Research Library

President Biden has an opportunity, the author argues, to resurrect the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program and provide a pathway to legal status for millions of undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. This report explores the potential of the DAPA program to impact immigrant families and policy avenues toward its passage.

In this paper, the author examines past attempts at immigration reform in the United States, especially as they pertain to the nation’s undocumented population. Analyzing these early reform efforts could be deeply instructive for the prospects of President Biden’s U.S. Citizenship Act and reveals both durable patterns and new developments that could shape the chances for legislative breakthroughs.

The current situation at the U.S.-Mexico border is neither a unique crisis nor the result (yet) of President Biden’s policy changes.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has provided hundreds of thousands of young people in the U.S. with a reprieve from deportation, but program recipients have long lacked a pathway to permanent residency. This paper explores routes to immediate status and citizenship for those eligible for DACA, also known as "DREAMers."

Immigration policy will look very different in a Trump or Joe Biden presidency. This brief summarizes changes that have occurred under the Trump administration so far and examines the repercussions of the November election on four aspects of immigration policy.

The authors explore the health barriers and vulnerabilities of undocumented immigrants during the coronavirus pandemic, reveal the gaps in the Covid-19 relief bills and consider the implications for immigrant children.

Parental stress, which is heightened during natural disasters, can produce negative physiological responses in the developing brains of their infants and young children. This irreversibly alters the child’s brain structure, impacting their long-term prospects for good health and academic and economic success. Now is the time to institute policies and practices that mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the next generation, write the authors,

The authors argue for an identification and tax program that would allow unauthorized residents to receive identification documents and reside and work legally in the United States. In return, they would pay taxes much like any other American.

José Iván Rodríguez-Sánchez conducts a cost-benefit analysis of undocumented immigrants in Texas, concluding that undocumented residents have a positive influence and impact on the economy, since they pay taxes and fees and constitute an important part of the labor market.

An increasing number of lawful permanent U.S. residents from Mexico could lose access to their U.S. social security contributions as a result of deportation.