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Immigration Policy

We aim to create a fair, humane, orderly, and workable immigration system to strengthen the United States.

A woman, originally from Bangladesh, holds her 7-month-old daughter as she recites the Pledge of Allegiance.
A woman, originally from Bangladesh, holds her 7-month-old daughter as she recites the Pledge of Allegiance after officially becoming a U.S. citizen during a naturalization ceremony in New York City on July 3, 2018. (Getty/Drew Angerer)

What We're Doing

Enhance border security

We support evidence-based measures that make our borders secure and orderly.

Strengthen protections for victims of persecution

We promote workable solutions to fix and modernize the asylum system and the refugee resettlement program.

 

Support a path to citizenship for long-term undocumented immigrants

We seek to win an earned path to citizenship for long-term undocumented immigrants, including Dreamers, farmworkers, and mixed-status families.

Modernize legal immigration

We advance ideas to update legal immigration to ensure economic growth and secure America’s future.

The Immigration Policy team aims to create a fair, humane, orderly, and workable immigration system to strengthen the United States.

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Reining in DHS and Restoring Accountability Past Event

Reining in DHS and Restoring Accountability

Join a virtual discussion with the authors of five commonsense reforms to rein in DHS.

The Trump Administration’s ICE and CBP Have Become a Threat to Americans: Congress Must Ensure That DHS Follows the Law and Adopts Commonsense Reforms Article
ICE agents detain woman on ground

The Trump Administration’s ICE and CBP Have Become a Threat to Americans: Congress Must Ensure That DHS Follows the Law and Adopts Commonsense Reforms

The Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security is out of control, endangering the well-being and lives of Americans. DHS must follow the law and fulfill its role to enhance—not compromise—the security of Americans and the homeland.

Dan Herman, Allie Preston, Gréta Bedekovics, 5 More Ben Olinsky, Ben Greenho, Rosa Barrientos-Ferrer, Silva Mathema, Debu Gandhi

The Trump Administration’s Hostility to Legal Immigration Harms America’s Global Leadership in Innovation Report
Researchers at a biopharmaceutical company conduct lab tests.

The Trump Administration’s Hostility to Legal Immigration Harms America’s Global Leadership in Innovation

By targeting legal immigration, the United States is signaling to the best and brightest talent around the world that they are unwelcome, harming U.S. leadership in innovation that has strengthened the economy for all Americans.

Ben Greenho, Silva Mathema, Rosa Barrientos-Ferrer, 1 More Debu Gandhi

The Path Forward: Ideas Worth Fighting For Feature
The U.S. Capitol is seen at sunrise.

The Path Forward: Ideas Worth Fighting For

The ideas in the Path Forward series present a roadmap for policymakers who want to offer a compelling alternative to populist authoritarianism by addressing people’s problems with bold ideas.

Congressional Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act Creates an Unaccountable Slush Fund for the Trump Administration’s Deportation Force Report
ICE officers patrol the halls of an immigration court building.

Congressional Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act Creates an Unaccountable Slush Fund for the Trump Administration’s Deportation Force

The OBBBA pumps $75 billion into ICE with no guardrails, supercharging the Trump administration’s massive, indiscriminate deportation agenda that is operating without accountability and threatening local communities and economies.

Rosa Barrientos-Ferrer, Ben Greenho, Silva Mathema

Fixing the Immigration System to Strengthen the United States Past Event

Fixing the Immigration System to Strengthen the United States

Join CAP for a timely conversation with Reps. Veronica Escobar (D-TX), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) and CAP President and CEO Neera Tanden on solutions to actually fix our immigration system and strengthen border security.

Center for American Progress (1333 H St. NW Washington DC 20005) & Online

10th Annual DACA Survey: 2024 Findings Reveal What’s at Stake for Recipients and the United States Report
Person holding up sign that reads Home Is Here

10th Annual DACA Survey: 2024 Findings Reveal What’s at Stake for Recipients and the United States

The 10th annual DACA survey illustrates the positive contributions that DACA recipients have made to America and reveals the significant, widespread disruptions that would result from ending DACA, highlighting more than ever the need for congressional action to provide pathways to citizenship for recipients.

Tom K. Wong, Ignacia Rodriguez Kmec, Diana Pliego, 4 More Karen Fierro Ruiz, Silva Mathema, Ben Greenho, Rosa Barrientos-Ferrer

How Democrats Can Win on Immigration In the News

How Democrats Can Win on Immigration

CAP President and CEO Neera Tanden outlines a winning strategy for immigration reform in The Wall Street Journal.

The Wall Street Journal

Neera Tanden

Hoja informativa: Un marco de inmigración que garantizará el orden en la frontera, mantendrá seguros a los estadounidenses, aumentará el crecimiento económico y nos fortalecerá Hoja informativa

Hoja informativa: Un marco de inmigración que garantizará el orden en la frontera, mantendrá seguros a los estadounidenses, aumentará el crecimiento económico y nos fortalecerá

Estas reformas ofrecen una estrategia ordenada y eficaz que protege a las comunidades estadounidenses y defiende los valores de la nación, a la vez que satisface las necesidades económicas del país.

Neera Tanden, Debu Gandhi

Fact Sheet: An Immigration Framework That Would Ensure Order at the Border, Keep Americans Safe, Increase Economic Growth, and Make Us Stronger Fact Sheet

Fact Sheet: An Immigration Framework That Would Ensure Order at the Border, Keep Americans Safe, Increase Economic Growth, and Make Us Stronger

These reforms offer an orderly and effective approach that protects American communities and upholds American values while meeting the nation’s economic needs.

