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Temporary Protected Status: Current Immigration Policy and Issues

Description: This report is a brief overview of current policies regarding temporatry 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: December 13, 2011
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen & Ester, Karma
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Unauthorized Aliens' Access to Federal Benefits: Policy and Issues

Description: This report focuses on the policy and legislative debate surrounding unauthorized aliens' access to federal benefits. Federal law bars aliens residing without authorization in the United States from most federal benefits; however, there is a widely held perception that many unauthorized aliens obtain such benefits. The degree to which unauthorized resident aliens should be accorded certain rights and privileges as a result of their residence in the United States, along with the duties owed by s… more
Date: December 9, 2011
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Numerical Limits on 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 LPRs. The focus is on the major employment-based preference categories. The report continues with a statistical analysis of the pending caseload of approved employment-based LPR petitions.
Date: December 6, 2011
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Visa Waiver Program

Description: This report discusses the visa waiver program (VWP), which allows for a bypass of the first step by which foreign visitors are screened for admissibility to enter the United States. Some policymakers are concerned that this waiver allows terrorists to more easily enter the country. The report provides waiver-related statistics and related legislation.
Date: December 2, 2011
Creator: Siskin, Alison
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Qualifications for President and the "Natural Born" Citizenship Eligibility Requirement

Description: This report discusses the history of the qualifications clause in the Federal Convention of 1787, the Common Law meaning of the term "Natural Born" citizen or subject, and common understanding in 18th Century of the term "Natural Born" citizen.
Date: November 14, 2011
Creator: Maskell, Jack
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Interior Immigration Enforcement: Programs Targeting Criminal Aliens

Description: This report begins by defining and quantifying the criminal alien population, to the extent possible. The following sections describe current and historical programs designed in whole or in part to target this population, including CAP, Secure Communities, the § 287(g) program, and NFOP. After describing how these programs function and key differences among them, the report reviews their recent appropriations history and enforcement statistics.
Date: October 21, 2011
Creator: Rosenblum, Marc R. & Kandel, William A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Numerical Limits on 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 LPRs. The focus is on the major employment-based preference categories. The report continues with a statistical analysis of the pending caseload of approved employment-based LPR petitions.
Date: October 11, 2011
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Unauthorized Aliens’ Access to Federal Benefits: Policy and Issues

Description: The degree to which unauthorized resident aliens should be accorded certain rights and privileges as a result of their residence in the United States, along with the duties owed by such aliens given their presence, remains the subject of debate in Congress. Included among the specific policy areas that spark controversy are due process rights, tax liabilities, military service, eligibility for federal assistance, educational opportunities, and pathways to citizenship. This report focuses on the… more
Date: September 16, 2011
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Asylum and “Credible Fear” Issues in U.S. Immigration Policy

Description: This report defines asylum seekers, and looks at the background of asylum seekers in the U.S. since the 1980s. It discusses current issues, including inconsistent approval rates for asylum seekers across different regions and jurisdictions. It ends with a discussion of the crux of the issue, and ways in directions that current law/new legislation could move to mitigate this issue.
Date: June 29, 2011
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Visa Security Policy: Roles of the Departments of State and Homeland Security

Description: This report discusses the visa security and visa policy questions, debated in the 112th Congress.. The policy questions center on whether immigration law needs to be strengthened, whether funding should be increased, and which agency should take the lead.
Date: May 6, 2011
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Asylum and “Credible Fear” Issues in U.S. Immigration Policy

Description: This report defines asylum seekers and looks at the background of asylum seekers in the U.S. since the 1980s. It discusses current issues, including inconsistent approval rates for asylum seekers across different regions and jurisdictions. It ends with a discussion of whether or not the policy (created during the Cold War) has adapted to the 21st century, and ways in directions that current law/new legislation could move to mitigate this issue.
Date: April 6, 2011
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery Issues

Description: This report looks at controversies surrounding the diversity immigrant visa lottery, which encourages legal immigration from countries other than the major sending countries of current immigrants to the U.S.
Date: April 1, 2011
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Overview of Immigration Issues in the 112th Congress

Description: 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.
Date: March 21, 2011
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Immigration-Related Worksite Enforcement: Performance Measures

Description: In the spring of 2009, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued new guidance on immigration-related worksite enforcement. According to 2010 estimates, there are some 8.0 million unauthorized workers in the U.S. civilian labor force. Enforcement activity by the Department of Labor (DOL) is also relevant to a discussion of federal efforts to curtail unauthorized employment.
Date: March 1, 2011
Creator: Bruno, Andorra
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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U.S. Immigration Policy on Temporary Admissions

Description: This report begins with a discussion of the policy tensions surrounding temporary admissions. It follows with a synthesis of the nonimmigrant categories according to the purpose of the visa. It discusses the periods of admission and length of stay and then summarizes grounds for inadmissibility and removal as well as reasons for termination of status. It also describes the circumstances under which nonimmigrants may work in the United States. The second portion of the report analyzes trends in … more
Date: February 28, 2011
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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U.S. Immigration Policy on Haitian Migrants

Description: This report discusses whether the balance should tip more toward humanitarian immigration policies as a consequence of the humanitarian crises that resulted from the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
Date: January 21, 2011
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Immigration Legislation and Issues in the 111th Congress

Description: This report synthesizes the multi-tiered debate over immigration reform into key elements: legal immigration; legalization; immigration control; refugees, asylees, and humanitarian migrants; and alien rights, benefits, and responsibilities. It delineates the issues for the 111th Congress on permanent residence, temporary admissions, border security, worksite enforcement, employment eligibility verification, document fraud, criminal aliens, and the grounds for inadmissibility.
Date: January 18, 2011
Creator: Bruno, Andorra; Ester, Karma; Lee, Margaret Mikyung; Siskin, Alison & Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The U.S. Foreign-Born Population: Trends and Selected Characteristics

Description: 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.
Date: January 18, 2011
Creator: Kandel, William A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Immigration Policies and Issues on Health-Related Grounds for Exclusion

Description: This report discusses the criteria that foreign nationals must meet before admission to the United States, including the reasons why a foreign national might be denied admission, most particularly on health-related grounds. This report discusses such issues in relation to the recent outbreak of the 2009 H1N1 ("swine flu") virus, and how the outbreak has affected various government agencies, such as the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). … more
Date: January 6, 2011
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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U.S. Refugee Resettlement Assistance

Description: In recent years, the United States has admitted an increasingly diverse group of refugees and other humanitarian cases with a diverse set of needs. There seems to be broad consensus that the U.S. refugee resettlement assistance system is not adequately meeting the needs of these new arrivals and is ripe for reform. The National Security Council is leading an interagency review of refugee resettlement, the forthcoming results of which may further energize reform efforts. To help inform possible … more
Date: January 4, 2011
Creator: Bruno, Andorra
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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