Congressional Research Service (CRS)

*Immigration Reform Issues in the 111th Congress*

Ruth Ellen Wasem, Specialist in Immigration Policy

October 29, 2010

http://opencrs.com/document/R40501/2010-10-29/download/1013/

[full-text, 16 pages]

*Summary*

There is a broad-based consensus that the U.S. immigration system is broken. This consensus

erodes, however, as soon as the options to reform the U.S. immigration system are debated. The

number of foreign-born people residing in the United States is at the highest level in U.S. history

and has reached a proportion of the U.S. population—12.6%—not seen since the early 20th

century. Of the 38 million foreign-born residents in the United States, approximately 16.4 million

are naturalized citizens. According to the latest estimates by the Department of Homeland

Security (DHS), about 10.8 million unauthorized aliens were living in the United States in

January 2009. The Pew Hispanic Center recently reported an estimate of 11.1 million

unauthorized aliens in March 2009, down from a peak of 12 million in March 2007. Some

observers and policy experts maintain that the presence of an estimated 11 million unauthorized

residents is evidence of flaws in the legal immigration system as well as failures of immigration

control policies and practices.

The 111th Congress is faced with strategic questions of whether to continue to build on

incremental reforms of specific elements of immigration (e.g., employment verification, skilled

migration, temporary workers, worksite enforcement, and legalization of certain categories of

unauthorized residents) or whether to comprehensively reform the Immigration and Nationality

Act (INA). President Barack Obama has affirmed his support for comprehensive immigration

reform legislation that includes increased enforcement as well as a pathway to legal residence for

certain unauthorized residents.

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.

Addressing these contentious policy reforms against the backdrop of economic crisis sharpens the

social and business cleavages and narrows the range of options.

The report will be updated as events warrant.

*Contents*

Introduction ...............................................................................................................................1

Legal Immigration ......................................................................................................................2

Permanent Residence ............................................................................................................2

Temporary Admissions..........................................................................................................3

Legalization ...............................................................................................................................4

Immigration Control ...................................................................................................................4

Border Security.....................................................................................................................5

Worksite Enforcement...........................................................................................................5

Employment Eligibility Verification ......................................................................................6

Document Fraud ...................................................................................................................6

Criminal Aliens .....................................................................................................................7

Grounds for Inadmissibility...................................................................................................7

Refugee, Asylee, and Humanitarian Concerns .............................................................................8

Alien Rights, Benefits, and Responsibilities ................................................................................9

Legislative Prospects.................................................................................................................10

Contacts

Author Contact Information ......................................................................................................13

**************************************** Stuart Basefsky Director, IWS News Bureau Institute for Workplace Studies Cornell/ILR School 16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor New York, NY 10016

Telephone: (607) 255-2703 Fax: (607) 255-9641 E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu ****************************************