Neera Tanden, Debu Gandhi

10 Egregious Things You May Not Know About the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Article
Members of the House walk up the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

10 Egregious Things You May Not Know About the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

Congressional Republicans’ radical budget and tax bill includes several less-known provisions that will increase costs, fuel the Trump administration’s overreach, and waste taxpayer dollars.

Colin Seeberger, Andrea Ducas, Natasha Murphy, 9 More Kierra B. Jones, Andrés Argüello, Lily Roberts, Kyle Ross, Michael Sozan, Silva Mathema, Sara Partridge, Paige Shoemaker DeMio, Corey Husak

Trump’s Rash Immigration Actions Place Cruelty and Spectacle Above Security Report

Trump’s Rash Immigration Actions Place Cruelty and Spectacle Above Security

Rather than adopting commonsense measures to fix the United States’ badly broken immigration system to benefit all Americans, President Trump’s indiscriminate immigration actions follow a pattern of cruelty, ripping apart families and communities and jeopardizing Americans’ security.

Debu Gandhi, Ben Greenho, Nick Wilson

Regaining America’s Trust on Immigration In the News

Regaining America’s Trust on Immigration

In a new article published in Democracy Journal, Debu Gandhi discusses how progressives should modify their messaging on immigration in the wake of this year’s general election.

Democracy Journal

Debu Gandhi

2023 Survey of DACA Recipients Highlights Economic Advancement, Continued Uncertainty Amid Legal Limbo Article
A group of people holding signs is seen with the U.S. Capitol building in the background.

2023 Survey of DACA Recipients Highlights Economic Advancement, Continued Uncertainty Amid Legal Limbo

The ninth annual survey of DACA recipients illustrates DACA’s role in empowering individuals and communities while strengthening the U.S. economy and highlights the need for a pathway to citizenship.

Tom K. Wong, Ignacia Rodriguez Kmec, Diana Pliego, 4 More Karen Fierro Ruiz, Silva Mathema, Trinh Q. Truong, Rosa Barrientos-Ferrer

To Resolve the Humanitarian and Administrative Border Crisis, the U.S. Must Fix the Broken Asylum System, Help Stabilize the Western Hemisphere, and Provide Robust, Orderly Migration Pathways Article
Sunlight his the U.S. Capitol dome.

To Resolve the Humanitarian and Administrative Border Crisis, the U.S. Must Fix the Broken Asylum System, Help Stabilize the Western Hemisphere, and Provide Robust, Orderly Migration Pathways

The just-released Senate border deal is a sincere, bipartisan attempt to create much needed order at the U.S.-Mexico border; release pressure on the broken asylum system, resource agencies, and communities; and provide other targeted solutions across the immigration system. However, to achieve and sustain order at the border, Congress must more boldly address what drives migration in the region and must create accessible lawful pathways that are an alternative to asylum.

Patrick Gaspard, Debu Gandhi, Dan Restrepo

DACA Recipients Bolster Social Security and Medicare Article
Activists listen during a news conference marking the 10th anniversary of DACA

DACA Recipients Bolster Social Security and Medicare

DACA recipients collectively earn nearly $27.9 billion and contribute nearly $2.1 billion to Social Security and Medicare each year, making the economy and their communities stronger.

Trinh Q. Truong, Silva Mathema

2023 CAP IDEAS Conference Past Event
CAP IDEAS Conference logo

2023 CAP IDEAS Conference

Join the Center for American Progress as we celebrate 20 years of innovative policy solutions and look boldly forward to a progressive future.

Opinion: A smart and humane answer on immigration Article

Opinion: A smart and humane answer on immigration

Tom Jawetz and researchers from Texas A&M and the University of Virginia argue that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations may decrease some of the push factors that are causing Venezuelans and others to come to the United States.

CNN

Ben Helms, David Leblang, Tom Jawetz

Executive Summary: A Whole-of-Government, Society-Wide Approach to Tackling the Opioid Crisis Fact Sheet

Executive Summary: A Whole-of-Government, Society-Wide Approach to Tackling the Opioid Crisis

This fact sheet summarizes a recent Center for American Progress report outlining the need for a whole-of-government, society-wide approach to addressing the complex challenges posed by the opioid overdose epidemic.

Trinh Q. Truong, Debu Gandhi, Jill Rosenthal, 5 More Marquisha Johns, Mariam Rashid, Dan Restrepo, Akua Amaning, Cleo Bluthenthal

Tackling the Opioid Crisis Requires a Whole-of-Government, Society-Wide Approach Report
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents sift through packages in search of fentanyl.

Tackling the Opioid Crisis Requires a Whole-of-Government, Society-Wide Approach

The opioid epidemic is a complex public health crisis that can be ameliorated by addressing root causes of drug use; expanding access to treatment and harm reduction strategies; and reducing the supply of illicit opioids entering the United States.

Trinh Q. Truong, Debu Gandhi, Jill Rosenthal, 5 More Marquisha Johns, Mariam Rashid, Dan Restrepo, Akua Amaning, Cleo Bluthenthal

Practical Solutions To Assist Cities and States Receiving Asylum-Seekers Across the U.S. Report
Migrants, who boarded a bus in Texas, are dropped off within view of the U.S. Capitol building.

