Listen to Gordon H. Hanson, professor of economics at the University of California, San Diego, discuss immigration reform as part of CFR's State and Local Officials Conference Call Series.

Learn more about CFR's State and Local Officials Initiative.

This panel examined the economic, social, and political integration of immigrants into American society, and how the current immigration bill will affect this growing population.

This panel examined the history of immigration policy in this country, the impact of immigration on American culture, the challenges facing immigrants under the current system, and the implications of the legislative proposals now being debated.

Listen to experts discuss the history of immigration in the United States and its implications for the current immigration debate.

Listen to experts discuss the dynamics of Latin American immigration in the United States and how it is affecting current legislation.

Watch experts discuss the history of immigration in the United States and its implications for the current immigration debate.

Watch experts discuss the dynamics of Latin American immigration in the United States and how it is affecting current legislation.

Clive Crook discusses the "baffling politics" of immigration in the United States.

While immigration policy reform is long overdue, the solutions now being considered by Congress are unlikely to solve the problem, says a new Council Special Report. By creating a guest worker scheme that replicates the flaws of the current legal immigration system, Congress is failing to understand the economic incentives that drive illegal immigration. “In their efforts to gain control over illegal immigration, Congress and the administration need to be cautious that the economic costs do not outstrip the putative benefits,” warns the report, The Economic Logic of Illegal Immigration.

As Congress prepares to revive attempts at immigration reform, some experts are urging a more comprehensive look at the economics of worker flows.

This report examines the economics of illegal immigration and finds that the fiscal benefits of illegal immigration offset its costs. Further, the report finds that the flexibility provided by the illegal immigration system that benefits the U.S. economy cannot be provided by the legal immigration system.

Immigration experts Bruce Fein and Marc R. Rosenblum debate the wisdom of offering a path to citizenship for the estimated twelve million illegal immigrants in the United States.

The Urban Institute reports on the characteristics of illegal immigrants in the Los Angeles area, California, and the United States as a whole (PDF).

CFR's Julia E. Sweig says President Bush’s trip to five Latin American nations “went as badly as I expected it to.”