#FactsMatter
Follow along and find out why "getting in line" isn't that simple.
Click on an infographic to learn more.
We live in a globally interconnected society. Our immigration laws have not kept pace with the larger forces that cause migration.
The production of an iPhone, for example, is the result of hundreds of components sourced from over 40 countries, assembled internationally and bought in the United States by millions of people.
Source: lifewire.com / financesonline.com
While Americans take iPhones for granted, it is not acknowledged that these same forces, trade and technology, push people to move, and make moving easier than ever.
The “right way” to immigrate was – at one time in our nation’s history – simply just showing up. That changed with The Immigration Act of 1924, which required that visitors obtain immigration visas, which were limited by race and nationality.
Source: American Immigration Council
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 was intended to rectify racial restrictions on immigration. In effect, it also established numerical limits on legal immigration at the southern border, where none had previously existed. This caused the number of immigrants considered to be “unauthorized” to skyrocket.
Source: Douglas S. Massey, Princeton University and Mexican Migration Project / The Washington Post
The Trump Administration’s immigration agenda is unique in that it is focused on limiting legal immigration.
The immigration debate was previously centered on the fate of undocumented Americans. Rhetorically and legislatively, this administration have instead challenged traditional means of legal immigration.
Family-Based Immigrant Visas: The number of immigrants approved for family-based visas has dropped in 2018 to the lowest level in more than a decade. The administration has also proposed ending family-based reunification, lobbying instead for a “merit-based system.”
Source: Reuters
Asylum (Refugee) Status: The U.S. Justice Department has changed the definition as to what qualifies for asylum status. Now, victims of domestic abuse and gang violence can no longer apply.
Source: The New York Times
The 14th Amendment: President Trump stated that he wants to amend the 14th Amendment with an executive order. While it is impossible to amend the Constitution with an executive order, the President’s intentions are clear. This Administration seeks to end Birthright Citizenship, a core principle of democratic inclusion.
Source: Axios
If you are undocumented (even if you have DACA), there is no straightforward way to adjust your legal status.
To better understand this process, please see our infographic, “The Game of Getting Legal.” Click here
More than eight million U.S. citizens live with at least one family member who is undocumented.
Children make up the majority of these U.S. citizens; almost six million citizen children under the age of 18 live with a parent or family member who is undocumented. Consequently, immigration enforcement actions—and the ongoing threats associated with them—have significant physical, emotional, developmental, and economic repercussions on the children left behind.
Source: American Immigration Council
2/3 of all undocumented adults have lived in the United States for at least a decade.
About two-thirds (66%) of unauthorized immigrant adults in 2016 had been in the U.S. more than 10 years, compared with 41% in 2007.
Source: Pew Research Center
White immigrants did not universally “assimilate” and not all had papers.
22% of adult white immigrants did not speak English in 1910. 38% of adult white immigrants did not have papers in 1920.
Source: 1910 and 1920 U.S. Census of Population and Housing, 1920 U.S. Census Volume II, Sections 10 & 15
The majority of undocumented immigrants coming today are arriving via airplane, not across a land border.
In 2014, 42% of all undocumented Americans in the U.S. were “overstays.” Of those who arrived or joined the undocumented population in 2014, 66 percent were overstays. This trend is expected to continue.
Source: Center for Migration Studies of New York
