How the Immigration System Works

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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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 How the Immigration System Works Content

  • Blog

Know Your Rights in Texas: Preparing for State’s New Anti-Immigrant Law SB4

June 12, 2017

After debate rocked the Texas State Capitol, Governor Greg Abbott signed the controversial Senate Bill 4 (SB4) in May, which purports to ban sanctuary city policies and gives local police the...

  • Blog

How Many People Overstay Their Visas? Not Even the Government Knows

May 30, 2017

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials unveiled their newest “overstay” estimates—the number of people from other countries who remain in the United States after their visas expire—at a...

  • 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

How USCIS Calculates Processing Times and How It Could Be Improved

September 7, 2016

When people think about immigration reform, they usually think about legalization, enforcement, and updating the legal immigration system. However, there are other upgrades to the immigration...

  • Blog

What the New Citizenship Fee Structure Means for Aspiring Americans

May 11, 2016

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) is primarily a fee-funded agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Every two years they are required to review the fees they...

  • 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

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

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

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...

  • Blog

Proposed ‘Public Charge’ Regulation Draws Hundreds of Thousands of Comments

December 11, 2018

On Monday night, the 60–day comment period for the Trump administration’s proposed public charge regulation drew to a close. More than 210,000 comments were submitted, with the majority of...

  • Blog

What Matthew Whitaker’s Designation as Acting Attorney General Means for Immigration

December 3, 2018

Following Jeff Sessions’ resignation as Attorney General, President Trump named Matthew Whitaker to replace him—a move that has already inspired multiple lawsuits that contend the designation was...

  • Blog

Changes to USCIS Policy Will Directly Impact Vulnerable Immigrants

November 15, 2018

The Trump administration’s move to deport more people from the United States has come into sharp focus again as it targets some of the most vulnerable immigrants with its Notice to Appear (NTA)...

  • Blog

Ending Birthright Citizenship Could Put All Americans’ Nationality in Jeopardy

October 31, 2018

On Monday night, President Trump told reporters that he intended to end birthright citizenship and claimed that he could do so with an executive order. Birthright citizenship comes from the...

  • Blog

The Proposed Changes to Public Charge: What You Need to Know

September 24, 2018

Over the weekend, the Trump administration took steps to radically transform a little-known provision of immigration law that could have an outsized impact on legal immigration. In proposed...

  • Blog

This Citizenship Day Marred by Government’s Focus on Stripping People of Their Citizenship

September 17, 2018

Each year on September 17, America marks Citizenship Day, an annual opportunity to reflect on the benefits and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship. In years past, it was used as a day to...

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