Made in America: Myths and Facts about Birthright Citizenship (Septmeber 2009). Immigration Policy Center. This report examines the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution and myths and facts about birthright citizenship.
DHS Progress Report: The Challenge of Reform (May 2010). Immigration Policy Center. This report is an analysis of immigration policy in the first year of the Obama Administration. It finds a department caught between the competing priorities of old broken policy and new reforms. While DHS has failed to meet key expectations in some areas, it has engaged thoughtfully and strategically in others, and has made some fundamental changes in how it conducts its immigration business.
Up Against the Clock: Fixing the Broken Employment Authorization Asylum Clock (February 2010). Penn State Law's Center for Immigrants' Rights and the American Immigration Council's Legal Action Center released this report which examines the laws, policy, and practice of the "Employment Authorization Document (EAD) asylum clock"- a clock which measures the number of days after an applicant files an asylum application before the applicant is eligible for work authorization.
Protection Through Integration: The Mexican Government's Efforts to Aid Migrants in the United States (January 2010). By the Migration Policy Institute. The report details the activities of Mexico's Institute of Mexicans Abroad (IME) in a first-ever attempt to map the expanding range of IME programs. This review makes clear that Mexico has moved beyond traditional consular protections to deliver an array of civic, health, education, and financial services to its migrants, 96 percent of whom live in the United States. These tasks have traditionally been carried out by migrant-receiving countries.
Summary of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (CIR ASAP). This summary by the Immigration Policy Center highlights key provisions of the CIR ASAP Act.
Economic Progress via Legalization: Lessons from the Last Legalization Program (November 2009). Immigration Policy Center. Examines previous legalization programs, their effectiveness, and the lessons learned from these programs as the U.S. moves toward Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
Back to the Future: The Impact of Legalization Then and Now (November 2009). In this new IPC Perspectives Piece, Back to the Future: The Impact of Legalization Then and Now, Dr. Sherrie A. Kossoudji examines three areas of concern—work, family, and community—to explain what economic and social benefits would be derived from a legalization program in 2010.
Focusing on the Solutions: Key Principles of Comprehensive Immigration Reform (November 2009). Immigration Policy Center.
Breaking Down the Problems: What's Wrong With our Immigration System (October, 2009). This special report by the Immigration Policy Center looks at the impact our outdated and inefficient immigration system is having on our nation and discusses the failures of the system under two broad categories: structural failure and inadequate responses.
A New Path: Toward Humane Immigration Policy (February 2009) American Friends Service Committee. This report lays out AFSC's seven principles for immigration reform.
Opportunity and Exclusion: A Brief History of U.S. Immigration Policy (November, 2008). Immigration Policy Center. Examines how the laws governing immigration have changed constantly--and often arbitrarily--throughout U.S. history.
Immigration Enforcement and Its Unintended Consequences: The Impact on America's Children (March, 2008). Immigration Policy Center. Drawing from a longer, more in-depth study, this document covers immigration raids’ effects on children and short-term recommendations on how to minimize their impact.
State Immigration Project: Policy Options for 2008 (December, 2007). Progressive States Network. This report focuses on using smart state policy to challenge the anti-immigrant movement.
More Harm Than Good (September, 2007). National Employment Law Project. This guide describes some of the anti-immigrant provisions currently pending in state legislatures including local enforcement of federal immigration laws. Included as well are talking points explaining why these provisions will be bad for workers, bad for communities and bad for states.
NCSL Reports Increase in State Immigration Legislation (August, 2007). With Congress failing to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation, state legislatures have began to introduce and enact their own laws. This report provides an overview of the introduced legislation and analyzes the enacted laws relating to immigrants and refugees.
Missing the Target: Anti-Immigrant Ordinances Backfire (August, 2007). Walter Ewing of the Immigration Policy Center reports on the "English only" legislative proposals that are spreading across the country and argues against the claim that Latino immigrants are reluctant to assimilate into U.S. society. Rather, Ewing has found that today's Latino immigrants are showing similar assimilation patterns as the European immigrants who came here a century or more ago.
