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

  • Fact Sheet

Checklist for Estimating the Costs of SB 1070-Style Legislation

Publication Date: 
November 8, 2011
(Updated November 2011) - Arizona’s infamous anti-immigrant law, SB 1070, has spawned many imitators. In a growing number of state houses around the country, bills have been passed or...
  • Special Report

Using All the Tools in the Toolbox

Publication Date: 
September 1, 2011
While it is true that Congress makes the laws and the President executes them, it is also true that the President, the Cabinet, and a host of regulatory agencies spend countless hours interpreting...
  • Research and Analysis

Immigration and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA): A Q&A Fact Check

Publication Date: 
August 18, 2011
Q: What is the Defense of Marriage Act?A: In 1996, Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Section 3 of DOMA defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman. At the...
  • Research and Analysis

Dissecting the HALT Act: The Impact of Eliminating Discretion from Our Immigration System

Publication Date: 
July 25, 2011
Immigration restrictionists on Capitol Hill are attempting to move legislation through Congress that would prevent the Obama Administration from exercising the executive branch’s long-held power of...
  • Fact Sheet

Understanding Prosecutorial Discretion in Immigration Law

Publication Date: 
May 26, 2011
Frustrated by the lack of comprehensive immigration reform, many advocates, from grassroots community organizers to Members of Congress, have begun calling on President Obama to take action. They...
  • Research and Analysis

Revitalizing the Golden State

Publication Date: 
April 27, 2011
California is home to nearly 10 million immigrants, more than one quarter of the state’s population. Of those, 2.7 million are undocumented, and the vast majority of them have been living in the...
  • Special Report

Q&A Guide to Arizona's Immigration Law

Publication Date: 
April 26, 2011
One year after the passage of Arizona’s tough new immigration law (SB1070), both opponents and proponents are...
  • Fact Sheet

Statistical Hot Air: FAIR’s USA Report Lacks Credibility

Publication Date: 
March 29, 2011
Many politicians who champion the deport-them-all approach to unauthorized immigrants have been relying upon a bloated and deeply distorted report issued by the Federation for American Immigration...
  • Fact Sheet

Immigration Reform and Job Growth

Publication Date: 
January 20, 2011
Legalizing Unauthorized Immigrants Would Boost the U.S. Economy With the U.S. unemployment rate hovering at 10%, some have questioned whether or not now is really the right time for comprehensive...
  • Special Report

Investing in the American DREAM

Publication Date: 
December 2, 2010
Each year, tens of thousands of undocumented immigrant students graduate from American high schools and embark on uncertain futures. Their inability to legally work and receive financial aid stalls...
  • Blog

Coronavirus Relief Package Fails to Provide Aid to Millions of Immigrants, Including Many on the Front Lines

March 27, 2020

President Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) on Friday, March 27. The $2 trillion stimulus package goes a long way to improve our response to the COVID...

  • 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...

  • Press Release

Bringing Fairness to the Immigration Justice System

May 15, 2013

Washington D.C. - Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee continues mark-up of S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act.

  • Press Release

Senate Legislative Process Must Maintain Spirit of Compromise

May 9, 2013

Washington D.C. - Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee begins “mark-up” of S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act.

  • Press Release

Bloated Estimate of Legalization Costs Ignores Immigration Reform's Broader Economic Benefits

May 6, 2013

Washington D.C.

  • Press Release

President Obama Provides Moral Imperative for Immigration Reform

January 29, 2013

Washington D.C.

  • Press Release

The American Immigration Council Welcomes Senate's Bipartisan Principles on Immigration Reform

January 28, 2013

Washington D.C.

  • Press Release

Senators Reintroduce the DREAM Act

May 11, 2012

Washington, D.C. - Today, Senators Richard Durbin, Harry Reid, and Robert Menendez re-introduced the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Ac

  • Press Release

More Fear and Loathing in the House Judiciary Committee

July 13, 2011

Washington, D.C. – Tomorrow, the House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to take up two immigration bills that supposedly address community safety,

  • Press Release

Once Again, Congress Pursues Costly E-Verify Legislation to the Peril of U.S. Economy

June 14, 2011

Washington D.C. - On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement will hold a hearing on the “Legal Workforce Act,” another en

  • Press Release

Immigrants in America: More Skilled and Educated Than Ever Before

June 9, 2011

Washington D.C. - Today, the Brookings Institution released a new report,

  • Press Release

President Obama Puts Immigration Reform Back on the Table

May 11, 2011

Washington, D.C. - Today, President Obama offered his most concrete articulation of a new way forward for resolving our broken immigration system.

  • Press Release

New Reports Shows Immigrants in the Medina Region Paid Over $168 Million in Taxes and Held Nearly $468 Million in Spending Power in 2019

November 8, 2022
New research released by the American Immigration Council—in partnership with the Greater Medina Chamber of Commerce, and Ohio Business for Immigration Solutions (OBIS) shows that immigrants contributed $900 million to the Medina, Ohio region’s GDP in 2019.
  • Blog

Arizona Dreamers’ Chance of In-State Tuition Rely on the Midterm Elections

November 1, 2022

While it seems like all eyes are on the states that could determine the outcome of this year’s midterm elections, it’s important to remember that the consequences of November 8 will extend beyond...

  • Fact Sheet

The Growing Demand for Healthcare Workers in Texas

Publication Date: 
September 21, 2022
To address significant shortages of physicians and other healthcare workers, Texas must establish policies that recruit and retain local talent and give employment possibilities for immigrant...
  • Blog

House GOP’s Immigration Framework Recreates Trump’s Border Wish List

August 18, 2022

As midterm election season heats up, House Republicans on the “American Security Task Force” have produced a new framework for what they say is a plan to “secure the border.” Despite the claim of...

  • Blog

Urgent Immigration Measures Rest With the Senate After August Recess

August 16, 2022

When members of Congress return from their August recess, they will find several immigration measures urgently awaiting their attention. The House Appropriations Committee already has passed a...

  • Blog

Senate Rejects Harmful Immigration Amendments to Inflation Reduction Act

August 8, 2022

On Sunday after nearly 24 hours of deliberation, the Senate passed a historic budget reconciliation package, known as the “Inflation Reduction Act,” that rejected a series of harsh immigration...

  • Blog

What you need to know about the new proposal to update The Registry

July 28, 2022

Democrats in the House of Representatives have introduced a bill that would allow undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States for at least seven years to legalize their status. The...

  • Blog

Welcoming and Inclusive State Policies: A Midyear Review of State Legislative Sessions in 2022

July 27, 2022

As immigration bills languish in Congress, state legislatures continue to pave the way in welcoming immigrants and refugees in 2022. With the majority of the 46 state legislatures that convened...

  • Letters

Coalition Urges House Appropriators to Reject Title 42 Poison Pill Amendment

Publication Date: 
July 15, 2022
The American Immigration Council opposed the inclusion of a legislative provision that would codify into law an indefinite extension of the controversial and harmful Title 42 policy.
  • Fact Sheet

The Economic Contributions of Immigrants in Texas

Publication Date: 
July 11, 2022

New research from the American Immigration Council, The Economic Contributions of Immigrants in Texas, highlights the crucial role of immigrants in the state’s workforce across the manufacturing,...

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