Immigration Reform

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. 

  • 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. 

All Immigration Reform Content

  • Fact Sheet

The Power of Reform: CBO Report Quantifies the Economic Benefits of the Senate Immigration Bill

June 20, 2013
According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), the fiscal and economic effects of the Senate immigration reform bill (S. 744) would be overwhelmingly...
  • Special Report

Crafting a Successful Legalization Program: Lessons From the Past

June 19, 2013
One of the themes that emerged from the Senate Judiciary Committee mark up of the 2013 Senate immigration bill was the necessity of avoiding the mistakes of the past. In the context of legalization...
  • Fact Sheet

Built to Last: How Immigration Reform Can Deter Unauthorized Immigration

May 20, 2013
One of the explicit goals of the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act’’ (S.744) is to curtail future flows of unauthorized immigration by correcting some of the...
  • Fact Sheet

The Fallacy of "Enforcement First"

May 9, 2013
Since the last major legalization program for unauthorized immigrants in 1986, the federal government has spent an estimated $186.8 billion on immigration enforcement. Yet during that time, the...
  • Fact Sheet

Adding it Up: Accurately Gauging the Economic Impact of Immigration Reform

May 7, 2013
With immigration reform legislation now making its way through Congress, it is imperative that we estimate as accurately as possible the full range of potential economic costs and benefits associated...
  • Fact Sheet

An Immigration Stimulus: The Economic Benefits of a Legalization Program

April 3, 2013
As the legislative debate over immigration reform heats up, a central point of contention will be whether or not to create a pathway to legal status for all or most of the...
  • Fact Sheet

Defining “Desirable” Immigrants

March 1, 2013
Under S. 744, “The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act,” a merit-based point system is proposed as a tool to allocate a portion of new immigrant visas each year...
  • Fact Sheet

A Bipartisan Bridge to Prosperity: High-Skilled Immigration Legislation in the 113th Congress

March 1, 2013
In the spirit of bipartisan immigration reform, a geographically diverse contingent from both chambers of Congress have introduced legislation to strengthen high-skilled immigration and spur economic...
  • Special Report

Overhauling Immigration Law: A Brief History and Basic Principles of Reform

February 14, 2013
For more than a decade, efforts to systematically overhaul the United States immigration system have been overshadowed by other events—from foreign wars and national security concerns to the...
  • Fact Sheet

The Dividends of Citizenship: Why Legalization Must Lead to Citizenship

February 7, 2013
The most concrete proposals for immigration reform thus far in 2013 include earned legalization with a path to U.S. citizenship for unauthorized immigrants already living in the United States. This...
  • Blog

Trump Administration Begins Sending Asylum Seekers to Guatemala

November 20, 2019

In yet another major blow to America’s asylum system, on Wednesday the Trump administration reportedly began sending some asylum seekers from Honduras and El Salvador to Guatemala rather than...

  • Blog

Trump Moves Forward With Seizing Private Land for Border Wall, Offers Landowners $100 for ‘Irrevocable’ Access

November 19, 2019

The Trump administration is preparing to seize private land in Texas to continue construction of the president’s long-promised border wall. According to government officials familiar with the...

  • Blog

The Supreme Court Heard a Major Case on DACA. Here’s What You Need to Know.

November 13, 2019

The Supreme Court heard arguments on November 12 in three cases challenging President Trump’s attempted rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative. The Court’s...

  • Blog

What Is Next for Trump’s Health Care Ban?

November 4, 2019

A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s health care ban on Saturday, one day before it was scheduled to go into effect. The ban would have barred entry for any prospective...

  • Blog

What Is Happening with Trump’s Border Wall? Here’s Everything You Need to Know So Far

October 18, 2019

President Trump has made the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border a cornerstone of his presidency. To date, not a single mile of new barriers has been erected. But the Trump...

  • Blog

“Public Charge” Rule Blocked Days Before Going Into Effect

October 14, 2019

The Trump administration suffered another immigration blow in court last Friday. The new “public charge” rule set to go into effect Tuesday, October 15, was blocked in three separate rulings by...

  • Blog

How Trump’s New Healthcare Ban Threatens the Legal Immigration System

October 9, 2019

President Trump invoked the same legal authority used for the Travel Ban to impose a sweeping new ban on legal immigration last week. Under the new ban, which analysis suggests could block as much...

  • Blog

Why It’s Bad to Force Asylum Seekers to Seek Protection Elsewhere

September 12, 2019

The Supreme Court issued an emergency ruling on Wednesday allowing the Trump administration to implement a ban on asylum seekers at the southern land border. The ban applies to people who...

  • Blog

The House Passes Historic Legislation to Provide Path to Citizenship for Dreamers and TPS Holders

June 5, 2019

The post The House Passes Historic Legislation to Provide Path to Citizenship for Dreamers and TPS...

