The recession has added fuel to the debate over skilled-worker visas, including a recent congressional effort to create stricter rules. CFR's Jagdish Bhagwati says the United States should be welcoming skilled workers and other immigrants.

Watch members of the CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy discuss the findings and recommendations of the Task Force report.

Listen to members of the CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy discuss the findings and recommendations of the Task Force report.

This year's Nobelists demonstrate the United States' success in science. But Edward Alden argues that we are jeopardizing this success through shortsighted immigration restrictions that make it difficult for the most talented and ambitious scientists to come here and remain.

This Report provides a comprehensive review and evaluation of the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) system of Immigration Detention. It relies on information gathered by Dr. Dora Schriro, most recently the Director of the Office of Detention Policy and Planning, during tours of 25 facilities, discussions with detainees and employees, meetings with over 100 non-governmental organizations and federal, state, and local officials, and the review of data and reports from governmental agencies and human rights organizations.

This Brookings Institution Governance Studies Event examines the difficulties of immigration reform and proposes a number of policy changes.

Edward Alden, CFR senior fellow and director of U.S. Immigration Policy, a CFR-Sponsored Independent Task Force Report, discusses immigration policy online with Politico readers.

This Task Force report offers a strategy for maintaining America's political and economic leadership by attracting skilled immigrants, a program of legalization for those living in the United States illegally, and steps for securing the country's borders in an effective and humane way.

This module features teaching notes by CFR Senior Fellow Edward Alden, author of The Closing of the American Border: Terrorism, Immigration, and Security Since 9/11, along with other resources to supplement the text. In this book, Mr. Alden examines the complicated interplay between the United States' need for homeland security and economic openness in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Listen to Janet Napolitano, U.S. secretary of homeland security, address the threat of networked terrorist organizations and the Department of Homeland Security's strategy to prevent and respond.

Janet Napolitano, U.S. secretary of homeland security, delivers an address at CFR.

Watch Janet Napolitano, U.S. secretary of homeland security, address the threat of networked terrorist organizations and the Department of Homeland Security's strategy to prevent and respond to them.

Jeb Bush, Thomas F. McLarty III, and Edward Alden discuss the recent Independent Task Force on Immigration Policy and argue, "Getting immigration policy right is fundamental to [U.S.] national interests -- our economic vitality, our diplomacy and our national security."

The Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy argues that the failure to reform immigration laws and procedures threatens to harm America's economy, jeopardize its diplomacy, and weaken its national security. It makes the case that maintaining America's political and economic leadership depends on attracting talented and hard-working immigrants, and on securing the country's borders in a smart, effective, and humane way. The report urges Congress and the administration to undertake a new comprehensive reform effort with three central components: the creation of a more efficient legal immigration system that responds to labor market needs and enhances U.S. competitiveness; a strong enforcement regime that secures U.S. borders and ends the hiring of unauthorized workers; and a program of earned legalization that will offer an opportunity for many illegal immigrants to earn the right to remain in the United States.

Jeb Bush says action by Congress on immigration reform faces more favorable conditions than previous attempts, but the complexity of the reforms needed remain a challenge.

Tamar Jacoby says the political landscape shifted enough that it is possible for the dynamics of immigration reform to change this time.