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

  • Fact Sheet

Chicken Little in the Voting Booth: The Non-Existent Problem of Non-Citizen Voter Fraud

Publication Date: 
July 13, 2012
A wave of restrictive voting laws is sweeping the nation. The Brennan Center for Justice at New York...
  • Fact Sheet

African Immigrants in America: A Demographic Overview

Publication Date: 
June 28, 2012
Immigrants from Africa constitute a highly diverse and rapidly growing group in the United States. As Census data demonstrate, the African foreign-born population doubled in size between 2000 and...
  • Fact Sheet

Latinos in America: A Demographic Overview

Publication Date: 
April 26, 2012
Latinos in the United States are a diverse and fast-growing group that is amassing considerable economic and political power. As data from the 2010 Census and other sources demonstrate, Latinos now...
  • Fact Sheet

Asians in America: A Demographic Overview

Publication Date: 
April 26, 2012
Asians in the United States are a highly diverse group that is growing fast not only in size, but in political and economic power as well.
  • Fact Sheet

The Future of a Generation: How New Americans Will Help Support Retiring Baby Boomers

Publication Date: 
February 14, 2012
The United States is in the midst of a profound demographic transformation that will long outlast the current economic downturn. In 2011, the first of the baby boomers—Americans born between 1946 and...
  • Special Report

Opportunity and Exclusion: A Brief History of U.S. Immigration Policy

Publication Date: 
January 13, 2012
The United States and the colonial society that preceded it were created by successive waves of immigration from all corners of the globe. But public and political attitudes towards immigrants have...
  • Fact Sheet

Eliminating Birthright Citizenship Would Not Solve the Problem of Unauthorized Immigration

Publication Date: 
November 4, 2011
There is no evidence that undocumented immigrants come to the U.S. just to give birth.
  • Fact Sheet

Mexican Migration Patterns Signal a New Immigration Reality

Publication Date: 
August 1, 2011
Fewer Mexicans are Entering the U.S., Fewer Are Leaving, and Mexican American Births Now Outpace Immigration from Mexico Much of what we thought we knew about immigration is changing, and...
  • Special Report

Second Annual DHS Progress Report

Publication Date: 
April 12, 2011
In its second year under the Obama Administration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—which is responsible for the nation’s three immigration agencies (USCIS, CBP, and ICE)—continues to...
  • Special Report

Constitutional Citizenship: A Legislative History

Publication Date: 
March 28, 2011
Attacks against the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment have picked up in recent months, with legislators at both the national and state levels introducing bills that would deny U.S. citizenship...
  • Blog

USCIS’ Funding Crisis Might Be Too Big for the Agency to Fix by Itself

January 17, 2023

On January 3, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) finally published a new proposed fee schedule for immigration benefits—which is to say, it took an important step to becoming a...

  • Blog

Time Is Running Out for Congress to Act on Immigration This Year

December 8, 2022

Can immigration avoid a cold winter in Congress? That’s the question immigrants and their advocates are asking as time runs out on the current Congress. The fate of Afghan evacuees, Dreamers,...

  • Blog

From Farm to Your Thanksgiving Table: America’s Food Supply Relies on Immigrant Crop Workers

November 22, 2022

As Thanksgiving approaches, many cooks are busy planning their holiday meals. However, this year’s Thanksgiving meals will likely be more expensive as food prices soar. This is partly due to...

  • Blog

Midterms 2022: How and Where Immigrants Have Helped Create a More Diverse Electorate

October 11, 2022

With the 2022 midterm elections just weeks away, all eyes are shifting to states where close races are expected. A lot has changed since the last midterm elections in 2018—including the...

  • Blog

A New Bill Would Allow Millions of Immigrants to Apply for Green Cards

October 11, 2022

On September 28, Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) introduced a bill in Congress that would allow millions of immigrants who have lived in the United States for many years to become Lawful Permanent...

  • Blog

Biden Administration’s New Public Charge Rule Should End Fear of Trump Wealth Test

September 16, 2022

Three years ago, the Trump administration sent fear throughout immigrant communities across the nation with its Public Charge rule, which functioned as a wealth test for green card applicants....

  • Blog

Hispanics in the US: What the Data Reveals About Shifting Geography, Ancestry, and Voting Patterns

September 14, 2022

This Hispanic Heritage Month, we look at the most recent Census and data to highlight the importance of Hispanics in the United States. For those wondering why Hispanic Heritage Month starts mid-...

  • Blog

Biden Administration Close to Reaching Increased Cap on Employment-Based Green Cards

September 13, 2022

The Biden administration is close to using all of the employment-based immigrant visas (green cards) allotted for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced...

  • Blog

Immigration Status Will No Longer Be a Barrier for Aspiring Lawyers in New Mexico

September 9, 2022

Written by American Immigration Council staff Leani García Torres and Raul Pinto The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative provides certain young, undocumented immigrants with a...

  • 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...

  • Practice Advisories

Common Tools of Statutory Construction for Criminal Removal Grounds

Publication Date: 
November 28, 2023
This practice advisory describes some of the common tools of statutory construction to assist practitioners in advocating for narrow definitions of generic criminal removal grounds...
  • Blog

Map the Impact: Immigrants Make Up Over 18% of the Total US Population Growth

November 13, 2023

Written by Robin Lundh, Research Manager and Anna Shepperson, Research Associate. Immigration—long central to the American experience—has dominated news coverage in recent years. Between 2016 and...

  • Advocacy

Comment on Executive Office for Immigration Review Proposed Rule Regarding Restoring Appeal Procedures and Administrative Closure

Publication Date: 
November 7, 2023
The American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association submitted this comment in support of the proposed rule, "Appellate Procedures and Decisional Finality in Immigration...
  • Blog

Department of Labor Report Highlights Severity of Child Labor in the US and Worldwide

November 2, 2023

The Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued its yearly Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor report, examining 131 countries’ efforts to abolish child labor in 2022 and the obstacles those...

  • Fact Sheet

The Biden Administration’s Humanitarian Parole Program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans: An Overview

Publication Date: 
October 31, 2023
An overview of the Biden administration's parole programs for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans (CHNV), which admit up to 30,000 people per month with the ability to live and work in the...
  • Press Release

Court Allows Turnbacks of Asylum Seekers Without CBP One Appointments to Continue

October 13, 2023
A federal court in California denied a preliminary injunction in a legal challenge to the Biden administration’s policy of turning back asylum seekers who request protection without first obtaining an appointment via the government’s CBP One smartphone app.
  • Blog

Spotlight on the Changing Demographics of Hispanic Americans

September 28, 2023

By Karen Aho and Robin Lundh of the American Immigration Council Today, Hispanic Americans form the largest ethnic group in the United States. The value of Hispanic Americans to the makeup of the...

  • Blog

New Board of Immigration Appeals Decision Sets Roadblock for Cubans, Others Seeking Green Cards 

September 28, 2023

A recent Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decision bars certain recently arrived noncitizens from becoming lawful permanent residents. In Matter of Cabrera-Fernandez, the BIA held that the...

  • Blog

What Does the Looming Government Shutdown Mean for Our Immigration System?

September 28, 2023

After weeks of failed negotiations on spending, Congress has less than a week left to avert a potential government shutdown. Members of the House Republicans’ Freedom Caucus have refused to pass...

  • Blog

A Snapshot of Undocumented College Students in the United States

September 8, 2023

The school year has started, and many college students are returning to campuses nationwide, including undocumented and DACA-eligible students. Data from the 2021 American Community Survey (ACS)...

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