Practical Solutions To Assist Cities and States Receiving Asylum-Seekers Across the U.S.

The uncoordinated busing and relocation of migrants and asylum-seekers poses various challenges to receiving cities and states across the country; but practical solutions at the local, state, and federal levels can turn these challenges into opportunities.

Zefitret Abera Molla

Improving Language Access in the U.S. Asylum System Report

Improving Language Access in the U.S. Asylum System

The lack of adequate interpretation and translation services for asylum-seekers who are not proficient in English impedes their ability to navigate the complex immigration system.

Zefitret Abera Molla

DACA Boosts Recipients’ Well-Being and Economic Contributions: 2022 Survey Results Article
People gather for a rally to celebrate the 10th anniversary of DACA.

DACA Boosts Recipients’ Well-Being and Economic Contributions: 2022 Survey Results

The eighth annual survey of DACA recipients shows, yet again, DACA recipients’ many contributions to their communities and the U.S. economy more broadly while highlighting the need for a pathway to citizenship.

Tom K. Wong, Ignacia Rodriguez Kmec, Diana Pliego, 4 More Karen Fierro Ruiz, Debu Gandhi, Trinh Q. Truong, Nicole Svajlenka

Crossing the Border: How Disability Civil Rights Protections Can Include Disabled Asylum-Seekers Report
The silhouette of a girl walking as the sun rises

Crossing the Border: How Disability Civil Rights Protections Can Include Disabled Asylum-Seekers

Civil rights protections designed to protect disabled people from discrimination, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, are powerful tools for ensuring that disabled asylum-seekers have access to the protection and services they need in the U.S. immigration system.

Trinh Q. Truong, Emily DiMatteo, Mia Ives-Rublee

The 32nd Anniversary of the ADA Past Event
Salvadoran Walter Aguilar, 33, --who lost his leg in a car accident in 2001-- a polypropylene prostheses maker, attends a patient of

The 32nd Anniversary of the ADA

Improving the U.S. Asylum System for Disabled Noncitizens

Online Only

Immigrants and Asylum-Seekers Deserve Humane Alternatives To Detention Report
Cell room doors are seen at the Caroline Detention Facility in Bowling Green, Virginia.

Immigrants and Asylum-Seekers Deserve Humane Alternatives To Detention

Immigrants and asylum-seekers should be provided with community-based case management services rather than placed in invasive surveillance programs that threaten their well-being, civil liberties, and privacy.

Trinh Q. Truong

Ending the Title 42 Expulsion Policy Is the Right Thing To Do Article
A migrant and her children remain in Tapachula, Mexico.

Ending the Title 42 Expulsion Policy Is the Right Thing To Do

Ending the Title 42 expulsion policy at the border is an important step toward rebuilding the United States’ asylum system.

Zefitret Abera Molla

The Urgency of Designating Cameroon for Temporary Protected Status Report

The Urgency of Designating Cameroon for Temporary Protected Status

The U.S. government should immediately grant Temporary Protected Status to Cameroonian nationals in the United States, given the extraordinary and deteriorating conditions in the country that make a safe return impossible.

Silva Mathema, Zefitret Abera Molla

Why Immigration Relief Matters Article
Visitors write messages in support of immigrant essential workers.

Why Immigration Relief Matters

Undocumented immigrants make significant economic contributions and are integral members of communities across the United States; immigration relief is necessary to continue growing the economy and strengthening communities nationwide, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trinh Q. Truong

Including Immigration Parole in Reconciliation Will Help Millions Article
A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officer handles folders with immigrants' applications for permanent U.S. residency at the Dallas Field Office in Irving, Texas, on August 22, 2016. (Getty/John Moore)

Including Immigration Parole in Reconciliation Will Help Millions

While not providing permanent protections, including immigration parole in reconciliation would allow up to 7.1 million undocumented immigrants to gain long-term temporary status while satisfying the objections of the Senate parliamentarian.

Philip E. Wolgin, Nicole Svajlenka, Claudia Flores

Path to Citizenship: It Benefits All of Us In the News

Path to Citizenship: It Benefits All of Us

Nicole Prchal Svajlenka and Claudia Flores explain how putting undocumented immigrants on a pathway to citizenship can boost the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Democracy Journal

Nicole Svajlenka, Claudia Flores

Fact Sheet: State-by-State Estimates of Citizenship in Budget Reconciliation Article
Activists stand in Lafayette Square, across from the White House, in an effort to urge Congress and the Biden administration to create a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants on August 17, 2021, in Washington, D.C.

Fact Sheet: State-by-State Estimates of Citizenship in Budget Reconciliation

The proposed House budget reconciliation bill would create a pathway to citizenship for 6.9 million Dreamers, those eligible for Temporary Protected Status, and essential workers—including farmworkers—all while boosting U.S. economy.

Nicole Svajlenka, Claudia Flores, Philip E. Wolgin

Redefining Homeland Security: A New Framework for DHS To Meet Today’s Challenges Report

Redefining Homeland Security: A New Framework for DHS To Meet Today’s Challenges

To meet the challenges of today, the Biden administration and Congress should reform the Department of Homeland Security around a mission that highlights safety and services alongside its traditional protecting roles.

