Immigration Reform
The last time Congress updated our legal immigration system was November 1990, one month before the World Wide Web went online. We are long overdue for comprehensive immigration reform.
Through immigration reform, we can provide noncitizens with a system of justice that provides due process of law and a meaningful opportunity to be heard. Because it can be a contentious and wide-ranging issue, we aim to provide advocates with facts and work to move bipartisan solutions forward. Read more about topics like legalization for undocumented immigrants and border security below.
Senate Shoots Down House’s Bad Homeland Security Funding Bill
The House-passed bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security—and the anti-executive action amendments that were added—failed to advance in the Senate on a procedural vote. Senators voted 48 to 51, with Republican Dean Heller (NV) joining with the Democrats to vote against the measure. Because it… Read More
Six Reasons Why Sen. Jeff Sessions’ ‘Immigration Handbook’ is a Work of Fiction
The chairman of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, Jeff Sessions (R-AL), wasted no time in advertising his antipathy towards immigrants. Shortly after assuming his post, Sessions released an “Immigration Handbook for the New Republican Majority” that, in only 23 pages, managed to distill just about every fact-free sound bite ever conceived… Read More
House Bill to Seal the Border is Unrealistic, Congressional Budget Office Finds
Last week, the House Homeland Security Committee sent to the House floor H.R. 399, the “Secure our Borders First” Act. The measure would mandate 100 percent “operational control”—defined as “the prevention of all unlawful entries into the United States”—of high traffic areas within two years, and… Read More
Dozens of Mayors File Brief in Support of Immigration Executive Action
Mayors from 33 cities, along with the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities, filed an amicus brief on Monday in the Texas v. United States lawsuit that challenges President Obama’s executive action on immigration. Interestingly, a number of cities that have signed… Read More
House to Vote on Bill to Further Militarize the U.S. Border
With the start of the 114th Republican-controlled Congress, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, introduced H.R. 399, the “Secure Our Borders First” Act. McCaul introduced the new bill exclusively with Republican co-sponsors unlike his 2013 bill, the Border Security Results Act, that… Read More
House Approves DHS Funding With Anti-Immigration Executive Action Amendments
The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved the $39.7 billion funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, including five amendments that attacked parts of President Obama’s executive actions on immigration and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The 236-191 vote for the spending measure passed… Read More
States’ Lawsuit Against Executive Action More Politics Than Substance
On Thursday, a Texas federal judge will hear 25 states’ arguments to block President Obama’s recent immigration executive actions. But the suit has more value as political theater than as a legitimate constitutional challenge. There’s no merit to the case. The president, cast by states as the villain, acted… Read More
House Begins Debate on Anti-Executive Action Amendments to DHS Funding Bill
After the House Rules Committee on Monday night sent a bill that continues funding to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the rest of the year. Five amendments were attached as the House of Representatives began debating the measure on Tuesday. A vote is expected Wednesday. In December,… Read More
Attorneys General from 12 States, D.C. File Brief in Support of Executive Action on Immigration
Texas is leading a lawsuit challenging President Obama’s executive action on immigration and has asked for a preliminary injunction that will be considered in a hearing on Thursday, January 15 in a federal district court in Brownsville, Texas. Texas is arguing that the president’s actions will harm states economically and… Read More
What Happened at the Meeting Between the Mexican and U.S. Presidents
The U.S. and Mexico share a nearly 2,000 mile border, and most of the immigrants in the U.S. are from Mexico. The relationship between the two countries runs deeper than just immigration even though attention in the last year has focused on the record number of children and families who… Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
