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Crafting a Successful Legalization Program: Lessons from the Past

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Crafting a Successful Legalization Program: Lessons from the Past

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Pretty good overview of things to do to REDUCE restrictions on immigration.

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United States Department of Labor, Office of Administrative Law Judges, Immigration Collection

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Immigration Collection: Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals and Office of Administrative Law Judges

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Vouchers for Naturalization Application Fee

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Vouchers for Naturalization Application Fee

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Countries receiving refugees could pave the way for integration by sending them to the place where it would be easiest for them to find employment. Using historical data from the United States and Switzerland, IPL designed an algorithm that matches refugees to their optimal city or town.

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Article on Barriers to Legal Immigration

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Article on Barriers to Legal Immigration

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Immigrants who want to become U.S. citizens face barriers from the high cost of the naturalization application, according to a new Stanford study. The work suggests that lowering the federal application fees, or creating local programs to provide financial assistance to cover them, could help more people gain the benefits of citizenship, including the right to vote and participate in democracy.

The findings came from studying low-income immigrants in New York who registered for a lottery to receive vouchers that cover the fee to apply for U.S. citizenship, which is now $725.

The research team, led by Stanford's Immigration Policy Lab (IPL), partnered with the New York State Office for New Americans and two foundations, Robin Hood and the New York Community Trust, to develop a first-of-its-kind public-private naturalization program called NaturalizeNY. The program was launched in 2016 by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The researchers showed that naturalization application rates jumped by 41 percent among the immigrants who got the vouchers compared to those who did not.

"This study provides critical evidence that high fees are an important barrier to citizenship for low-income immigrants," said Jens Hainmueller, a professor of political science at Stanford and a lead author on the research paper, published Jan. 15 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "More importantly, IPL has co-developed a program model to address this barrier, a solution that can be rolled out in communities across the country."

Based on their findings, the researchers suggest increasing naturalization by introducing a multi-tiered fee structure in which wealthier applicants pay higher fees. They also encourage local communities to establish public-private funding to support low-income immigrants in paying for naturalization fees.

Barriers to naturalization

Naturalization provides immigrants with virtually the same rights and benefits as native-born citizens, including the right to vote, access to federal jobs and protection from deportation. A recent report from the National Academy of Sciences found that having more naturalized immigrants is good for the national income and increases political participation and integration of those immigrants within American society.

Surveys show that most U.S. immigrants want to become citizens. But compared to other similar countries, like the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, the United States has a lower naturalization rate, which has been decreasing over recent decades.

In 1970, 64 percent of legal foreign-born residents had become citizens, and that proportion dropped to 56 percent in 2011. At the same time, the naturalization application fee has increased from $35 (or $80.25 in 2017 dollars) in 1985 to $725 in 2017.

Previous research on barriers to naturalization relied on data from censuses and surveys and focused on individual characteristics of the immigrants, such as language skills, resources and country of origin. This new study provides the first causal data to reveal the magnitude of the financial barrier immigrants face, while also providing a model approach for communities to help low-income immigrants naturalize.

The program and the study

The Immigration Policy Lab conducts workshops with government agencies and immigration service providers to create a research agenda that spurs policy innovation. The researchers first met with the New York State Office for New Americans in 2015.

"The initial idea of providing financial assistance for application fees to low-income immigrants struck us as an exciting opportunity, and through a collaborative effort, we were able to create an innovative statewide program coupled with rigorous evaluation," said Duncan Lawrence, executive director of the Immigration Policy Lab and a co-author of the study.

As a result of the program's lottery, 336 immigrants received fee vouchers while 527 did not. The vouchers roughly doubled the naturalization application rate, from 37 percent among those without a voucher to 78 percent among recipients.

Of people who applied for the lottery, 1,760 immigrants were identified as likely to be eligible for a federal fee waiver and were notified of the federal program. The researchers then randomly encouraged groups of registrants to apply for the waiver - with emails, phone calls, letters and even a $10 metro card to cover transportation costs. But none of that additional encouragement increased application rates.

"It's clear that we have more to learn about what sorts of cost-effective nudges may or may not work," Lawrence said. "Raising awareness of the fee waiver itself may be an important piece of the puzzle."

The group hopes to continue studying the barriers low-income immigrants face in applying for citizenship. They will also track the lives of the immigrants who naturalized as a result of the program and those who did not.

