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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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...
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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...
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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...
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January 4, 2011
Attacks on birthright citizenship at the federal and state level are bound to take many forms—from outright repeal of the Fourteenth Amendment to refusal by states to issue birth certificates to...
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October 14, 2010
At a time when federal, state, and local elections are often decided by small voting margins—with...
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September 13, 2010
It’s hardly news that the complaints of our latter-day nativists and immigration restrictionists—from Sam Huntington to Rush Limbaugh, from FAIR to V-DARE—resonate with the nativist arguments of some...
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September 9, 2010
Immigration Enforcement in a Time of Recession Recent estimates from the Pew Hispanic Center indicate that the number of unauthorized...
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September 2, 2010
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August 4, 2010
New CBO Report Underscores Diverse Contributions of Foreign-Born Workers A recent report from the...
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June 28, 2010
While immigrant communities across the nation endure the long wait for immigration reform, there are roughly 19 million immigrant women and girls currently in the U.S. Immigrant women, particularly...
March 30, 2022

More than two-thirds of U.S. counties saw natural decreases in population between 2020 and 2021, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. This means that almost 2,300...

February 24, 2022

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to clarify the meaning of the “public charge ground of inadmissibility” on February 24. The new guidance will be...

February 22, 2022

The Canadian government released its 2022-2024 immigration targets earlier this week. Should it reach these targets, the number of new immigrants entering Canada would reach levels not seen in...

February 10, 2022

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) unveiled a new mission statement this week, signaling an important shift in how the agency wants to tell its story and shape its priorities ahead...

February 2, 2022

Some media outlets have reached a fever pitch over what they have deemed President Biden’s “secret flights of migrants.” They claim that the Biden administration is covertly flying migrants into...

December 8, 2021

The Biden administration has—in its first year—rolled back many of the worst discriminatory policies implemented by the Trump administration that targeted non-U.S. citizens. But much work remains...

November 18, 2021

The United States Supreme Court will face challenging questions impacting immigration law as it begins considering cases in its October 2021 term. The Court’s decisions on these cases will impact...

October 26, 2021

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published new data last week showing that over the past 12 months, the Border Patrol has carried out nearly 1.7 million apprehensions at the southern...

September 24, 2021

Shocking images have emerged of Border Patrol officers on horseback charging toward Haitian immigrants in and around the border town of Del Rio, Texas. Thousands of Haitians have come to our...

September 14, 2021

The September 11th terrorist attacks not only led to the tragic deaths of 2,977 people, they fundamentally changed the nature of immigration law and policy in the United States. Since 9/11, the U....

February 24, 2023

Written by Steven Hubbard, Senior Data Scientist and Robin Lundh, Research Manager Black immigrants make up a vital part of America’s rich cultural life. Think of authors Chinua Achebe and...

February 10, 2023

In January, Republicans took control of the House of Representatives. After a lengthy fight over the Speaker of the House resolved, the new majority wasted no time in holding multiple hearings on...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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....

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-...

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...

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