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Immigration Fundamentals

Description: This report describes the fundamentals of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which was enacted in 1952 and significantly amended since, most recently by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.
Date: July 2, 1998
Creator: Vialet, Joyce
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' Immigration Fees and Adjudication Costs: Proposed Adjustments and Historical Context

Description: This report discusses the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service's (USCIS) newly proposed fee schedule for immigration services. Issues for Congress to consider might include how USCIS fees have been computed and justified; whether anticipated revenue from revised fees will cover agency costs; how fiscal shortfalls might be funded; and what impact higher fees might have on the applicant pool.
Date: July 16, 2010
Creator: Kandel, William A. & Haddal, Chad C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the 113th Congress: Major Provisions in Senate-Passed S. 744

Description: For several years, some Members of Congress have favored "comprehensive immigration reform", a label that commonly refers to omnibus legislation that includes increased border security and immigration enforcement, expanded employment eligibility verification, revision of nonimmigrant visas and legal permanent immigration, and legalization for some unauthorized immigrants residing in the country. This report provides a detailed discussion of major legislation related to these issues.
Date: July 9, 2013
Creator: Rosenblum, Marc R. & Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Unaccompanied Alien Children: Potential Factors Contributing to Recent Immigration

Description: This report begins by describing the recent surge in unaccompanied child apprehensions. It discusses several factors widely associated with out-migration from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The report then discusses three broad factors that may be attracting migrants to the United States: economic and educational opportunity, family reunification, and U.S. immigration policies. It concludes with caveats on the attribution of causes to this situation.
Date: July 3, 2014
Creator: Kandel, William A.; Bruno, Andorra; Meyer, Peter J.; Seelke, Clare Ribando; Taft-Morales, Maureen & Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Authority to Enforce the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) in the Wake of the Homeland Security Act: Legal Issues

Description: For decades, the administrative authority to interpret, implement, enforce, and adjudicate immigration law within the U.S. lay almost exclusively with one officer: the Attorney General. The most general statement of this power was found in §103(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA), the statute that comprehensively regulates immigration law in the United States. With the transfer of nearly all immigration functions to the Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003, ho… more
Date: July 16, 2003
Creator: Viña, Stephen R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Numerical Limits on Permanent Employment-Based Immigration: Analysis of the Per-country Ceilings

Description: The report opens with brief explanations of the employment-based preference categories and the per-country ceilings governing annual admissions of lawful permanent residents (LPRs). It continues with a statistical analysis of the pending caseload of approved employment-based LPR petitions and concludes with a set of legislative options to revise per-country ceilings that are meant to serve as springboards for further discussions.
Date: July 28, 2016
Creator: Argueta, Carla N.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Immigration: Policy Considerations Related to Guest Worker Programs

Description: This report discusses guest worker programs. The United States has two main programs for temporarily importing low-skilled workers, or guest workers. Agricultural guest workers enter through the H-2A visa program, and other guest workers enter through the H-2B visa program.
Date: July 28, 2009
Creator: Bruno, Andorra
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Unaccompanied Alien Children--Legal Issues: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Description: This report addresses the questions regarding the number of children arriving at the United States southern border, their reasons for coming to the United States, and current and potential responses of the federal government and other entities to their arrival
Date: July 18, 2014
Creator: Manuel, Kate M. & Garcia, Michael John
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview

Description: This report opens with an analysis of the data of the recent surge in UAC crossing the border. It then discusses current policy on the treatment, care, and custody of the population. The processing and treatment of UAC is detailed, with a discussion of each agency that is involved with the population. The report then discusses both Administrative and Congressional action to deal with the current crisis. As this issue is still emerging, the report concludes with a series of questions related to … more
Date: July 28, 2014
Creator: Seghetti, Lisa; Siskin, Alison & Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Sanctuary Jurisdictions and Criminal Aliens: In Brief

Description: This report examines the interplay between the federal government -- i.e., Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) -- and state and local jurisdictions in enforcing immigration law, with a specific focus on noncitizens who have been convicted of a crime. It briefly outlines the evolution of the cooperation among law enforcement agencies, then discusses current administrative efforts to involve state and local law enforcement, and explores major programs and federal resources available to thos… more
Date: July 24, 2015
Creator: Kandel, William A. & Seghetti, Lisa
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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What Does the Supreme Court's 4-4 Split in Texas Mean for Future Executive Action as to Immigration?

Description: This legal sidebar discusses the Supreme Court's recent 4-4 split in Texas v. United States and how it might affect the Executive's ability to "go it alone" on immigration in the future. The nominee or presumptive nominee for President of both major political parties has expressed a willingness to take certain actions as to immigration on his or her own, without waiting for Congress to enact further legislation (although the specific actions they would take vary, depending upon their policies o… more
Date: July 25, 2016
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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U.S. Immigration Policy on Permanent Admissions

Description: This report discusses the four major principles underlie current U.S. policy on permanent immigration: the reunification of families, the admission of immigrants with needed skills, the protection of refugees, and the diversity of admissions by country of origin.
Date: July 20, 2009
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Visa Issuances: Policy, Issues, and Legislation

Description: This report addresses the current policy on immigration visa issuances and options for reassigning this function to the proposed Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It opens with an overview of visa issuances, with sections on procedures for aliens coming to live in the United States permanently and on procedures for aliens admitted for temporary stays. An analysis of the grounds for excluding aliens follows. The report summarizes the debate on transferring visaissuance policy functions to h… more
Date: July 31, 2002
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Asylum Policies for Unaccompanied Children Compared with Expedited Removal Policies for Unauthorized Adults: In Brief

Description: This report focuses on unaccompanied alien children as asylum seekers. To bring clarity to the unique policies toward unaccompanied children, this report compares their treatment to that of unauthorized adults and families with children in the specific contexts of asylum and expedited removal.
Date: July 30, 2014
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Immigration: Terrorist Grounds for Exclusion and Removal of Aliens

Description: This report focuses on the terrorism-related grounds for inadmissibility and deportation/removal. It opens with an overview of the terror-related grounds as they evolved through key legislation enacted in recent years. The section on current law explains the legal definitions of "terrorist activity," "engage in terrorist activity," and "terrorist organization," and describes the terror-related grounds for inadmissibility and removal. The report then discusses the alien screening process to dete… more
Date: July 2, 2008
Creator: Garcia, Michael John & Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Immigration Issues in Trade Agreements

Description: The connections between trade and migration areas longstanding as the historic movements of goods and people. The desire for commerce may often be the principal motivation, but they need to send people to facilitate the transactions soon follows. Recognition of this phenomenon is incorporated into the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which includes provisions for aliens who are entering the The United States solely as “treaty traders” and “treaty investors.” Although the United States has… more
Date: July 11, 2005
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Immigration and Naturalization Service Reorganization and Related Legislative Proposals

Description: The Immigration and NaturalizationService (INS), with a current annual budget of $5.0 billion, is the primary agency charged with enforcing the nation’s immigration law. Regulating immigration can be viewed as having two basic components:stemming illegal immigration (enforcement) and facilitating legal immigration (service). The Bush Administration supports separating service from enforcement. While no legislation has been acted upon in the 107th Congress at this date, restructuring proposals m… more
Date: July 24, 2001
Creator: Krouse, William J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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