E.g., 04/24/2024
E.g., 04/24/2024
Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Comprehensive immigration reform, a policy concept that first gained currency in 2001 in the U.S. political world, would marry increased border enforcement with legalization for unauthorized immigrants and the ability to bring in future workers needed by the U.S. labor market. Debated in the U.S. Senate in 2006, 2007, and 2013, comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) would touch virtually every facet of the U.S. immigration system. The policies and many effects that would flow from CIR legislation are analyzed here.

Recent Activity

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Multimedia
January 7, 2013
Immigration Enforcement in the United States: The Rise of a Formidable Machinery
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Reports
January 2013
Immigration Enforcement in the United States: The Rise of a Formidable Machinery
By  Doris Meissner, Donald M. Kerwin, Muzaffar Chishti and Claire Bergeron
Three panelists in auditorium
Multimedia
October 1, 2012
9th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference
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Multimedia
August 7, 2012
The New Deferred Action Program: Strategies for Success
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Fact Sheets
August 2012
Relief from Deportation: Demographic Profile of the DREAMers Potentially Eligible under the Deferred Action Policy
By  Jeanne Batalova and Michelle Mittelstadt
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Reports
July 2012
Contested Ground: Immigration in the United States
By  Michael Jones-Correa
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Multimedia
December 7, 2011
Up for Grabs: The Gains and Prospects of First- and Second-Generation Young Adults
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Reports
November 2011
Up for Grabs: The Gains and Prospects of First- and Second-Generation Young Adults
By  Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix

Pages

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Video, Audio
March 14, 2011

Steps to Fix the U.S. Immigration System: What Can the Administration Do?

This discussion focuses on the MPI report, "Executive Action on Immigration: Six Ways to Make the System Work Better," which outlines administrative actions that can be implemented to improve the immigration system.

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Video, Audio
May 25, 2010

Reform of the Immigration Removal Adjudication System

A discussion on possible reforms to the immigration adjudication system and the recent report on the topic by the American Bar Association's Commission on Immigration.

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Video
January 25, 2010

DHS Assistant Secretary John Morton discusses his vision for ICE

During this Leadership Visions address, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary John Morton offered his perspectives on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, its mission, and its future.

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Video
June 24, 2009

6th Annual Immigration Law & Policy Conference

This conference offers law and policy analysis and discussion on cutting-edge immigration issues.

Pages

Recent Activity

Video, Audio
October 29, 2015

12th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

This annual discussion offered political and policy analysis on key immigration topics, including family detention, unaccompanied child migrants, executive action, and the presidential campaigns, along with featured keynotes by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres.  

Video
September 30, 2015

The Immigration Act of 1965: Then and Now

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of passage of the Immigration Act of 1965, this symposium focuses on the political and policy dynamics that came together to make the law possible and how it changed the U.S. legal immigration system, the country's demographics, and future.

Articles
December 18, 2014

President Obama Breaks Immigration Impasse with Sweeping Executive Action

After years of gridlock, increasing pressure from immigrant advocates, and several delays in 2014, President Obama announced sweeping executive actions to provide deportation relief to as many as 5.2 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States. The plan sparked a political firestorm among Republicans who vowed to use all tools at their disposal to block the actions, ensuring that immigration will continue to be a flashpoint for the remainder of the president's term.

Video, Audio
October 21, 2014

11th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

This conference, keynoted by USCIS Director León Rodríguez, featured panels on local immigrant integration policies; expected executive action on immigration; the treatment of unaccompanied children from Central America; and innovations in government-funded legal counsel and accelerated court cases.

Articles
August 15, 2014

The Stalemate over Unaccompanied Minors Holds Far-Reaching Implications for Broader U.S. Immigration Debates

When Congress returns from recess in September, lawmakers will need to pick up where they left off on approving an emergency spending bill to address unaccompanied migrant children at the border. This article previews upcoming battles in Congress and analyzes how the recent border crisis is changing the broader immigration debate in the United States.

Commentaries
April 2014

The Current Record on Deportations: What Underlies the 'Eye of the Beholder' Dynamic?

Within days, the Obama administration is expected to reach a milestone that has brought fear and anger to immigrant communities: A record 2 million removals since taking office. At the same time, the administration is accused of failure to enforce immigration law for its actions to shield from deportation hundreds of thousands of unauthorized immigrant youth and others. How are these two seemingly contradictory realities possible?
Articles
February 13, 2014

Republican Congressional Leaders Shelve Immigration Reform for 2014

The small window for enactment of a major U.S. immigration overhaul during 2014 seems to have closed. A trial balloon testing House Republicans’ willingness to proceed this year was quickly floated and dropped. Amid a focus on politics and timing, less noted was the reality that for the first time, House Republican leaders have affirmed support for a policy that would move the party closer to compromise over the most vexing question holding up immigration reform: what to do with the nation’s unauthorized immigrants.
Articles
January 9, 2014

U.S. Immigration Reform Didn't Happen in 2013; Will 2014 Be the Year?

While some argue that the clock has run out on immigration reform in the 113th Congress, which runs through 2014, others counter that the finish line remains in sight.

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