Immigration 101
Immigration in the United States is complex and ever-evolving. Start here to understand the fundamental aspects of immigration policy, its history, and its impact on both individuals and the country at large. Learn commonly used terms about immigration law and how the U.S. immigration system is designed. Explore layered topics like how and whether immigrants can become citizens, as well as what individual protections look like under the law.
With Nurse Aides Needed, Trained Dreamer Fears She Will Be Deported
Leyla Sabag is a nurse assistant who is about to start working at a nonprofit clinic for low-income Kansans. “It’s not a job for the weak, definitely — you have to work 16-hour shifts, and you have patients who scream, hit, bite, spit,” she says. “It’s one of those things… Read More
Ohio Student Eyes College, Still Worries About Younger Dreamers
For most of her childhood, Itzel Marquez had no idea she was an undocumented immigrant. Family members had brought her to the United States when she was just 3 years old. When she was 9, she says, “I started hearing about undocumented immigrants on the news, and I asked my… Read More
If Allowed, Dreamer Could Help Ease South Carolina Nursing Shortage
Nineteen-year-old Lenda Vazquez works six to seven days a week at her father’s landscaping business in Gilbert, South Carolina. “I’m pretty much his right-hand man,” she says. Vazquez is an undocumented immigrant, but her protections under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) have allowed her to obtain a driver’s license… Read More
As Reservist Deploys, Fears His DACA Fiancé May Be Deported
Esmeralda Tovar-Contreras is an undocumented immigrant who was brought to the United States from Mexico City when she was 2 years old. Thanks to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which provides qualifying young people like her some protections, the 21-year-old has been able to get a job at a… Read More
New York’s First Undocumented Lawyer: ‘We All Have a Voice’
In 2016, Cesar Vargas became New York state’s first openly undocumented lawyer. It was a major personal accomplishment for Vargas, whose mother brought him to the United States when he was 5 years old, and for New York, which became the third state in the nation to allow undocumented immigrants to… Read More
DACA-Eligible Entrepreneurs Earned More Than $658.7 Million in Total Business Income in 2015
NEW YORK, NY – As the fight to protect Dreamers continues in Washington, NAE is releasing data every day showing just how much DACA-eligible immigrants contribute to the American economy. In today’s installment, we focus on entrepreneurship, and highlight that DACA-eligible immigrants – much like immigrants overall – start businesses at… Read More
New American Economy Launches 15-State Ad Buy to Push DREAMer Legislation
NEW YORK, NY – In effort to push Congress to quickly arrive at an immigration compromise that secures the fate of nearly 800,000 DACA recipients—and up to an additional one million DREAMers—living in the United States, New American Economy is launching a six-figure ad buy in 15 key states across the… Read More
Dreamer Wants To Teach Kids, Instead Lives in Fear
In 2016, when Laura Perez was granted the right to legally work in the United States, she was finally able to come out of the shadows and,contribute more to her community and family. Perez is one of Utah’s more than 13,600 recipients of Deferred… Read More
It’s the Economy: Nation’s Oldest State Really Needs Its Dreamers
Publicly, Sharon McDonnell’s son’s friend goes by the name “S.” That’s because S is an undocumented immigrant. And although she now has Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a policy that currently shields her from deportation, she cannot be sure how long she will remain protected. None of the country’s… Read More
The Washington Post: ‘A bad dream’: Pro-immigration group headed by Michael Bloomberg targets 14 senators over fate of ‘dreamers’
A pro-immigration group headed by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is targeting 14 senators in a new television advertisement and phone campaign this fall over the fate of young undocumented immigrants known as “dreamers.” In a six-figure ad buy launching Wednesday, the group, New American Economy, describes the… Read More
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No one should face the immigration system alone