Mara Rudman, Rudy deLeon, Joel Martinez, 5 More Elisa Massimino, Silva Mathema, Katrina Mulligan, Alexandra Schmitt, Philip E. Wolgin

Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants Would Boost U.S. Economic Growth Report
(A candidate for U.S. citizenship holds a U.S. flag during a naturalization ceremony for new U.S. citizens in Newark, New Jersey, February 2017.)

Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants Would Boost U.S. Economic Growth

Putting undocumented immigrants on a pathway to citizenship would increase U.S. GDP by up to $1.7 trillion over the next decade, raise wages for all Americans, and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, advancing the country’s economic recovery.

Giovanni Peri, Reem Zaiour

Reinstating the LIFE Act and Eliminating Entry Bars Would Allow Millions of Immigrants To Stay With Their Families Article
A woman hugs her daughter after taking an oath to become a U.S. citizen at a naturalization ceremony in Salt Lake City, April 2019. (Getty/George Frey)

Reinstating the LIFE Act and Eliminating Entry Bars Would Allow Millions of Immigrants To Stay With Their Families

Reinstating the Legal Immigration Family Equity Act or eliminating the three- and 10-year entry bars, or making both changes, would allow many undocumented immigrants to gain legal status.

Silva Mathema, Nicole Svajlenka, Sofia Carratala

Testimony of Tom K. Wong Before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship and Border Safety In the News

Testimony of Tom K. Wong Before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship and Border Safety

CAP senior fellow Tom K. Wong testifies before the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety about the need to provide millions of immigrant essential workers with a pathway to U.S. citizenship.

Senate Judiciary Committee

Tom K. Wong

Why DACA Matters Article
DACA recipients and their supporters rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court, June 2020. (Getty/Drew Angerer)

Why DACA Matters

DACA continues to be a lifeline for its beneficiaries, their families, and communities across the nation.

Claudia Flores, Nicole Svajlenka

The Trump Administration’s Family Separation Policy Is Over Report
(Volunteers in Washington, D.C., place teddy bears along a cage as part of a demonstration meant to represent the children still separated from their families as a result of U.S. immigration policies, November 2020.)

The Trump Administration’s Family Separation Policy Is Over

Individual and collective accountability for the family separation policy is needed to hold individuals responsible, restore faith in government institutions, prevent further abuses, and provide appropriate redress.

Maggie Jo Buchanan, Philip E. Wolgin, Claudia Flores

A Profile of Immigrant Women in the Workforce Article
Medics run rapid COVID-19 tests in Brownsville, Texas, February 2021. (Getty/John Moore)

A Profile of Immigrant Women in the Workforce

Immigrant women are integral members of U.S. society, working across industries that serve all communities and spur economic growth. As the pandemic continues to disproportionately affect women in the workforce, future policy must consider the contributions and needs of immigrant women.

Sofia Carratala, Nicole Svajlenka, Sarah Jane Glynn

Biden Has Set the Tone on Immigration, But Will He Deliver for Me and My Family? In the News

Biden Has Set the Tone on Immigration, But Will He Deliver for Me and My Family?

In this personal article, Claudia Flores looks at how federal immigration policy affects families like her own and how the Biden administration needs to deliver on promises made during the campaign.

Newsweek

Claudia Flores

The Pause on Deportations Is the First Step Toward a Fair, Humane, and Workable System and Must Move Forward Article
Family members hug at a reunification event for Mexican families who have been separated from their loved ones living in the United States, Los Angeles, September 2018. (Getty/Mario Tama)

The Pause on Deportations Is the First Step Toward a Fair, Humane, and Workable System and Must Move Forward

The 100-day moratorium on deportations will allow the Biden administration to uncover the depths of lawlessness of the Trump administration’s immigration regime and start to right the ship. The courts must allow it to move forward.

Philip E. Wolgin

How Executive Action Can Build a More Fair, Humane, and Workable Immigration System Article
Giagnna Mendez, originally from Peru, participates in a swearing-in ceremony to become an American citizen on June 4, 2020, in Miami. (Getty/Joe Raedle)

How Executive Action Can Build a More Fair, Humane, and Workable Immigration System

The Biden administration can jump-start a series of necessary reforms by issuing a clear and expansive executive order in its first days that condemns the damage caused to the immigration system by the past administration, pauses deportations, and outlines principles to guide policy development over the next four years.

Tom Jawetz

A New Paradigm for Humane and Effective Immigration Enforcement Report
A street mural includes a depiction of the U.S. and Mexican flags attached. (Getty/Mario Tama)

A New Paradigm for Humane and Effective Immigration Enforcement

This report proposes a new model for how the United States can enforce its immigration laws that would be not only more humane and dramatically less expensive but also more effective than the mass detention and deportation strategies of recent decades.

Peter L. Markowitz

Rebuilding the U.S. Refugee Program for the 21st Century Report
(A supporter holding a sign that says

Rebuilding the U.S. Refugee Program for the 21st Century

The United States must learn from past experiences—from the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks through the Trump administration—to rebuild a resilient refugee resettlement program.

Silva Mathema, Sofia Carratala

Immigrants as Essential Workers During COVID-19 Testimony

Immigrants as Essential Workers During COVID-19

Tom Jawetz, vice president for Immigration Policy at the Center for American Progress, testified before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship on September 23, 2020.

Tom Jawetz

5 Immediate Steps To Rein in DHS in the Wake of Portland Report
(People gather to protest in front of the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse in downtown Portland, Oregon, on July 27, 2020.)

