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Noncitizen Eligibility for Federal Public Assistance: Policy Overview

Description: This report discusses the extent to which residents of the United States who are not U.S. citizens should be eligible for federally-funded public aid. This issue meets at the intersection of two major policy areas: immigration policy and welfare policy. This report deals with the four major federal means-tested benefit programs: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps), the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TAN… more
Date: December 12, 2016
Creator: Siskin, Alison
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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U.S. Policy on Cuban Migrants: In Brief

Description: This report discusses the U.S. policy on Cuban migration that has been shaped by a 1966 law known as the Cuban Adjustment Act, as amended, and U.S.-Cuban migration agreements signed in the mid-1990s, operating in conjunction with the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
Date: December 16, 2016
Creator: Bruno, Andorra
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Treatment of Noncitizens Under the Affordable Care Act

Description: This report provides information regarding the treatment of noncitizens under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) including definitions of "lawfully present," the health insurance mandate, exchanges, and ACA changes to Medicaid. It also discusses the verification of alien status under the ACA and related legislation in the 113th Congress.
Date: October 27, 2016
Creator: Siskin, Alison
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Numerical Limits on Permanent Employment-Based Immigration: Analysis of the Per-country Ceilings

Description: The report opens with brief explanations of the employment-based preference categories and the per-country ceilings governing annual admissions of lawful permanent residents (LPRs). It continues with a statistical analysis of the pending caseload of approved employment-based LPR petitions and concludes with a set of legislative options to revise per-country ceilings that are meant to serve as springboards for further discussions.
Date: July 28, 2016
Creator: Argueta, Carla N.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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State Challenges to Federal Enforcement of Immigration Law: From the Mid-1990s to the Present

Description: This report provides an overview of challenges by states to federal officials' alleged failure to enforce provisions of immigration law. It begins by discussing (1) the lawsuits filed by six states in the mid-1990s; (2) Arizona's counterclaims to the federal government's suit to enjoin enforcement of S.B. 1070; and (3) Mississippi's challenge to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative. It then describes the challenge brought by over 25 states or state officials in December … more
Date: August 1, 2016
Creator: Manuel, Kate M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Immigration Legislation and Issues in the 114th Congress

Description: This report discusses border security, interior enforcement, visa security, asylum, and other immigration-related issues that have received legislative action or are of significant congressional interest in the 114th Congress.
Date: September 9, 2016
Creator: Bruno, Andorra; Argueta, Carla N.; Bjelopera, Jerome P.; Garcia, Michael John; Kandel, William A. & Siskin, Alison
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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What Does the Supreme Court's 4-4 Split in Texas Mean for Future Executive Action as to Immigration?

Description: This legal sidebar discusses the Supreme Court's recent 4-4 split in Texas v. United States and how it might affect the Executive's ability to "go it alone" on immigration in the future. The nominee or presumptive nominee for President of both major political parties has expressed a willingness to take certain actions as to immigration on his or her own, without waiting for Congress to enact further legislation (although the specific actions they would take vary, depending upon their policies o… more
Date: July 25, 2016
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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A Resurgence of Unaccompanied Alien Children?

Description: This report briefly examines the recently-high number of unaccompanied alien children (UAC). In the first seven months of FY2016, apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border have approached levels close to what they were in FY2014 when such migration flows reached what were characterized as "crisis" proportions.
Date: May 27, 2016
Creator: Kandel, William A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

Description: This report opens with an analysis of recent unaccompanied alien children (UAC) apprehension data. It then discusses current policy on the treatment, care, and custody of the population, with a description of the responsibilities of each federal agency involved with the population. The report then discusses both administrative and congressional actions to deal with the UAC surge in FY2014 and ongoing action to address possible future surges.
Date: May 11, 2016
Creator: Kandel, William A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR)

Description: This report introduces the adverse effect wage rate (AEWR) and the concerns out of which it grew, from the perspective of labor policy (not of immigration policy). American agricultural employers have long utilized foreign workers on a temporary basis, regarding them as an important manpower resource. Often employed at low wages and under adverse conditions, such alien workers, some argue, may compete unfairly with U.S. workers. To mitigate any "adverse effect" for the domestic workforce, a sys… more
Date: April 5, 2004
Creator: Whittaker, William G.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Remittances: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: This report focuses on remittances, transfers of money and capital, sent by migrants and foreign immigrant communities from the United States to their home country. At over $432 billion in 2015, remittances sent home by international migrants to developing countries is larger than official development assistance (ODA) and more stable than private capital flows to these countries.
Date: May 9, 2016
Creator: Weiss, Martin A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the Supreme Court's 4-4 Split on Immigration

