for Debate: Immigrants Invigorate the Economy

March 30, 2017

As any reputable economist will tell you, immigrants contribute to the U.S. economy in many ways. Yet the often subtle complexities of immigration economics are largely absent from a March 24...

  • Blog

Border Wall May Be an Expensive Solution to a Nonexistent Problem

March 27, 2017

If the Trump administration fulfills its promise to build a “big, beautiful wall” along the entire length of the U.S.-Mexico border, it will be a very costly solution to a problem that no longer...

  • Blog

Trump Scapegoats Immigrants with Creation of Office of Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement

March 14, 2017

President Trump stated that he has “ordered the Department of Homeland Security to create an office to serve American victims during his Joint Address to congress. The office is called VOICE –...

  • Blog

Here’s How Immigrant Women Are Essential to Our Labor Force

March 8, 2017

International Women’s Day is an appropriate time to take stock of the many ways in which immigrant women contribute to the labor force of the United States. Some of these contributions are often...

  • Blog

Undocumented Immigrants Are Making a Huge Impact as Taxpayers

March 3, 2017

President Trump made many promises on the campaign trail. One of which was to breathe new life into what some see as a stagnant U.S. economy. In fact, there are indications that it was this one...

  • Blog

“Sanctuary” Policies Protect Communities, Not Criminals

March 2, 2017

State by state “sanctuary” policies have received significant attention lately. Hundreds of communities across the nation have passed some version of a sanctuary policy and in doing so have made...

  • Blog

Understanding the Dangerous Implications of President Trump’s Immigration Executive Order

January 26, 2017

On January 25, President Trump signed a pair of immigration-related executive orders, one dealing with border security and the other with immigration enforcement in the interior of the country....

  • Blog

USCIS Changes How Processing Times Are Posted

January 6, 2017

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that beginning on January 4, 2017, it has changed how it posts processing times. Rather that listing weeks or months, it now...

  • Blog

DHS Secretary Nominee John Kelly’s Resume is Thin on Immigration

December 16, 2016

Earlier this month, President-elect Donald Trump selected retired General John Kelly to be his nominee for Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). There is not much in the record...

  • Press Release

How Personal Values and Contact Impact Views on Unauthorized Immigrants

April 30, 2019
A new report by the American Immigration Council finds that Americans’ attitudes toward unauthorized immigrants are, among other factors, deeply related to their personal values and to the type of contact they have with immigrants in their daily lives.
  • Special Report

The Role of Contact and Values in Public Attitudes Toward Unauthorized Immigrants

Publication Date: 
April 30, 2019
This report uncovers the degree to which contact with immigrants and personal values are associated with views about unauthorized immigrants.
  • Blog

Record Low U.S. Birth Rate and Retirements Will Result in Contracting U.S. Prosperity, If Unaddressed

April 26, 2019

The U.S. population is aging quickly. Baby boomers are retiring en masse and Americans are having far fewer children, on average, than any other time in our history. The median age in this country...

  • Blog

Why the White House’s Measures to Curb Visa Overstays Are Inadequate

April 25, 2019

The White House issued a memo on Monday directing the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security to provide recommendations to reduce visa overstays. The recommendations, which are expected within...

  • Blog

Closing USCIS International Offices Will Leave US Citizens, Military Members, and Refugees Abroad Without Help

April 18, 2019

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ international field offices provide critical services to Americans living abroad, as well as refugees and other immigrants. But in a supposed effort to...

  • Blog

How America’s Fluid Racial Identities Are Challenging the Assumption of a Declining White Majority

April 1, 2019

For years, politicians, the media, and social scientists have predicted a declining white-majority population in the United States and a not-too-distant future where minorities assume political...

  • Blog

Immigrants Are Regularly Kept Locked up for Months After Deportation Orders

March 27, 2019

When the U.S. government orders that an immigrant in its custody must be deported, the person isn’t supposed to remain incarcerated for long. Yet the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) often...

  • Blog

Making Sense of the Rising Number of Families Arriving at the Border

March 25, 2019

Over the past few months, a new trend has emerged at the U.S.-Mexico border: more families are crossing and presenting themselves to U.S. officials to ask for asylum. But even though the number of...

  • Blog

Immigration Groups Are Using This Tool to Expose Government Secrets

March 15, 2019

Many of the country’s top immigration agencies operate in secret. This lack of transparency in how immigration laws are implemented, administered, and enforced has the potential to devastate the...

  • Blog

Number of Undocumented Immigrants in US at a 25-Year Low

March 1, 2019

  Contrary to President Trump’s claim that “large-scale unlawful migration” across the southern border constitutes a “national emergency” that requires building a wall, research suggests that...

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