5 Immediate Steps To Rein in DHS in the Wake of Portland

The recent actions by U.S. Department of Homeland Security personnel on the streets of Portland, Oregon, and across the country raise significant concerns about a department out of control.

Tom Jawetz, Philip E. Wolgin, Claudia Flores

The Trump Administration Must Immediately Resume Processing New DACA Applications Article
People hold signs during a rally in support of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in favor of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, in San Diego, June 18, 2020. (Getty/Sandy Huffaker)

The Trump Administration Must Immediately Resume Processing New DACA Applications

As the Supreme Court’s decision goes into effect, the Trump administration must now allow 300,000 young people to file new applications for DACA, including 55,500 of the youngest DACA-eligible individuals who did not previously have the chance to apply.

Nicole Svajlenka, Tom Jawetz, Philip E. Wolgin

Supreme Court Ruling Could Clear a Path for Trump Administration To Strip Protections From Hundreds of Thousands of DACA Recipients Article
The U.S. Supreme Court building is seen on May 12, 2020, Washington, D.C. (Getty/Alex Wong)

Supreme Court Ruling Could Clear a Path for Trump Administration To Strip Protections From Hundreds of Thousands of DACA Recipients

If the Supreme Court announces that the Trump administration’s termination of DACA was lawful, it will be jeopardizing the lives and futures of hundreds of thousands of recipients as well as their families and communities.

Nicole Svajlenka

Federal Immigration Officials Must Take Immediate Action To Prevent Further Coronavirus Outbreaks at Detention Facilities Article
Detainees sit on their beds in a privately run 1,000 bed detention center, February 2006, in Otay Mesa, California. (Getty/Robert Nickelsberg)

Federal Immigration Officials Must Take Immediate Action To Prevent Further Coronavirus Outbreaks at Detention Facilities

As COVID-19 spreads exponentially at detention facilities nationwide, ICE’s inadequate response is leaving tens of thousands of detainees and facility staff, as well as broader communities, increasingly vulnerable.

Sofia Carratala, Tom Jawetz

Dreamers Help Keep the Country Running During the Coronavirus Pandemic Article
A health worker lifts a patient in to an ambulance, April 2020. (Getty/Spencer Platt)

Dreamers Help Keep the Country Running During the Coronavirus Pandemic

In anticipation of a Supreme Court decision that could decide their fate, DACA recipients grapple, like other Americans, with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stephanie Griffith, Claudia Flores

Federal Immigration Officials Can Help Protect Public Health During the Coronavirus Pandemic Article
People walk through the parking lot as they visit the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Miramar, Florida, on March 13, 2020. (Getty/Joe Raedle)

Federal Immigration Officials Can Help Protect Public Health During the Coronavirus Pandemic

While some local law enforcement agencies have responded to the COVID-19 outbreak by diverting people away from prisons and jails and by releasing particularly vulnerable incarcerated individuals, federal immigration officials are continuing to endanger the lives and safety of detained people and undermine public health.

Tom Jawetz, Ed Chung

Economic Recovery and Business Dynamism in Rural America Report
A downtown street scene in Missouri, July 2019. (Getty/Michael S. Williamson)

Economic Recovery and Business Dynamism in Rural America

Business growth in rural communities is falling behind that of other communities; this trend must be reversed in order to foster resilience.

Olugbenga Ajilore

Climate Change Is Altering Migration Patterns Regionally and Globally Article
Children carry bottles of water near Los Laureles reservoir, close to the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, during a drought caused by climate change. (Getty/Orlando Sierra/AFP)

Climate Change Is Altering Migration Patterns Regionally and Globally

Climate change is contributing to crop failure and malnutrition in the Northern Triangle and beyond, driving migration and raising the need for global and regional solutions.

Jayla Lundstrom

Immigration Detention Is Dangerous for Women’s Health and Rights Report
(An immigrant woman, recently released after spending six months in an ICE detention facility, clutches her ICE identification bracelet in her hotel room in Los Angeles, September 2018.)

Immigration Detention Is Dangerous for Women’s Health and Rights

The health and rights of women and girls in U.S. immigration custody are regularly violated through inhumane treatment, including inadequate health care, neglect, and abuse.

Nora Ellmann

Women’s Health and Rights in Immigration Detention Fact Sheet
A Honduran asylum-seeker holds her daughter at an indoor play space in the greater Washington, D.C. area. (A Honduran asylum-seeker holds her daughter at an indoor play space in the greater Washington, D.C. area.)

Women’s Health and Rights in Immigration Detention

This fact sheet offers policy recommendations to address the inhumane treatment of women and girls in the U.S. immigration detention system.

Nora Ellmann

What We Know About DACA Renewals Article
Immigrants fill out forms for DACA at a February 2015 workshop in New York City. (Getty/John Moore)

What We Know About DACA Renewals

Unless they renew, nearly 157,000 DACA recipients could see their protections expire by the time the U.S. Supreme Court likely issues a ruling next June.

Nicole Svajlenka

States Are Making Progress on Expanding Access to Driver’s Licenses Article
Applicants fill out paperwork at a temporary Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) processing center in Stanton, California, on January 2, 2015, the first day that undocumented individuals in California could apply for a driver's license. (Getty/Digital First Media/Orange County Register/Kevin Sullivan)

States Are Making Progress on Expanding Access to Driver’s Licenses

Recent wins in state legislatures prove that expanding access to driver’s licenses for undocumented individuals benefits entire communities while promoting further integration of immigrant communities.