A Police Chief's Guide To Immigration Issues, (July, 2007). The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) has created a report that covers immigration issues, the challenges they present to law enforcement, and ways that law enforcement officials can respond to these issues. The report contains a summary of immigration information and provides tools to help police chiefs.
Forced Apart: Families Separated and Immigrants Harmed by United States Deportation Policy (July, 2007). Human Rights Watch. Hundreds of thousands of families throughout the United States are being forced apart by punitive and inflexible U.S. deportation policies. Regularly, legal immigrants who have lived in the country for decades with family members who are citizens or lawful permanent residents are being deported from the United States.
Immigration Reform and the Current Debate (May, 2007). Judith Golub. Immigration Legal Resource Center. ILRC provides a summary of suggestions for comprehensive immigration reform and explains issues rising in the Senate negotiations in May of 2007.
Divided Families: New Legislation Proposals Would Needlessly Restrict Family-Based Immigration (May, 2007). Stewart J. Lawrence of the Immigration Policy Center addresses how the new legislative proposals ignore the social and economic benefits of the family-based admissions system for both immigrants and the native-born.
Overview of State Legislation Related to Immigration and Immigrants in 2007 (April 18, 2007). National Conference of State Legislatures.
English as the Official Language of the United States: Legal Background and Analysis of Legislation in the 110th Congress (January, 2007). Jody Feder. CRS Report for Congress.
Immigrant Driver License Requirements (Routinely Upated). A state by state overview of driver license requirements for immigrants.
Immigration Nation (Nov/Dec, 2006). Tamar Jacoby. Foreign Affairs. The article discusses how an overwhelming majority of Americans want a combination of tougher enforcement and earned citizenship for the 12 million illegal immigrants in the country. Washington's challenge is to translate this consensus into sound legislation that will start to repair the nation's broken immigration system.
New Estimates of Unauthorized Youth Eligible for Legal Status Under the DREAM Act. (October, 2006). Migration Policy Institute Backgrounder.
Termination of Temporary Protected Status for Nationals of Liberia (September 21, 2006). Report from U.S. Customs and Immigration Service.
Bipartisan Panel Calls for "New Chapter in U.S. Immigration Policy: Current Impass Highlights Need for Forward-Looking Policies (September, 2006). The Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future has produced a report. A summary, link to the 16 recommendations, and the statement of the task force are available.
Immigration Related Border Security Legislation in the 109th Congress (Updated September 19, 2006). CRS Report for Congress. The report focuses on the main legislative issues facing the 109th Congress related to the movement of people across the border.
Federalism, Deportation and Crime Victims Afraid to Call the Police (September, 2006). Orde Kittrie. Iowa Law Review. This report discusses the current laws and policies addressing deportation as a barrier to crime reporting by unauthorized aliens, explores the conflicts between separation ordinances and offers a modest proposal for encouraging unauthorized aliens to report crime while reducing the conflicts over immigration law enforcement.
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzalez Outlines Reforms for Immigration Courts and Board of Immigration Appeals (August 9, 2006). Department of Justice. Annual evaluations, an immigration law exam, and additional resources will be a part of system improvements and the increased scrutiny of immigration judges, several who have been criticized for inappropriate treatment of asylum seekers.
Managing Immigration as a Resource. (July, 2006). Benjamin Johnson in Immigration Monthly. This report stresses the importance of considering immigration issues beyond enforcement, insisting that the nation must treat immigration as a valuable resource to our economy and labor force.
Legal Analysis of Proposed City of Hazelton Immigration Legal Relief Act Ordinance. (July, 2006). Congressional Research Service. This report concludes that "there is reason to believe that state and federal courts would be precluded on preemption grounds from enforcing many aspects of the proposed ordinance, as such matters are already regulated under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). While the proposed ordinance does not facially violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act or the FHA, it might nonetheless give rise to legal challenges if it results in discrimination on the basis of national origin rather than citizenship."