Description: This report addresses commonly asked questions regarding the Supreme Court's evenly-divided June 23, 2016 decision about immigration. Consistent with recent practice, the decision affirms without any opinion or indication of the Justices' voting alignment an earlier decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit barring the Obama Administration from implementing two initiatives that would potentially have granted relief from removal to millions of aliens who entered or remained in… more
Date: June 24, 2016
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Court Declines to Bar the Resettlement of Syrian Refugees in Texas

Description: This legal sidebar discusses a federal district court's decision to deny the State of Texas's request that the federal government and a private refugee relief organization be temporarily barred from resettling Syrian refugees within the state pending resolution of Texas's challenge to such resettlement.
Date: February 26, 2016
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Effects on U.S. Farm Workers of an Agricultural Guest Worker Program

Description: This report discusses the debate concerning an agricultural guest worker program and the impact such a program might have on U.S. workers. Guest worker programs are meant to assure employers (e.g., fruit, vegetable, and horticultural specialty growers) of an adequate supply of labor when and where it is needed, while not adding permanent residents to the U.S. population. They include mechanisms -- such as the H-2A program's labor certification process -- intended to avoid adversely affecting th… more
Date: December 12, 2006
Creator: Levine, Linda
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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U.S. Immigration Policy: Chart Book of Key Trends

Description: This report is a chart book of selected immigration trends. Key immigration issues that Congress has considered in recent years include increased border security and immigration enforcement, expanded employment eligibility verification, reforms to the system for legal temporary and permanent immigration, and options to address the millions of unauthorized aliens residing in the country.
Date: March 14, 2016
Creator: Kandel, William A. & Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa

Description: This report includes a discussion of the EB-5 visa's requirements and an overview of the Regional Center Program, information on the EB-5 application (petition) process, admissions, and the economic impacts of the visa, a review of policy issues surrounding the visa and the Regional Center Program, and a summary of current legislation on the EB-5 visa and the Regional Center Program in the 114th Congress.
Date: April 22, 2016
Creator: Argueta, Carla N. & Siskin, Alison
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Border Security: Immigration Enforcement Between Ports of Entry

Description: This report reviews efforts to combat unauthorized migration across the Southwest border in the nearly three decades since the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) initiated the modern era in migration control. In reviewing such efforts, the report takes stock of the current state of border security and considers lessons that may be learned about enhanced enforcement at U.S. borders.
Date: April 19, 2016
Creator: Argueta, Carla N.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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U.S. Family-Based Immigration Policy

Description: This report provides an examination of family-based immigration policy. It outlines a brief history of U.S. policies, discusses current law governing admissions, and summarizes recommendations made by previous congressionally-mandated committees charged with evaluating immigration policy. It then presents descriptive figures on legal immigrants entering the United States during the past decade and discusses the sizable queue of approved immigrant petitioners waiting for an immigrant visa. It cl… more
Date: February 17, 2016
Creator: Kandel, William A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Temporary Protected Status: Current Immigration Policy and Issues

Description: This report is a brief overview of current policies regarding temporary protected status (TPS), which is relief from removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). It includes information about humanitarian migrants, temporary protected status, other blanket forms of relief, nationalities receiving protections, and issues with TPS, as well as recent legislation.
Date: February 18, 2016
Creator: Argueta, Carla N. & Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Unauthorized Aliens, Higher Education, In-State Tuition, and Financial Aid: Legal Analysis

Description: This report surveys key legal issues pertaining to unauthorized alien students' access to higher education, in-state tuition, and financial aid. The existence of a sizable population of "DREAMers" in the United States has prompted questions about these topics. The term DREAMer is widely used to describe aliens who were brought to the United States as children and raised in the U.S., but lack legal immigration status.
Date: January 11, 2016
Creator: Manuel, Kate M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Iraqi and Afghan Special Immigrant Visa Programs

Description: This report analyzes the special immigrant visas (SIVs) classifications for Iraqis and Afghans within the context of both the larger INA special immigrant category and selected other permanent admissions categories. It discusses the legislative changes to the individual Iraqi and Afghan special immigrant programs since their initial authorization, provides statistics on visa issuances, and considers challenges that have faced the programs.
Date: February 26, 2016
Creator: Bruno, Andorra
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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