  • Blog

Immigration Hardliner Kenneth Cuccinelli to Replace Cissna at USCIS

May 28, 2019

The post Immigration Hardliner Kenneth Cuccinelli to Replace Cissna at USCIS appeared first on...

  • Press Release

U.S. District Court in D.C. Hears First Arguments Against Executive Action on Immigration

December 22, 2014

Washington D.C. - Today, the U.S.

  • Press Release

Immigration Council Strongly Reaffirms Research on Reagan-Bush Family Fairness Policy

December 5, 2014

Washington D.C.

  • Press Release

Immigration Council Strongly Reaffirms Research on Reagan-Bush Family Fairness Policy

December 5, 2014

Washington D.C.

  • Press Release

American Immigration Council Executive Director, Ben Johnson Comments on Executive Action

November 21, 2014

Washington D.C. - Ben Johnson, Executive Director of the American Immigration Council offers the following quotes on the polic

  • Press Release

President’s Executive Actions on Immigration Should Spur Congressional Action

November 6, 2014

Washington D.C. – From the perspective of immigration reformers, Tuesday’s election is unlikely to change the gridlock that has stymied immigration reform for more than 15 years.

  • Press Release

136 Leading Experts on Immigration Law Agree: President Has Legal Authority to Expand Relief

September 3, 2014

Washington D.C. — U.S.

  • Press Release

The U.S. Must Not Lower the Bar on Protecting Children Fleeing Violence

July 30, 2014

Washington D.C. - The humanitarian challenge posed by the arrival of thousands of unaccompanied children and young families at our southern border has once again ignited passions over

  • Press Release

President Provides Immediate Relief, Creates Architecture for Reform

July 20, 2014

Washington D.C. - After decades of congressional neglect, tonight President Obama took a crucial and courageous step toward reforming our immigration system.

  • Press Release

Immigration Reform and the State of the Union

January 28, 2014

Washington D.C. - Tonight, President Barack Obama pressed the reset button and laid out his priorities for 2014—and, ultimately, the final leg of his presidency.

  • Press Release

Speaker Boehner Ignores the Costs of Doing Nothing

November 14, 2013

Washington D.C. - Yesterday, Speaker of the House John Boehner reassured the far-right wing of the Republican Party and anti-immigrant activists that he would never agree to a conf

  • Advocacy

Statement for the House Committee on Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship Hearing on "Oversight of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services"

July 29, 2020

The American Immigration Council submitted a written statement to the House Committee on Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship for a July 29, 2020 hearing on "Oversight of U....

  • Blog

Congress Calls to Decrease ICE Detention as COVID-19 Continues to Spread

July 8, 2020

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security introduced their proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2021 (beginning October 1, 2020) this week. The budget would have significant...

  • Blog

The Trump Administration Expands Legal Immigration Ban, Using COVID-19 Pandemic as Excuse

June 23, 2020

The Trump administration has banned foreign nationals on certain employment-based nonimmigrant visas from entering the United States. The new ban begins June 24, at 12:01 am ET. The administration...

  • Blog

The Supreme Court Gave DACA a Lifeline. Now Trump and Congress Need to Create a Path to Citizenship for Dreamers.  

June 18, 2020

The Supreme Court issued its long-anticipated decision in DHS v. Regents of the University of California—the case challenging the administration’s attempt to dismantle the Deferred Action for...

  • Blog

What You Need to Know About Trump’s Proposal to Eliminate the US Asylum System

June 11, 2020

In sweeping new proposed regulations announced on June 11, the Trump administration took the first step toward administering a final blow to the U.S. asylum system. The proposed rules, which...

  • Blog

Presidential Proclamation Bars Certain Students and Researchers From China

June 1, 2020

President Trump issued a proclamation to prevent certain Chinese nationals from entering the United States using academic student (F) or exchange visitor researcher (J) visas. The proclamation...

  • Blog

USCIS Claims It’s Strapped for Cash, Requests Emergency Funding From Congress

May 21, 2020

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) says it’s running out of money, fast. In a letter to Congress, USCIS declared that the coronavirus pandemic had caused unavoidable budget...

  • Blog

The HEROES Act Would Provide Aid to Millions of Immigrants Left Out of Other Coronavirus Relief Packages

May 18, 2020
Here’s what you should know about the treatment of noncitizens under the HEROES Act.
  • Blog

With Congress Gridlocked on Immigration, State Lawmakers Step in to Support Their Residents

April 29, 2020

In recent years, states have increasingly embraced their role in immigration by exploring and enacting policies and positions to address the needs of their communities. States are doing what they...

  • Blog

What You Need to Know About President Trump’s Latest Ban on Immigration

April 23, 2020

At a time when our country is united in the fight against the coronavirus, President Trump is seeking to divide us by turning to a familiar target—immigrants. The president first threatened a full...

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