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

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

Pages

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

Pages

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.

Recent Activity

Policy Briefs

January 2014

IRCA in Retrospect: Guideposts for Today’s Immigration Reform

This policy brief traces the successes and failures of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, which represented the first and most comprehensive legislation to take on the issue of illegal immigration to the United States. The brief makes the case that IRCA's major flaws were rooted in statutory design more than regulatory challenges and implementation by the administrative agencies.

Video, Audio

October 31, 2013

10th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

The 10th annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference featured keynotes by U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, as well as panel discussions covering a range of key immigration topics.

Policy Briefs

September 2013

Demography and Migration: An Outlook for the 21st Century

Economic and demographic disparities will shape the mobility of labor and skills during the 21st century. The populations of richer societies are aging rapidly, while working-age populations continue to grow in some emerging economies and most low-income countries. Despite these trends, many countries continue to assume that today’s demographic realities will persist. This policy brief describes how the current geography of migration is changing, and offers recommendations for policymakers.

Video, Audio, Webinars

August 7, 2013

A House Divided: Divergent Views in Congress Over Immigration Reform - A Video Chat

MPI experts participate in a video chat shortly after the Migration Policy Institute released an analysis comparing the major provisions of the Senate bill to those of the individual House bills considered to date in House committees.

Reports

August 2013

Pensando Regionalmente para Competir Globalmente: Aprovechar la Migración y el Capital Humano en Estados Unidos, México y Centroamérica

La migración ha contribuido a dar forma y definir las relaciones entre Estados Unidos y México desde hace más de un siglo, y las relaciones con Centroamérica aproximadamente durante los últimos 30 años. A veces, incluso la migración se convierte en la lente a través de la cual se consideran todos los otros aspectos de esta relación.

Fact Sheets

August 2013

Side-by-Side Comparison of 2013 Senate Immigration Bill with Individual 2013 House Bills

This fact sheet offers a detailed review of the comprehensive immigration reform legislation approved by the U.S. Senate in June 2013 and compares its major provisions with those of the five targeted immigration bills approved by the House Judiciary Committee and the House Homeland Security Committee.

Policy Briefs

June 2013

Remaking the U.S. Green Card System: Legal Immigration under the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013

This brief examines how the Senate's 2013 comprehensive immigration reform legislation would reshape the legal immigration system through its admission policies and creation of a new merit-based visa stream and points-based system. It also offers estimates of future migration flows, where they can be determined.

Video, Audio

May 6, 2013

Thinking Regionally to Compete Globally: A New View on Migration and Human Capital for the United States, Mexico, and Central America

A panel discussion on the release of the Regional Migration Study Group's final report, Thinking Regionally to Compete Globally: Leveraging Migration & Human Capital in the U.S., Mexico, and Central America, outlining its findings and offering recommendations to policymakers in the region.

Programs

Topics see all >

Regions see all >

Data

Featured Publication

Programs

You are here

Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Recent Activity

Pages

Pages

Pages

Recent Activity

Pages