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.

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Multimedia October 29, 2015 12th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference	Multimedia September 30, 2015 The Immigration Act of 1965: Then and Now
Articles December 18, 2014 President Obama Breaks Immigration Impasse with Sweeping Executive Action By Faye Hipsman	Multimedia October 21, 2014 11th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference
Articles August 15, 2014 The Stalemate over Unaccompanied Minors Holds Far-Reaching Implications for Broader U.S. Immigration Debates By Muzaffar Chishti, Faye Hipsman, Bonnie Bui	Commentaries April 2014 The Current Record on Deportations: What Underlies the 'Eye of the Beholder' Dynamic? By Marc R. Rosenblum and Doris Meissner
Articles February 13, 2014 Republican Congressional Leaders Shelve Immigration Reform for 2014 By Muzaffar Chishti and Faye Hipsman	Articles January 9, 2014 U.S. Immigration Reform Didn't Happen in 2013; Will 2014 Be the Year? By Muzaffar Chishti and Faye Hipsman

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Reports October 2009 The Politics of Immigration, and the (Limited) Case for New Optimism: Perspectives from a Political Pollster By Jeremy D. Rosner	Reports October 2009 Immigrating from Facts to Values: Political Rhetoric in the U.S. Immigration Debate By Drew Westen
Books February 2007 Securing the Future: U.S. Immigrant Integration Policy, A Reader	Reports September 2006 Immigration and America's Future: A New Chapter By Doris Meissner, Deborah W. Meyers, Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Michael Fix
Policy Briefs January 2006 Comprehensive Legislation vs. Fundamental Reform: The Limits of Current Immigration Proposals By Marc R. Rosenblum	Policy Briefs September 2005 Reflections on Restoring Integrity to the United States Immigration System: A Personal Vision By Demetrios G. Papademetriou
Policy Briefs August 2005 Lessons From The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 By Betsy Cooper and Kevin O'Neil	Fact Sheets April 2002 A Grand Bargain: Balancing the National Security, Economic, and Immigration Interests of the U.S. and Mexico By Demetrios G. Papademetriou

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13th Annual Immigration Law Policy keynotes

Video, Audio

September 28, 2016

13th Annual Immigration Law & Policy Conference

The 13th annual Immigration Law & Policy Conference offered policy and legal analysis on key immigration topics, including: the election and the future of immigration policy; refugee resettlement in the United States; immigration detention and enforcement; and the impacts of the Supreme Court opinion in the important U.S. vs Texas case

EVENT PHOTO 20155.12.14 MEXICAN FOREIGN SECRETARY2L

Video, Audio

December 15, 2015

Leadership Visions: A Discussion with Mexican Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz-Massieu

An MPI Leadership Visions discussion with the Foreign Minister of Mexico, Claudia Ruiz-Massieu, for her first public appearance in Washington, DC.

Event PH 2015.12.8 Immigration Act of 1990 Bruce Morrison Muz Chishti

Video, Audio

December 8, 2015

Twenty Five Years Later: Reflecting on the Immigration Act of 1990

A discussion marking the 25th anniversary of the 1990 Immigration Act, where experts examinine the history of the legislation, how it was accomplished politically, and the stakeholders and issues that were critical to its passage.

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.

EventPH 2015.09.30 TheImmigrationandNationalityActof1965 ThenandNow

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.

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Video

September 18, 2023

20th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

The 20th annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference, organized by MPI, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., and Georgetown University Law Center, features fresh, thoughtful policy and legal analysis, and discussion of some of the top immigration issues by leading government officials, attorneys, researchers, advocates, and other experts.

Video, Webinars

September 20, 2022

19th Annual Immigration Law & Policy Conference

Focusing on top immigration policy issues at federal and state levels, this 2022 Immigration Law and Policy Conference featured keynotes by Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson exploring the growing role states are taking in the national immigration debate. Multimedia of the day's panel discussions will be posted later.

Articles

January 19, 2022

Biden at the One-Year Mark: A Greater Change in Direction on Immigration Than Is Recognized

While Donald Trump’s presidency is perceived as being the most active on immigration, touching nearly every aspect of the U.S. immigration system, President Joe Biden’s administration has far outpaced his predecessor in the number of executive actions taken during his first year in office—even as the pace of change has gone largely unnoticed, as this article explores.

Articles

January 6, 2022

Immigration Has Been a Defining, Often Contentious, Element Throughout U.S. History

As host to more immigrants than any other country, the United States has been shaped and reshaped by immigration over the centuries, with the issue at times becoming a flashpoint. This article covers the history of U.S. immigration and the major laws governing immigration, and provides a comprehensive overview of the present-day immigrant population.

Expert Q&A, Audio

October 29, 2021

U.S. Immigration Reform Denied: Destined to Repeat the Cycle of Failure?

The architecture of the U.S. legal immigration system rests on a 1965 law and was last significantly updated in 1990. While there is widespread agreement that the existing framework does not align with the needs and realities of the 21st century, Congress has proven unable to enact significant legislative reform over the past two decades. How have debates on immigration changed and is achieving bipartisan consensus on this highly charged issue possible today?

Expert Q&A, Audio

October 20, 2021

Building a Modern U.S. Immigration and Asylum System in the National Interest

People on all sides of the policy debate largely agree that the U.S. immigration system is broken. What should a 21st century system that works in the national interest look like? And is this vision achievable amid current political realities? In this World of Migration podcast episode, MPI Senior Fellow Doris Meissner speaks with Policy Analyst Ariel Ruiz Soto about how to build an immigration system that reflects today’s realities and builds in the flexibility to adapt to future developments.

Articles

September 22, 2021

Two Decades after 9/11, National Security Focus Still Dominates U.S. Immigration System

After the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 the U.S. immigration system was retooled to have a strong national security focus. This restructuring had dramatic effects on government operations and resource allocations, not to mention on the lives of immigrants and the U.S. born alike. Twenty years on from 9/11, this article examines the changes put in place or accelerated as a result of the attacks.

Video, Audio, Webinars

September 2, 2021

From Immigrant Detention to a More Effective U.S. Immigration Custody System

The sprawling U.S. immigration detention system has long been controversial for its conditions of care, number of immigrants and asylum seekers detained, and costs. This discussion of a report provides a vision for a reimagined immigration custody system.

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