Immigration Reform

While updating our immigration system has been a slow process, over the last decade, there have been efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation and the DREAM Act. Other reform efforts include executive actions such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). Learn more about the ways America can upgrade its immigration system.

Recent Features

Fact Sheet
The Cost of Immigration Enforcement and Border Security

Since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003, the federal government has spent an estimated $324 billion on the agencies that carry out immigration enforcement. 

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

While there are many facets to an intelligent immigration reform package, one thing is clear: legalization for undocumented immigrants helps all of us. 

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All Immigration Reform Content

  • Research and Analysis

The "Secure America through Verification and Enforcement" ("SAVE Act") of 2007 (H.R. 4088) Summary and Analysis of Provisions

Publication Date: 
December 15, 2007
The “SAVE Act” was introduced in November 2007 by Reps. Heath Shuler (D-NC) and Brian Bilbray (R-CA). A companion bill (S. 2368) has been introduced in the Senate by Sens. Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Mary...
  • Special Report

Wasted Talent and Broken Dreams: The Lost Potential of Undocumented Students

Publication Date: 
October 1, 2007
The current political debate over undocumented immigrants in the United States has largely ignored the plight of undocumented children. Yet children account for 1.8 million, or 15 percent, of the...
  • Fact Sheet

Divided Families: New Legislative Proposals Would Needlessly Restrict Family-Based Immigration

Publication Date: 
May 1, 2007
New legislative proposals to drastically restrict family-based immigration practically ignore the social and economic benefits of the family-based admissions system for both immigrants and the native...
  • Research and Analysis

Sometimes Imperfect Reform is Better than Perfect Deportation

Publication Date: 
December 1, 2006
I do a daily radio talk show on Radio Campesina in Phoenix and, clearly, since the November elections callers are once more allowing themselves to dream of the day their hard, hidden existence comes...
  • Special Report

The Rush to Limit Judicial Review

Publication Date: 
September 1, 2006
Access to an independent judiciary with the power to hold the government accountable in its dealings with individuals is a founding principle of the United States. In contrast, imagine a system...
  • Research and Analysis

Learning from IRCA: Lessons for Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Publication Date: 
May 1, 2006
If the current political stalemate over immigration reform is any indication, many U.S. policymakers have yet to heed the lessons of recent history when it comes to formulating a realistic strategy...
  • Special Report

Guest Workers Program with a Path to Legalization

Publication Date: 
April 1, 2006
As we have seen in the last month, segments of the United States media, policy leaders, and populace continue to be obsessed with the issue of undocumented immigration to the United States. Turn...
  • Research and Analysis

Immigration Scare-Tactics: Exaggerated Estimates of New Immigration Under S.2611

Publication Date: 
April 1, 2006
The debate over S. 2611, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, has been clouded by grossly exaggerated estimates of the likely scale of future immigration under the bill.
  • Research and Analysis

Playing Politics on Immigration: Congress Favors Image over Substance in Passing H.R. 4437

Publication Date: 
February 1, 2006
Congressional representatives who supported H.R. 4437—the Border Protection, Anti-Terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005—are most likely to represent districts with relatively few...
  • Research and Analysis

Achieving 'Security and Prosperity': Migration and North American Economic Integration

Publication Date: 
February 1, 2006
Most of the border-enforcement and immigration-reform proposals currently being considered in Washington, DC, are not comprehensive or adequate solutions to the issue of undocumented immigration. The...
  • Blog

In the Face of a Shutdown, Trump and Congress Delay Border Wall Fight Until December

September 27, 2018

President Trump announced on Wednesday that he plans to sign a spending bill that will fund some federal agencies for the entire fiscal year, as well as provide a short-term fix for six others...

  • Blog

John McCain’s Legacy on Immigration

August 28, 2018

The United States Senate and Republican Party lost one of their biggest champions for bipartisan immigration reform and most vocal critics of President Trump’s immigration policies when Senator...

  • Blog

Despite Bipartisan Amendments, House Committee Passes Enforcement-Focused Bill

July 26, 2018

The House Appropriations Committee passed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill that provides the agency with its budget for Fiscal Year 2019, which begins October 1, 2018. The...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Upholds President Trump’s Muslim Ban

June 26, 2018

The Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decision in Trump v. Hawaii on Tuesday, upholding the third iteration of the president’s Muslim Ban. The decision by the closely divided court, which...

