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- The U.S. Foreign-Born Population: Trends and Selected Characteristics
- This report offers context for consideration of immigration policy options by presenting data on key geographic, demographic, social, and economic characteristics of the foreign-born population residing in the United States. Interest in the U.S. foreign-born population stems in part from the changing demographic profile of the United States as well as the rapidity of such change, and how both of these trends correspond to U.S. immigration policy.
- Immigration: S Visas for Criminal and Terrorist Informants
- In response to the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, Congress passed legislation making permanent a provision that allows aliens with critical information on criminal or terrorist organizations to come into the United States in order to provide information to law enforcement officials. This legislation (S. 1424) became P.L. 107-45 on October 1, 2001. The law amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide permanent authority for the administration of the “S” visa, which was scheduled to expire on September 13, 2001. On November 29, 2001, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the “Responsible Cooperators Program” to reach out to persons who may be eligible for the S visa. Up to 200 criminal informants and 50 terrorist informants may be admitted annually. Since FY1995, almost 700 informants and their accompanying family members have entered S visas. This report will not be regularly updated.
- 9/11 Commission: Current Legislative Proposals for U.S. Immigration Law and Policy
- This report briefly discusses some of the major immigration areas under consideration in comprehensive reform proposals suggested by the 9/11 Commission, including asylum, biometric tracking systems, border security, document security, exclusion, immigration enforcement, and visa issuances. It refers to other CRS reports that discuss these issues in depth and will be updated as needed.
- Immigration: Visa Waiver Pilot Program
- The Visa Waiver Pilot Program (VWPP) allows aliens traveling from certain designated countries to come to the United States as temporary visitors without having the immigration documents normally required to enter the United States. Some maintain it fosters international travel to the United States and eases the workload of the consular offices abroad. Others observe that it by-passes the most important screening step of who is permitted to enter the United States, cautioning that it may inadvertently stimulate immigration violations. The program was scheduled to expire on September 30, 1997, but temporary extensions were included in both Continuing Resolutions. The Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary (CJS) FY1998 appropriations act (P.L. 105- 119) contains an extension through April 30, 1998. Bills to formally extend the program have passed the Senate (S. 1178) and have been reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary (H.R. 2578). H.R. 2578 is expected to come to the House floor before the April recess.
- Immigration: Adjustment to Permanent Residence Status under Section 245(i)
- Under § 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, an alien in the U.S. who, on the basis of family relationship or job skills, becomes eligible for permanent resident status may adjust to that status in the United States without having to go abroad to obtain an immigrant visa. Historically, only those aliens who were here legally (e.g., as a student or a temporary skilled worker) could adjust status under § 245. In 1994, however, Congress enacted § 245(i). That provision, which was set to expire on September 30, 1997, allowed illegal aliens in the U.S. to adjust status under § 245 once they, because of family relationships or job skills, became eligible for permanent the residency provided they paid a surcharge fee.
- Immigration: S Visas for Criminal and Terrorist Informants
- In response to the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, Congress passed legislation making permanent a provision that allows aliens with critical information on criminal or terrorist organizations to come into the United States in order to provide information to law enforcement officials. This legislation (S. 1424) became P.L. 107-45 on October 1, 2001. The law amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide permanent authority for the administration of the “S” visa, which was scheduled to expire on September 13, 2001. On November 29, 2001, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the “Responsible Cooperators Program” to reach out to persons who may be eligible for the S visa. Up to 200 criminal informants and 50 terrorist informants may be admitted annually. Since FY1995, almost 900 informants and their accompanying family members have entered on S visas. This report will not be regularly updated.
- Naturalization Trends, Issues, and Legislation
- Report discussing the processes by which immigrants can become U.S. citizens and various problems that impede the process: "This report analyzes the trends in naturalization, discusses the controversies and issues, and tracks the legislative proposals to reform the naturalization process" (Abstract).
- Overview of Immigration Issues in the 112th Congress
- This report synthesizes immigration issues as a multi-tiered debate. It breaks down the U.S. immigration law and policy into key elements: border control and visa security; legal immigration; documentation and verification; interior immigration enforcement; integration, status, and benefits; and refugees and other humanitarian populations. This report also delineates the debate in the 112th Congress for a range of issues, including border security, criminal aliens, and worksite enforcement.
- Overview of Immigration Issues in the 112th Congress
- This report synthesizes immigration issues as a multi-tiered debate. It breaks down the U.S. immigration law and policy into key elements: border control and visa security; legal immigration; documentation and verification; interior immigration enforcement; integration, status, and benefits; and refugees and other humanitarian populations. This report also delineates the debate in the 112th Congress for a range of issues, including border security, criminal aliens, and worksite enforcement.