Don't Get Immigration Wrong - Again (June 20, 2006). Michelle Wucker, opendemocracy.net. The United States would benefit itself and the world by learning from the errors of its past immigration policies.
Summary of Senate Immigration Reform Legislation. (June 9, 2006). National Immigration Forum.
New CBO Report Shows The Heritage Foundation’s Report On The Impact Of Immigration Reform On Government Costs Is Exaggerated (May 24, 2006). Leighton Ku and Stacy Dean. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Criminalizing Unlawful Presence (May, 2006). CRS Report for Congress provided by ilw.com and written by Michael John Garcia. The Report discusses some of the issues raised by criminalizing undocumented presence.
Learning from IRCA: Lessons for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (May, 2006). Jimmy Gomez and Walter A. Ewing of the Immigration Policy Center look at the problems of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) and discuss the lessons that current lawmakers can learn.
Immigration Enforcement in the U.S. (April 27, 2006). CRS Presentation for the House Committee on the Judiciary. Slides with a graphs and charts to illustrate who has been removed.
America's Immigration Quandary: No Consensus on Immigration Problem or Proposed Fixes (March 30, 2006). Pew Research Center Survey Results.
The Effects on US Farm Workers of an Agricultural Guest Worker Program (March 9, 2006). Linda Levine. Congressional Research Service. As amendment of the H-2A program or the initiation of a new agricultural guest worker program is considered, analysis of the Bracero Program can inform the debate.
More than a Temporary Fix: The Role of Permanent Immigration in Comprehensive Reform (January, 2006). Walter A. Ewing of the Immigration Policy Center reports that the immigration debate is being dominated by narrow-thinking and the search for simplistic solutions to complex problems.
Reframing the Immigration Debate: The Actors and the Issues (2006). The International Relations Center has compiled links to articles analyzing the immigration debate from in and outside of their organization. They also offer useful profiles of organizations that have been working to limit immigration.
Immigrant Task Force of Immigration and America's Future (2006). Migration Policy Institute. The report articulates a vision that promotes US global competitiveness in the context of post-9/11 security imperatives, while grappling with many of the technical details that are frustrating reform efforts.
Migration in an Interconnected World: New Directions for Action (October, 2005). Global Commission on International Migration. In its 90 page report, the Global Commission on International Migration says the international community has failed to realize the full potential of migration and has not risen to the many opportunities and challenges it presents. The Commission stresses the need for greater coherence, cooperation and capacity to achieve a more effective governance of international migration. The report provides a comprehensive yet concise analysis of key global policy issues in the field of international migration, and presents six ‘Principles for Action’ and thirty-three related recommendations that can serve as a guide to the formulation of migration policies at the national, regional and global levels.
Restoring the Rule of Law: Reflections on Fixing the Immigration System and Exploring the Failed Policy Choices (2005). Katherine L. Vaughns. University of Maryland Law School. This article discusses proposed reform measures while explaining certain policy choices that have led to a immigration system in disrepair.
Noncitizens and Minnesota Law: A Guide for Legislators (2004). Research Department Minnesota House of Representatives. A comprehensive guide to data about Minnesota's immigrants.
The Case for Legalization, Lessons from 1986, Recommendations for the Future (2004). Donald Kerwin and Charles Wheeler, CMS Issues in Immigration Series
From Denial to Acceptance: Effectively Regulating Immigration to the United States (2004). Walter A Ewing. Immigration Policy Center, American Immigration Law Foundation. This report examines the rapid growth of the undocumented immigrant population in the US and proposes comprehensive immigration reform as the solution.
Hidden Victims: Evaluating Protections for Undocumented Victims of Human Trafficking (No Date). Alexandra Webber amd David Shirk of the Immigration Policy Center explain the shift in immigration law providing protections to undocumented victims of trafficking.