  • Blog

Here Is the Latest on President Trump’s Family Separation Policy

June 21, 2018

President Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday in response to public outcry about family separation – a horrific policy that has led to the forced separation of over 2,000 minor children...

  • Blog

Confused About the Current Status of DACA? Here Is What You Need to Know

May 16, 2018

The Trump administration’s attempt to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative set off a slew of lawsuits attempting to stop the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from...

  • Blog

Government to Criminally Prosecute More Migrants and Separate Them From Their Children

May 8, 2018

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced they will be stepping up prosecutions of individuals along the southern border. There is much folly in deciding...

  • Blog

Delays in the Increase of Seasonal Worker Visas May Prove Too Late for Certain Industries

May 7, 2018

Failure to get H-2B (seasonal worker) visas approved has put Maryland’s seafood industry in jeopardy. Almost half of the Eastern Shore’s crab houses do not have workers they need to pick the meat...

  • Blog

This Controversial Immigration Enforcement Program Threatens U.S. Communities

April 9, 2018

In an era of increased immigration enforcement, it is even more important to understand the ways in which some states and localities collaborate with the federal government. Recent research also...

  • Blog

Congress Reaches A Deal to Fund Government for the Year Without Solution for Dreamers

March 23, 2018

This week Congress passed a $1.3 trillion bill to fund the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year, running through September 30, 2018. Though the legislation includes record levels of...

  • Fact Sheet

An Overview of the Government Funding Process: Appropriations

Publication Date: 
December 15, 2021
This fact sheet aims to explain the basics of the federal government funding process, also known as appropriations, and show how it affects the world of immigration and immigration enforcement.
  • Letters

Coalition calls on Congress to Fund Appointed Counsel in Immigration Proceedings

Publication Date: 
November 18, 2021
The American Immigration Council joined a coalition letter asking Congress to support funding for appointed counsel for immigration proceedings for Fiscal Year 2022.
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  • Letters

Coalition Effort Advocates for the Inclusion of Visa-Related Provisions in Budget Reconciliation

Publication Date: 
November 2, 2021
The Council joined 89 other organizations in a letter calling for Congress to include visa-related provisions in the budget reconciliation.
  • Fact Sheet

Legalization Through “Registry”

Publication Date: 
September 28, 2021
This fact sheet provides information on a provision called “registry” that allows certain non-citizens who are long-term residents of the United States, but who are either undocumented or present in...
  • Blog

Immigration Reform in Budget Reconciliation Is Off to a Rocky Start but Much Is Yet to Come

September 20, 2021

Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough on September 19 rejected Democrats’ initial attempt to include immigration reform provisions in a $3.5 trillion spending bill currently making its way...

  • Blog

The House Offers First Glimpse at Legalization for Millions of Immigrants Through Reconciliation

September 13, 2021

House Democrats began to mark up a budget reconciliation bill on September 10 that would provide a path to legal status for millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States. Although the...

  • Fact Sheet

Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021

Publication Date: 
August 27, 2021
This fact sheet provides an overview about the legalization program through which certain undocumented farmworkers in the United States could earn legal status.
  • Press Release

Federal Judge Blocks ICE Enforcement Guidelines and Attempts to Upend Prosecutorial Discretion

August 19, 2021
A Texas judge blocked the Biden administration’s immigration enforcement priorities. The decision was issued in a case challenging ICE’s enforcement activities outside the scope laid out in the Feb. 18 enforcement memo.
  • Advocacy

Coalition Outlines Immigration Priorities for a Just Budget in Fiscal Year 2023

Publication Date: 
August 17, 2021
The Council and more than 130 organizations urged the Biden administration to redirect government funding for fiscal year 2023 away from draconian enforcement measures and invest in legal services...
  • Blog

Reconciliation and Immigration: What You Need to Know

August 6, 2021

On the day that President Biden took office, he promised to send a bill to Congress to create a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants. Unfortunately, that bill, the U.S. Citizenship Act...

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