- Unauthorized Alien Students: Issues and "DREAM Act" Legislation
- In recent years, multiple bills have been introduced in Congress to provide relief to unauthorized alien students. In most cases, these bills have proposed to repeal the 1996 provision and enable certain unauthorized alien students to adjust to legal permanent resident (LPR) status in the United States. These bills have often been entitled the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, or the DREAM Act. This report discusses the background and debate surrounding "Dream Act" legislation in the 110th and 111th Congress.
- PROVIDED BY ILW The leading immigration COM law publisher Immigration-Related Document Fraud: Overview of Civil, Criminal, and Immigration Consequences
- No Description Available.
- History of the Immigration Policy of the United States Prior to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952
- This report discusses the immigration policy of the united states before the immigration and national act of 1952.
- Unauthorized Alien Students: Issues and "DREAM Act" Legislation
- Supporters of comprehensive immigration reform have urged the President and Congress to pursue reform legislation. While legislative action on comprehensive reform does not appear likely during the remainder of the 111th Congress, there may be an effort to enact a measure, commonly referred to as the "DREAM Act," to enable certain unauthorized alien students to legalize their status. This report discusses the DREAM act and related issues.
- Unauthorized Alien Students: Issues and "DREAM Act" Legislation
- Supporters of comprehensive immigration reform have urged the President and Congress to pursue reform legislation. While legislative action on comprehensive reform does not appear likely during the remainder of the 111th Congress, there may be an effort to enact a measure, commonly referred to as the "DREAM Act," to enable certain unauthorized alien students to legalize their status. This report discusses the DREAM act and related issues.
- Unauthorized Alien Students: Issues and “DREAM Act” Legislation
- This report looks at the background and history of recent "DREAM Act"s, which address the status of unauthorized alien students. It pays special attention to the June 15, 2012 announcement that come individuals who were brought into the U.S. as children and meet other requirements would be eligible for deferred action for two years.
- Unauthorized Alien Students: Issues and “DREAM Act” Legislation
- This report discusses the "DREAM Act", a measure to enable certain unauthorized alien students to legalize their status, as well as related issues.
- Unauthorized Alien Students: Issues and "DREAM Act" Legislation
- The 109th and 110th Congresses considered, but did not enact, comprehensive immigration reform legislation that included large-scale legalization programs for unauthorized aliens. In the aftermath of these unsuccessful efforts, some interested parties have urged the President and Congress to pursue more limited legislation to address the status of unauthorized alien students. Such legislation is commonly referred to as the "DREAM Act."
- Toward More Effective Immigration Policies: Selected Organizational Issues
- No Description Available.
- Toward More Effective Immigration Policies: Selected Organizational Issues
- No Description Available.
- Family Separation at the Border and the Ms. L. Litigation
- This report explores the underlying policies resulting in family separation, the due process issues arguably implicated by these policies, and the political and judicial processes invoked to tackle the issue of family separation.
- Detention of Noncitizens in the United States
- No Description Available.
- Immigration Legislation and Issues in the 114th Congress
- 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.
- U.S. Family-Based Immigration Policy
- This report discusses family based immigration law and policy and arguments for expanding or restricting family-based immigration numbers.
- Visa Issuances: Policy, Issues, and Legislation
- This report opens with an overview of visa issuances, with sections on procedures for aliens coming to live in the United States permanently and on procedures for aliens admitted for temporary stays. It includes a discussion of visa screening policies, including inadmissibility, databases, an analysis of visa refusals, biometric visas and other major visa policy procedures. The final section analyzes selected issues in the 110th Congress, notably new technologies, impact on travel and commerce, and security concerns.
- Immigration Officer's Authority to Apprehend and Remove Aliens: Questions and Answers in Brief
- This report provides brief answers to some of the questions regarding immigration agents' authority to apprehend and remove aliens; these questions were raised by reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted enforcement actions in at least six states during the week of February 6, 2017.
- Visa Issuances: Policy, Issues, and Legislation
- This report opens with an overview of visa issuances, with sections on procedures for aliens coming to live in the United States permanently and on procedures for aliens admitted for temporary stays. It includes a discussion of visa screening policies, including inadmissibility, databases, an analysis of visa refusals, biometric visas and other major visa policy procedures. The final section analyzes selected issues in the 110th Congress, notably new technologies, impact on travel and commerce, and security concerns.
