Council on Foreign Relations

An estimated twelve million illegal immigrants live in the United States, up from five million just ten years ago. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2005 some 78 percent of this population was from Latin America. Despite these startling statistics, U.S. immigration law has not changed in twenty years. There is agreement across the political spectrum that the status quo does not work and that immigration reform is necessary, said Deborah W. Meyers, senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute. Yet as migration policy experts, immigration lawyers, and journalists discussed in a recent symposium hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations, “The Dynamics of Immigration and Integration in the Western Hemisphere,” the specifics of how to reform U.S. immigration law have provoked heated debate. Panelists discussed the contentious dynamics of U.S. immigration reform from the perspectives of U.S. policymakers, the general public, and immigrants themselves. The symposium was the final event in this year’s “Latin America, America Latin” series at the Council, organized by Council Fellow for Latin America Studies Shannon O’Neil and made possible by the generosity of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Summary Report of Symposium: Downloadable PDF

Council Report: The Economic Logic of Illegal Immigration

Daily Analysis Brief: The Ys and Zs of Immigration

Op-Ed: “The Fundamental Flaws of Immigration Reform” by Shannon O’Neil (washingtonpost.com)

Op-Ed: “Not Enough Immigrants” by Shannon O’Neil (Los Angeles Times)

Op-Ed: “The Low Risk From Immigrants” by Sebastian Mallaby (Washington Post)

Campaign 2008: Issue Tracker—The Candidates on Immigration

Foreign Affairs: “Immigration Nation” by Tamar Jacoby (November/December 2006)

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