Sofia Carratala

DACA Recipients’ Livelihoods, Families, and Sense of Security Are at Stake This November Article
A woman takes part in a New York City march against President Trump's decision to end DACA, September 2017. (Getty/Corbis News/VIEWpress/Kena Betancur)

DACA Recipients’ Livelihoods, Families, and Sense of Security Are at Stake This November

As the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments on the fate of DACA, new results show that the initiative remains critical for recipients, their families, and the economy.

Tom K. Wong, Sanaa Abrar, Claudia Flores, 5 More Tom Jawetz, Ignacia Rodriguez Kmec, Greisa Martinez Rosas, Holly Straut-Eppsteiner, Philip E. Wolgin

3 Reasons Why the New Flores Rule Does Not Pass Legal Muster Article
A young migrant girl lies on the floor of a bus depot as her father, recently released from federal detention with other Central American asylum-seekers, obtains a ticket in McAllen, Texas, June 2019. (Getty/AFP/Loren Elliott)

3 Reasons Why the New Flores Rule Does Not Pass Legal Muster

By failing to adhere to the standards set out in the 1997 Flores settlement, by focusing on deterrence, and by neglecting high costs, the Trump administration’s new Flores rule has opened itself up to significant legal challenges.

Philip E. Wolgin

State and Local Governments Opt Out of Immigrant Detention Article
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center is seen in Los Angeles, July 2019. (Getty/Mark Ralston)

State and Local Governments Opt Out of Immigrant Detention

As ICE attempts to increase its already record-breaking detention capacity, the agency is facing growing resistance from localities and states across the country that no longer want to be entangled in the business of immigration detention.

Lora Adams

Building a More Dynamic Economy: The Benefits of Immigration Testimony

Building a More Dynamic Economy: The Benefits of Immigration

Tom Jawetz, vice president for Immigration Policy at American Progress, testified before a hearing on the benefits of immigration at the U.S. House of Representatives on June 26, 2019.

Tom Jawetz

The Anti-Immigrant Extremists in Charge of the U.S. Immigration System Article
Ken Cuccinelli, former Virginia attorney general, does a TV interview before a congressional subcommittee hearing on gun control, January 2015. (Getty/Bill Clark)

The Anti-Immigrant Extremists in Charge of the U.S. Immigration System

Top positions in the Department of Homeland Security have been filled by anti-immigrant extremists, many of whom have ties to hate groups, which has led to the normalization of anti-immigrant policies and the spread of dehumanizing rhetoric about immigrants in mainstream media.

Jessica Cobian

A Controversial ICE Program and the Decision Facing Localities This June Article
A man is detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Los Angeles, October 2015. (Getty/John Moore)

A Controversial ICE Program and the Decision Facing Localities This June

In the weeks ahead, local jurisdictions that currently collaborate with the federal government to enforce federal immigration laws must make a choice: protect their immigrant residents or remain complicit in President Trump’s deportation agenda.

Claudia Flores

Trump’s Border Wall Is an Expensive, Ineffective Application of Eminent Domain Article
Tohono O'odham people take part in a protest against President Donald Trump's intention to build a new wall in the border between Mexico and the United States, March 25, 2017, in the Altar Desert, in Sonora, Mexico. (Getty/Pedro Pardo)

Trump’s Border Wall Is an Expensive, Ineffective Application of Eminent Domain

The Trump administration’s proposed border wall is not only expensive, ineffective, and bad for the environment; it is also a misuse of eminent domain law and an affront to private property rights.

K. Grace Hulseman

Promising Returns: How Embracing Immigrants with Temporary Protected Status can Contribute to Family Stability, Economic Growth, and Fiscal Health In the News

Promising Returns: How Embracing Immigrants with Temporary Protected Status can Contribute to Family Stability, Economic Growth, and Fiscal Health

The Center for American Progress partnered with the University of Southern California Dornsife Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration on a research brief featuring interviews with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders as well as national data on the demographic characteristics and economic contributions of TPS holders.

University of Southern California Dornsife Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration

Dalia Gonzales, Thai Le, Manuel Pastor, 1 More Nicole Svajlenka

Resources on H.R. 6, the Dream and Promise Act Article
An immigration activist wears monarch butterfly wings for a march on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., March 2018. (Getty/Alex Wong)

Resources on H.R. 6, the Dream and Promise Act

The Center for American Progress’ top resources, data, and economic benefits analyses on Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) beneficiaries are captured here.

the CAP Immigration Team

Military Service Members and U.S. National Security Will Pay the Price for Trump’s Manufactured Emergency Article
President Donald Trump delivers remarks in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., February 15, 2019. (Getty/Brendan Smialowski/AFP)

Military Service Members and U.S. National Security Will Pay the Price for Trump’s Manufactured Emergency

In an unconstitutional exercise of emergency authority, President Trump has threatened to divert billions of dollars away from military projects to fund an unnecessary border wall that serves few interests but his own political agenda.

Saharra Griffin

Representation Matters: In Conversation With the Cast of Netflix’s ‘One Day at a Time’ Podcast
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Representation Matters: In Conversation With the Cast of Netflix’s ‘One Day at a Time’

This week, Ed and Daniella sit down with Gloria Calderón Kellet, Justina Machado, and Isabella Gomez—the showrunner and stars of Netflix series 'One Day at a Time'—to discuss the importance of representation on their new show.

