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.
‘In Our Best Interests’ to Legalize Hardworking Immigrants, Says Lawyer
Elliott Ozment, founder and managing attorney at Ozment Law Firm, has made a career of defending the underdog, and that includes Nashville’s foreign-born. Again and again, immigrants run up against outdated visa quotas, decades-long waiting lists, an expensive, burdensome process, and threats of deportation. Ozment tells the story of… Read More
Dreamer Pursues Media Career With Plans to Support Her Family
This summer, when 21-year-old journalism and graphics major Erika Espinoza tosses her cap alongside her classmates at Ball State University, she’ll become the first person in her family to graduate from college. An undocumented immigrant who was brought to Indiana from Mexico when she was 9 years old, Espinoza has… Read More
Immigrants Help Small Iowa Town Rebuild After Raid
In 2008 in Postville, Iowa, an immigration raid removed 389 undocumented workers from the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant. In the immediate aftermath, many other undocumented workers fled the town, which had a total population of only 2,000. The impact was devastating. “It interrupted our economy for at least… Read More
Immigrant Farm Workers Offset Population Loss in an Illinois Small Town
The town of Rantoul, Illinois, used to be home to a U.S. Air Force base. Ever since the base shut down, in 1993, the community has struggled to rebuild its population. Meanwhile, a growing agriculture industry has attracted immigrants, primarily from Mexico, who travel north to work in the corn… Read More
Border Wall May Be an Expensive Solution to a Nonexistent Problem
If the Trump administration fulfills its promise to build a “big, beautiful wall” along the entire length of the U.S.-Mexico border, it will be a very costly solution to a problem that no longer exists—and may not exist again for a very long time. A report from the… Read More
‘We’re Working, Staying out of Trouble,’ Says DACA Recipient
When Radi finished high school, she longed to go to college. But as an undocumented immigrant, she didn’t have the same opportunities as her friends, and for years she waited tables at a local restaurant. Things finally changed with the implementation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a 2012… Read More
Louisiana Lawyer: For Sake of Economy, ‘Make Immigration Viable Again’
When Baton Rouge was devastated by flooding in 2016, it was immigrants who came to the rescue. “There was no way that Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas could rebuild without immigrant labor, whether documented or undocumented,” says Paul “Woody” Scott, a Honduran-American immigration lawyer who has worked in the… Read More
Trump Scapegoats Immigrants with Creation of Office of Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement
President Trump stated that he has “ordered the Department of Homeland Security to create an office to serve American victims during his Joint Address to congress. The office is called VOICE – Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement. Any victim of crime deserves acknowledgement and sympathy, and crime is an… Read More
Immigrant Children Bear the Anxiety of Political Tough Talk
At Public School 78 in Staten Island, New York, Community School Director Maria Brancale has been seeing a lot of empty chairs lately. Half of the school’s students come from immigrant families, and ever since the federal crackdown on immigration she has seen a sharp drop in attendance among parents… Read More
University Students Embrace Immigrant Culture — to America’s Benefit
In 15 years, Zoya Khan has taught more than 1,500 university students. “In my classes, I have first-generation students, honors students, single mothers,” she says. “It’s a diverse group, and I take pride in their achievements.” Khan, an associate professor of Spanish at the University of South Alabama, in Mobile,… Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
