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.

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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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All Immigration 101 Content

  • Blog

The Military’s Strategic and Recruitment Goals Fail When Immigrants Can’t Serve

November 9, 2017

The United States Armed Forces has long valued the contributions of immigrants—from the War of 1812 to the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, U.S.-born and immigrant soldiers have fought...

  • Blog

How Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Turns Immigrants Into Criminals

November 6, 2017

It has been well established for decades that the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals by any stretch of the imagination. Yet, immigrants who have committed no violent offense are often...

  • Blog

How the Diversity Visa Lottery Honors American Values

November 1, 2017

Americans value diversity and family. That is why our immigration system generally reflects those values. The U.S. diversity visa lottery, which was enshrined into law in 1990, was created to...

  • Blog

Immigrants Make up a Smaller Share of the U.S. Population Than They Did 100 Years Ago

October 23, 2017

The United States has been created by successive waves of immigration over the course of centuries. Each wave of immigrants from different parts of the world has helped to build the U.S. economy...

  • Blog

Immigrants and Refugees Are Among America’s 2017 Nobel Prize Winners

October 19, 2017

The Nobel Prizes, awarded annually in recognition of extraordinary achievement in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace, have once again been won by Americans who came...

  • Blog

The White House Has Slashed Refugee Admissions to Record Lows

October 2, 2017

The White House announced late last week that for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, beginning Oct. 1, 2017, the United States will only admit a maximum number of 45,000 refugees. This represents the lowest...

  • Blog

Public’s Appetite for Harsh Immigration Polices on the Decline

September 22, 2017

While undocumented immigration remains a concern among two-thirds of the American public, most Americans, including Republicans, support proposals which provide law-abiding immigrants a chance to...

  • 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

Where Do You Find the Most Resistance to Immigration?

August 23, 2017

Conventional thinking may lead some to believe that those communities that fight the hardest against immigration are the ones receiving the greatest influx of foreign newcomers. If people are wary...

  • 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...

  • Blog

Immigrants Have More Faith in American Institutions Than the Native-Born

February 7, 2019

Despite the fact that immigrants living in and arriving in the United States today are not exactly receiving a warm welcome by key government institutions, a recent poll by the Cato Institute...

  • Blog

Trump’s State of the Union Speech Reflects a Fundamental Misunderstanding of Immigration

February 6, 2019

Speaking before Congress and the nation Tuesday evening, President Trump once again promised bipartisanship and instead delivered division. When it came to immigration, the president neither...

  • Blog

How Trump Can Use Immigration to Make the State of the Union Stronger

February 5, 2019

Immigration will undoubtedly be a central issue during President Trump’s State of the Union address. However, it’s unlikely that any of the proposals the president advances will move us closer to...

  • Blog

USCIS Processing Times Get Even Slower Under Trump

February 4, 2019

The Trump administration has slowed the processing of immigration benefit applications to a crawl, causing needless harm to immigrants, their families, and their employers. Under President Trump,...

  • Blog

More People Overstay Their Visas Than Cross the Border Illegally – Our Immigration Laws Need to Address That

January 23, 2019

New estimates of the undocumented population in the United States confirm a trend that has been apparent for several years: the number of people who become undocumented each year by overstaying...

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