Daniella Gibbs Léger, Ed Chung, Rachel Rosen, 2 More Kyle Epstein, Chris Ford

Language Access Has Life-or-Death Consequences for Migrants Report
A Border Patrol agent speaks with immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, February 2019. (Getty/John Moore)

Language Access Has Life-or-Death Consequences for Migrants

Following the deaths in Border Patrol custody of two children whose families spoke indigenous languages, it is clear that the agency needs to be far more proactive in providing interpretation and translation services.

Tom Jawetz, Scott Shuchart

Immigration Reform and the Rule of Law Testimony

Immigration Reform and the Rule of Law

Tom Jawetz, vice president for Immigration Policy at American Progress, testified before a field hearing on immigration reform and border security in Philadelphia on February 11, 2019.

Tom Jawetz

What Do We Know About Immigrants With Temporary Protected Status? Article
Haitian workers worry about TPS being eliminated, November 2018. (Getty/Michael S. Williamson)

What Do We Know About Immigrants With Temporary Protected Status?

As the Trump administration presses forward with its effort to end TPS, the fate of nearly 318,000 immigrants—and their families—remains uncertain as the Trump administration’s end of TPS is challenged in court.

Nicole Svajlenka

7 of the Top Immigration Lies From the Trump Administration Article
President Donald Trump speaks to the press as he departs the White House in Washington, D.C., on January 10, 2019. (Getty/Brendan Smialowski)

7 of the Top Immigration Lies From the Trump Administration

From its first day in office, the Trump administration has consistently peddled an anti-immigrant narrative built on lies and misinformation.

Laura Muñoz Lopez

What Should and Should Not Be in Any Homeland Security Funding Deal Article
The U.S. Capitol Building, January 2019. (Getty/Saul Loeb)

What Should and Should Not Be in Any Homeland Security Funding Deal

Meaningful discussions about the border and U.S. Department of Homeland Security funding cannot come at the expense of immigrant communities and humanitarian protections.

Tom Jawetz, Lia Parada, Philip E. Wolgin

Crisis Management: An Immigration Update and Tackling Opioids with James Hamblin Podcast
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Crisis Management: An Immigration Update and Tackling Opioids with James Hamblin

In this week's episode, CAP immigration expert Phil Wolgin discusses the so-called crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border and James Hamblin joins us for his perspective on the opioid epidemic.

Daniella Gibbs Léger, Ed Chung, Rachel Rosen, 3 More Kyle Epstein, Chris Ford, Philip E. Wolgin

Immigration Priorities in the 116th Congress Article
The U.S. Capitol dome stands under a cloudy sky, January 2019. (Getty/Chip Somodevilla)

Immigration Priorities in the 116th Congress

Democratic control of the House of Representatives provides an opportunity for much-needed oversight, passage of legislation to protect vulnerable individuals, and exploration of longer-term solutions.

Tom Jawetz

New Year, New Congress, Same Stupid Trump Shutdown Podcast
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New Year, New Congress, Same Stupid Trump Shutdown

In 2019's first episode, Jesse Lee and Sam Berger discuss the new House majority and President Trump's government shutdown.

Daniella Gibbs Léger, Ed Chung, Rachel Rosen, 4 More Kyle Epstein, Chris Ford, Jesse Lee, Sam Berger

Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Was Defeated in the 2018 Midterm Elections Article
Immigrants and supporters march in Los Angeles in opposition to President Donald Trump's order to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program on September 5, 2017. (Getty/David McNew)

Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Was Defeated in the 2018 Midterm Elections

The results of the 2018 midterm elections show that voters are weary of divisive, hateful messages and that they instead prefer solutions to long-standing issues.

Laura Muñoz Lopez

Trump’s ‘Public Charge’ Rule Would Radically Change Legal Immigration Report
A woman holds the flag and her paperwork as the US Citizenship and Immigration Services welcomes 200 new citizens from 50 countries during a ceremony in honor of Independence Day at the New York Public Library on July 3, 2018 in New York. (Photo by Bryan R. Smith / AFP) (Photo credit should read BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images)

Trump’s ‘Public Charge’ Rule Would Radically Change Legal Immigration

President Trump’s proposed LPC test, despite claims to the contrary, would apply to millions of people each year—and most of those who would be denied green cards or other visas will never have received public benefits in the United States.

Shawn Fremstad

Refugees Thrive in America Report

Refugees Thrive in America

By cutting the number of refugees allowed to enter the United States, the Trump administration is undermining the nation’s historic role as a beacon of freedom and ignoring the advancements of many hardworking aspiring Americans.

Silva Mathema

Proactive and Patient Report

Proactive and Patient

The small Nebraskan towns of Lexington and Madison offer encouraging examples of how proactivity and practicality can help communities embrace the nation’s multicultural destiny and emerge stronger for their collective efforts.

Sara McElmurry

Curbing Hate Online: What Companies Should Do Now Report

Curbing Hate Online: What Companies Should Do Now

The Center for American Progress joined with civil and human rights groups to develop new policies for internet companies—here’s what we did and why it is important.

