Immigration Reform: A System for the 21st Century

The November 2012 elections sent a clear message to the White House and Congress: The time for immigration reform is now. Democrats and Republicans have now largely agreed on the need for change. The fate of immigration reform, however, revolves around specific issues that include the changing demographics of the nation, the state of the economy and the American labor force, border security, the presence of millions of undocumented migrants throughout the country, and the political obstacles to be overcome in the finer details of the future law. The conference “Immigration Reform: A System for the 21st Century” brought together leading U.S. immigration experts as well as key public policy and political figures involved in this debate to discuss issues and solutions to these crucial questions surrounding immigration reform today.

Conference Working Papers

• “The Immigration Debate in Texas” — Tony Payan, Ph.D., Baker Institute Scholar for Immigration and Border Studies
• “Immigration Policy and Partisan Politics in the State Legislatures: 2010-2012” — Mark P. Jones, Ph.D., Baker Institute; Benjamin Chou, Baker Institute
• “Immigration Policies Hurt Families More Than They Help” — Leisy Abrego, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles; Shannon Gleeson, Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz
• “U.S. Immigration, Demography and Citizenship in a Digital Age” — Jason Ackleson, Ph.D., New Mexico State University
• “The Costs and Benefits of Immigration Enforcement” — Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
• “Latinos, Public Opinion and Immigration Reform” — David L. Leal, Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin
• “U.S. Immigration Reform” — Susan F. Martin, Ph.D., Institute for the Study of International Migration
• “Ctrl+Alt+Del: Rebooting Immigration Policies Through Socio-technical Change” — Rodrigo Nieto-Gómez, Ph.D., Naval Postgraduate School
• “U.S. Immigration Policy in the 21st Century, with Special Reference to Education: Examining the Crossroads of Nativist and Accommodationist Policymaking” —Michael A. Olivas, Ph.D., University of Houston Law Center
• “Immigrants in the U.S. Labor Market” — Pia M Orrenius, Ph.D., Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas; Madeline Zavodny, Ph.D., Agnes Scott College
• “The Congressional Dynamics of Immigration Reform” — Daniel J. Tichenor, Ph.D., University of Oregon
• “Security and United States Immigration Policy: Two American Immigration Security Traditions and an Analytical Framework of National Security and U.S. Immigration Policy” — Robbie J. Totten, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
• “Latino Issue Priorities and Political Behavior Across U.S. Contexts” — Ali A. Valenzuela, Ph.D., Princeton University; Sarah K. Stein, Federal Reserve Bank of New York