- Visa Issuances: Policy, Issues, and Legislation
- This report opens with an overview of visa issuances, with sections on procedures for aliens coming to live in the United States permanently and on procedures for aliens admitted for temporary stays. It includes a discussion of visa screening policies, including inadmissibility, databases, an analysis of visa refusals, biometric visas and other major visa policy procedures. Summaries of key laws revising visa policy enacted in the 107th Congress follows. The final section analyzes selected issues in the 108th Congress, notably the 9/11 Commission recommendations, visa revocation and removal, new technologies, potential impact on business, and other security concerns.
- The Global Compact on Migration (GCM) and U.S. Policy
- This report discusses the United Nations' Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) and the Trump Administration's withdrawal of the United States from the GCM negotiations.
- Sanctuary Jurisdictions and Criminal Aliens: In Brief
- This report examines the interplay between the federal government (i.e., Immigration and Customs Enforcement/ICE) and state and local jurisdictions in enforcing immigration law, with a specific focus on noncitizens who have been convicted of a crime. It explores major programs and federal resources available to state and local law enforcement agencies that cooperate with ICE to enforce immigration law.
- The DACA and DAPA Deferred Action Initiatives: Frequently Asked Questions
- This report provides answers to frequently asked questions about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) initiatives.
- U.S. Immigration Policy: Development and Major Issues
- This report outlines the development of United States immigration law and policy, and discusses issues of interest to Congress as shown in legislation that was pending at the time of this document's creation.
- Border Security: Immigration Inspections at Ports of Entry
- This report reviews the legislative history of immigration inspections requirements and the entry-exit system. The report then describes the implementation of these provisions, including pre-travel screening, primary and secondary inspections, trusted traveler programs, outbound enforcement, and the entry-exit system. The final section of the report identifies a number of issues for Congress related to immigration admissions and enforcement at POEs.
- Policy Challenges in International Migration
- This report serves as a broad overview of the standard theory of international migration and offers a brief synopsis of the major immigration-related policy challenges relative to the legislative debates in Congress.
- Immigration: Policy Considerations Related to Guest Worker Programs
- No Description Available.
- Immigration: Analysis of the Major Provisions of the REAL ID Act of 2005
- During the 108th Congress, a number of proposals related to immigration and identification-document security were introduced, some of which were considered in the context of implementing recommendations made by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9/11 Commission) and enacted pursuant to the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-458). At the time that the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act was adopted, some congressional leaders reportedly agreed to revisit certain immigration and document-security issues in the 109th Congress that had been dropped from the final version of the act.
- Immigration Policy on Expedited Removal of Aliens
- Expedited removal, an immigration enforcement strategy originally conceived to operate at the borders and ports of entry, is being expanded, raising a set of policy, resource, and logistical questions. Expedited removal is a provision under which an alien who lacks proper documentation or has committed fraud or willful misrepresentation of facts may be removed from the United States without any further hearings or review, unless the alien indicates a fear of persecution. Congress added expedited removal to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) in 1996, making it mandatory for arriving aliens, and giving the Attorney General the option of applying it to aliens in the interior of the country who have not been admitted or paroled into the United States and who cannot affirmatively show that they have been physically present in the United States continuously for two years. Until recently, expedited removal was only applied to aliens at ports of entry.
- The Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act: Hardship Relief and Long-Term Illegal Aliens
- No Description Available.
- Immigration Issues and Legislation in the 98th Congress
- This report discusses Immigration reform, which continues to be of concern in the '96th Congress, and legislation has been moving quickly. Specific issues include illegal immigration, temporary workers, legalization, asylum adjudications, and legal immigration. The legislation under consideration is the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1983, popularly referred to as the Simpson-Mazzoli bill, introduced in the House and Senate on Feb, 17, 1983 as H.R. 1510 and S. 529.
- Immigration Policy on Expedited Removal of Aliens
- This report discusses immigration policy and expedited removal, an immigration enforcement strategy originally conceived to operate at the borders and ports of entry, recently has been expanded in certain border regions.
- Immigration Policy on Expedited Removal of Aliens
- This report discusses immigration policy and expedited removal, an immigration enforcement strategy originally conceived to operate at the borders and ports of entry, recently has been expanded in certain border regions.
- Immigration Policy on Expedited Removal of Aliens
- This report discusses immigration policy and expedited removal, an immigration enforcement strategy originally conceived to operate at the borders and ports of entry, recently has been expanded in certain border regions.