Henry Fernandez

The High Costs of the Proposed Flores Regulation Report
An immigrant woman speaks on the phone with her mother in El Salvador, with whom she had not spoken since leaving the country, San Antonio, Texas, July 2016. (Getty/The Washington Post/Ilana Panich-Linsman)

The High Costs of the Proposed Flores Regulation

The Trump administration has proposed a new regulation that—if implemented—would allow it to detain children and families indefinitely, costing hundreds of millions of dollars, or more, each year.

Philip E. Wolgin

Rapidly Expanding 287(g) Program Suffers from Lack of Transparency Report
Law enforcement officers of the Philadelphia Police Department, Homeland Security, and National Park Service stand by as protestors build a small encampment outside a Department of Homeland Security U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Pennsylvania, July 2018. (Getty/Bastiaan Slabbers)

Rapidly Expanding 287(g) Program Suffers from Lack of Transparency

The federal 287(g) immigration program has expanded significantly under the Trump administration, with ICE and local law enforcement agencies failing to ensure that proper public oversight is possible.

Claudia Flores

Revival and Opportunity Report
Quang Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant and business owner, stands in front of Le Variety, (Getty/Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald)

Revival and Opportunity

Immigrants are playing a key role in reviving and growing many rural communities and with the right policies could play an even bigger role in sustaining them.

Silva Mathema, Nicole Svajlenka, Anneliese Hermann

Amid Legal and Political Uncertainty, DACA Remains More Important Than Ever Article
Lorena Jofre, a DACA recipient, walks her daughter to school before driving to work in Miami, Florida, February 2018. (Getty/Joe Raedle)

Amid Legal and Political Uncertainty, DACA Remains More Important Than Ever

A survey of DACA beneficiaries finds the program has had an outsize effect on participants, their families, and the U.S. economy as a whole—even as recipients face uncertainty about the future.

Tom K. Wong, Sanaa Abrar, Tom Jawetz, 4 More Ignacia Rodriguez Kmec, Patrick O’Shea, Greisa Martinez Rosas, Philip E. Wolgin

Do Family Separation and Detention Deter Immigration? Report

Do Family Separation and Detention Deter Immigration?

Statistical analysis of data on southwest border apprehensions illustrates that policies of family separation and detention will not deter families from coming to the United States.

Tom K. Wong

Trump’s Immigration Plan Imposes Radical New Income and Health Tests Report
Immigrant families and activists rally outside the Tennessee state Capitol in Nashville, May 31, 2018. (Getty/Drew Angerer)

Trump’s Immigration Plan Imposes Radical New Income and Health Tests

More than 100 million people in the United States—about one-third of the population—would fail Trump’s public charge test if they had to take it.

Melissa Boteach, Shawn Fremstad, Katherine Gallagher Robbins, 2 More Heidi Schultheis, Rachel West

Trump’s Executive Order Rewards Private Prison Campaign Donors Article
The Adelanto Detention Facility in California houses an average of 1,100 immigrants in custody and is managed by the private GEO Group Inc., November 2013. (Getty/John Moore)

Trump’s Executive Order Rewards Private Prison Campaign Donors

Private prison companies—which often do not operate in immigrants’ best interests and have donated large sums of money to President Trump—stand to make billions of dollars from the administration’s policy.

Sharita Gruberg

Incarcerating Entire Families Cannot Be the Solution to the Separation of Children Article
People protest the separation of children from their parents in front of the El Paso Processing Center, June 19, 2018. (Getty/Joe Raedle)

Incarcerating Entire Families Cannot Be the Solution to the Separation of Children

The United States should not lock up children with their parents in order to fix family separation—a policy President Trump could end himself with one phone call—and instead should look to proven alternatives to detention.

Philip E. Wolgin

Asylum in the Trump Era Report

Asylum in the Trump Era

The Trump administration is weakening the U.S. asylum process through a series of restrictive moves, making it more difficult for asylum-seekers to access key protections against persecution.

Anneliese Hermann

The 4 Worst Parts of the Securing America’s Future Act Article
Storm clouds pass over the dome of the U.S. Capitol building, January 2018. (Getty/Bill Clark)

The 4 Worst Parts of the Securing America’s Future Act

Rather than protect Dreamers, the Securing America’s Future Act proposes a litany of restrictive, anti-immigrant measures that would radically reshape the face of the nation.

Tom Jawetz, Philip E. Wolgin

Maria Teresa Kumar on Efforts to Dehumanize the Latinx Community Podcast
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Maria Teresa Kumar on Efforts to Dehumanize the Latinx Community

Michele and Igor speak with Maria Teresa Kumar, president and CEO of Voto Latino, about the harmful effects of the Trump administration's actions on the Latinx community, as well as the importance of communities of color voting in 2018.

Michele L. Jawando, Igor Volsky, Sally Tucker, 1 More Rachel Rosen

Bold Ideas for State Action Report

Bold Ideas for State Action

Americans are ready for states—the laboratories of democracy—to offer a new progressive vision for shared prosperity. This report presents a menu of state policy priorities to help people secure good jobs and good wages and to support strong and healthy communities in which all people are treated fairly and equitably.

Center for American Progress

How 287(g) Agreements Harm Public Safety Article
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer frisks an immigrant at a processing center in lower Manhattan, New York, on April 11, 2018. (Getty/John Moore)

How 287(g) Agreements Harm Public Safety

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says that 287(g) agreements promote public safety and are in the best interest of the local community, but a closer look shows otherwise.

Laura Muñoz Lopez

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