Immigration 101

Recent Features

  • 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.

All Immigration 101 Content

  • Fact Sheet

Legalize Who?: A Portrait of the 11 Million Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States

January 31, 2013
As the immigration debate heats up in Congress, the central question will be what to do about the 11 million...
  • Special Report

Back to the Future: The Impact of Legalization Then and Now

January 31, 2013
While there are many facets to an intelligent immigration reform package, one thing is clear: legalization for undocumented immigrants helps all of us. Most economists recognize that legalization...
  • Fact Sheet

Using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program for Voter Eligibility Verification

August 2, 2012
The evidence of non-citizens voting is sparse and...
  • Fact Sheet

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

November 4, 2011
There is no evidence that undocumented immigrants come to the U.S. just to give birth.
  • Blog

How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Affected Immigration: One Year Later

March 11, 2021

It’s been one year since the COVID-19 pandemic first affected immigration on a global scale. The impact has been swift, devastating, and long-lasting. On March 11, 2020, former President Trump...

  • Blog

Trump’s Citizenship Test Scrapped by USCIS Over Politicization and Complexity Concerns

March 4, 2021

Individuals hoping to become a naturalized American citizen will take a different civics test beginning this week, as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reverts back to a previous...

  • Blog

President Biden Ends Part of Trump’s Ban on Legal Immigration

February 25, 2021

President Biden has ended a 10-month ban on immigrant visas—the COVID-19 immigrant visa ban. The Trump administration issued the ban in April 2020 in the name of “protecting” American jobs during...

  • Blog

What Are the Benefits of the J-1 Visa?

February 25, 2021

Over the past year, sweeping orders have banned many non-immigrant visa holders from entering the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic gave many former Trump administration officials the...

  • Blog

The Border Patrol’s Culture of Racism Impacts Every Facet of the Agency Today

February 11, 2021

The U.S. Border Patrol has been rooted in institutional racism since its founding in 1924. Almost a century later, the agency continues to commit racially fueled violent acts with near impunity....

  • Blog

Biden Took 3 More Executive Actions on Immigration. Did He Go Far Enough?

February 3, 2021

On February 2, 2021, following the confirmation of Alejandro Mayorkas as secretary of Homeland Security, President Biden signed three executive orders that take steps to further unwind the Trump...

  • Blog

No Need to Wait for Congress to Begin Using Humanizing Language in the Immigration Space

February 1, 2021

The Biden administration’s immigration reform bill will have a provision that seeks to replace the term “alien” with “noncitizen” in immigration law. The term “alien” in the Immigration and...

  • Blog

Immigrants Appear for Their Court Hearings, New Data Shows

January 28, 2021

Do most immigrants show up for their immigration court hearings? A new report released by the American Immigration Council reveals that the answer to this question is a clear “Yes.” As the Biden...

  • Blog

Biden Took Eight Administrative Actions on Immigration. Here’s What You Need to Know.

January 22, 2021

On his first day in office, President Biden took significant steps towards undoing the harm of the Trump administration’s immigration policies—and reforming our punitive and inhumane enforcement...

  • Blog

Why Biden’s Immigration Bill Is the Boldest in Decades

January 21, 2021

During his campaign, President Biden promised that immigration reform would be one of his top priorities upon taking office. After unveiling the summary of a sweeping immigration reform bill on...

  • Fact Sheet

Employment-Based Visa Categories in the United States

July 8, 2021
Current U.S. immigration law provides several paths for foreign workers to enter the United States for employment purposes on a temporary or permanent basis. This fact sheet provides basic...
  • Blog

The COVID-19 Pandemic Made USCIS Backlogs Go from Bad to Worse

July 6, 2021

Backlogs, processing delays, and revenue shortfalls are nothing new at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The agency has long suffered from severe structural problems that hurt...

  • Advocacy

Statement for the House Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee on "How Outdated U.S. Immigration Policies Push Top Talent to Other Countries"

June 24, 2021
This written statement submitted by the Council to Congress shares our analysis of the archaic U.S. immigration policies which are making the United States a less attractive destination for highly...
  • Blog

Biden Signals Big Changes to Legal Immigration and Asylum Law with Spring Regulatory Agenda

June 16, 2021

Twice each year, the federal government publishes a “regulatory agenda,” a preview of all the proposals that are in the pipeline to become federal regulations. Last week, the Biden administration...

  • Blog

The Supreme Court Limits the Crimes That Can Lead to Near-Automatic Deportation

June 14, 2021

The Supreme Court issued a decision last Thursday in a criminal case that will have an immediate impact on immigration law. The new decision set a limit on the types of crime that can be...

  • Blog

Biden’s First Budget Is A Missed Opportunity to Overhaul Immigration Enforcement

June 1, 2021

President Biden released the first budget proposal of his presidency on May 29, a landmark for any new president. A presidential budget generally reflects the goals of the administration and can...

  • Blog

Biden Administration Revokes Trump’s Health Insurance Visa Ban

May 18, 2021

President Biden revoked a proclamation issued by former President Trump in 2019 that required nearly all prospective immigrants to demonstrate that they would be covered by private health...

  • Blog

As US Birth Rate Declines, Programs Like Social Security Need Immigration to Survive

May 11, 2021

Birth rates are falling in the United States at the same time more Americans are reaching retirement age. Together, these two trends present enormous economic challenges for the nation. A growing...

  • Letters

Council and Broad Coalition Urge Department of Homeland Security to Withdraw Records Destruction Plans

May 3, 2021
In this letter, the Council and a diverse coalition call on the Biden administration to stop and reevaluate plans to destroy immigration agency records documenting abuse and misconduct.
  • Blog

Yes, All Immigrants Can Get the COVID-19 Vaccine—Even Those Who Are Undocumented

April 7, 2021

Since the start of the pandemic, many immigrants have been left out of federal COVID-19 relief packages. Both undocumented immigrants and some people in mixed-status households have been excluded...

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