- Enforcing Immigration Law: The Role of State and Local Law Enforcement
- This report examines the role of state and local law enforcement in enforcing immigration law. The discussion is limited to the role of state and local law enforcement in the investigation, arrest, and detention of all immigration violators. The report does not discuss the prosecution, adjudication, or removal of aliens who violate the law. The report opens with a brief discussion of the types of immigration interior enforcement activities that the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) pursued and the current immigration activities that are now the focus of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). A discussion of the legal authority that permits state and local law enforcement to enforce immigration law under certain circumstances follows. Current administrative efforts to involve state and local law enforcement in enforcing immigration law as well as selected issues are discussed. The report concludes with a discussion of the pros and cons of such a policy and an analysis of policy options for Congress.
- Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the 113th Congress: Major Legislative Proposals
- For several years, some Members of Congress have favored "comprehensive immigration reform", a label that commonly refers to omnibus legislation that includes increased border security and immigration enforcement, expanded employment eligibility verification, revision of nonimmigrant visas and legal permanent immigration, and legalization for some unauthorized immigrants residing in the country. This report provides a detailed discussion of major legislation related to these issues.
- Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the 113th Congress: Short Summary of Major Legislative Proposals
- For several years, some Members of Congress have favored "comprehensive immigration reform", a label that commonly refers to omnibus legislation that includes increased border security and immigration enforcement, expanded employment eligibility verification, revision of nonimmigrant visas and legal permanent immigration, and legalization for some unauthorized immigrants residing in the country. This report provides a discussion of major legislation related to these issues.
- INS Reorganization Under the Homeland Security Act of 2002: Effective Dates and Dual Roles
- This report discusses the status of the dual roles provided by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) upon the completion of the transfer of functions from INS to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This report also addresses the effective dates of the Act and their relation to INS and to the Reorganization Plans submitted by President Bush.
- Enforcing Immigration Law: The Role of State and Local Law Enforcement
- This report examines the role of state and local law enforcement in enforcing immigration law. The discussion is limited to the role of state and local law enforcement in the investigation, arrest, and detention of all immigration violators. The report does not discuss the prosecution, adjudication, or removal of aliens who violate the law. The report opens with a brief discussion of the types of immigration interior enforcement activities that the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) pursued and the current immigration activities that are now the focus of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). A discussion of the legal authority that permits state and local law enforcement to enforce immigration law under certain circumstances follows. Current administrative efforts to involve state and local law enforcement in enforcing immigration law as well as selected issues are discussed. The report concludes with a discussion of the pros and cons of such a policy and an analysis of policy options for Congress.
- Enforcing Immigration Law: The Role of State and Local Law Enforcement
- This report examines the role of state and local law enforcement in enforcing immigration law. The discussion is limited to the role of state and local law enforcement in the investigation, arrest, and detention of all immigration violators. The report does not discuss the prosecution, adjudication, or removal of aliens who violate the law. The report opens with a brief discussion of the types of immigration interior enforcement activities that the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) pursued and the current immigration activities that are now the focus of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). A discussion of the legal authority that permits state and local law enforcement to enforce immigration law under certain circumstances follows. Current administrative efforts to involve state and local law enforcement in enforcing immigration law as well as selected issues are discussed. The report concludes with a discussion of the pros and cons of such a policy and an analysis of policy options for Congress.
- Enforcing Immigration Law: The Role of State and Local Law Enforcement
- This report examines the role of state and local law enforcement in enforcing immigration law. The discussion is limited to the role of state and local law enforcement in the investigation, arrest, and detention of all immigration violators. The report does not discuss the prosecution, adjudication, or removal of aliens who violate the law. The report opens with a brief discussion of the types of immigration interior enforcement activities that the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) pursued and the current immigration activities that are now the focus of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). A discussion of the legal authority that permits state and local law enforcement to enforce immigration law under certain circumstances follows. Current administrative efforts to involve state and local law enforcement in enforcing immigration law as well as selected issues are discussed. The report concludes with a discussion of the pros and cons of such a policy and an analysis of policy options for Congress.
- Treatment of Noncitizens Under the Affordable Care Act
- 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.
- A Primer on U.S. Immigration Policy
- This report provides a broad overview of U.S. immigration policy. The first section addresses policies governing how foreign nationals enter the United States either to reside permanently or to stay temporarily. The second section discusses enforcement policies for excluding foreign nationals from admission into the United States, as well as for detaining and removing those who enter the country unlawfully or who enter lawfully but subsequently commit crimes that make them deportable. The third section addresses policies for unauthorized aliens residing in the United States.