"Ultimately we want to look at how naturalization affects the lives of immigrants and communities," said Michael Hotard, a study co-author and IPL program manager who coordinates the multi-year study.

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Low-income immigrants face barriers to U.S. citizenship | Stanford News

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Immigrants who want to become U.S. citizens face barriers from the high cost of the naturalization application, according to a new Stanford study. The work suggests that lowering the federal application fees, or creating local programs to provide financial assistance to cover them, could help more people gain the benefits of citizenship, including the right to vote and participate in democracy.

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Overview

In the United States, the area of "Immigration Law" refers to the laws and enforcements dealing with immigration into the United States and the deportation of individuals from the United States.

Immigration law is primarily dealt with at the federal level (although, some states have passed laws to enforce existing federal immigration laws). As such, this entry deals exclusively with federal immigration law.

Federal immigration law determines whether a person is an alien (which is the term used by the Internal Revenue Service), the rights, duties, and obligations associated with being an alien in the United States, and how aliens gain residence or citizenship within the United States. It also provides the means by which certain aliens can become legally naturalized citizens with full rights of citizenship. Immigration law serves as a gatekeeper for the nation's border, determining who may enter, how long they may stay, and when they must leave.

Modern Immigration Law

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA), also known as the McCarran-Walter Act, eliminated all race-based quotas, replacing them with purely nationality-based quotas. The continues to influence the field of American immigration law.

When Congress passed the , it defined an "alien" as any person lacking citizenship or status as a national of the United States. Different categories of aliens include resident and nonresident, immigrant and nonimmigrant, and documented and undocumented ("illegal"). The terms "documented" and "undocumented" refer to whether an arriving alien has the proper records and identification for admission into the U.S. Having the proper records and identification typically requires the alien to possess a valid, unexpired passport and either a visa, border crossing identification card, permanent resident card, or a reentry permit. The INA expressly refuses stowaway aliens entry into the U.S.

The need to curtail illegal immigration prompted Congress to enact the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986. The IRCA toughened criminal sanctions for employers who hired illegal aliens, denied illegal aliens federally funded welfare benefits, and legitimized some aliens through an amnesty program. The Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments of 1986 sought to limit the practice of marrying to obtain citizenship. The Immigration Act of 1990 thoroughly revamped the INA by equalizing the allocation of visas across foreign nations, eliminating archaic rules, and encouraging worldwide immigration.

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) of 1996 revolutionized the process of alien entry into the United States. The IIRIRA eliminated the term "entry," replacing it with "admission." An application for admission occurs whenever an alien arrives in the U.S., regardless of whether the arrival occurs at a designated port-of-entry. Applicants at either designated ports or otherwise must submit to an inspection by U.S. customs, even if the applicant possesses an immigrant visa. The IIRIRA also employs the term "arriving alien" to describe applicant aliens attempting to enter the U.S., regardless of whether they arrive at a designated port, a non-designated point on the border, or are located in U.S. waters and brought to shore.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the federal agency designed to foster increased intelligence sharing and dialogue between agencies responsible for responding to domestic emergencies, such as natural disasters and domestic terrorism. Within the Department, three different agencies - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) - all handle separate duties related to the enforcement of immigration laws. Currently, CBP handles the border patrol duties, USCIS handles naturalization, asylum, and permanent residence functions, and the ICE handles deportation, intelligence, and various investigatory functions.

Visas

By controlling the visa process, the federal government can achieve the goals of its immigration policies. There are two types of visas: immigrant visas and nonimmigrant visas. The government primarily issues nonimmigrant visas to tourists and temporary business visitors. The government divides nonimmigrant visas into eighteen different types. For most of these, the government does not impose a cap on the number that may be granted in a year. Only a few categories of nonimmigrant visas allow their holders to work in the United States.

Immigrant visas, however, permit their holders to stay in the United States permanently to eventually apply for citizenship. Aliens with immigrant visas can also work in the United States. Congress limits the quantity of immigrant visas. The Immigration Act of 1990 set the annual limit at 675,000. However this limit is sometimes referred to as the "permeable cap," because it is often exceeded due to a number of exceptions. Many immigrant visas remain subject to per-country caps.

Refugee and Asylum Seekers

The Refugee Act of 1980 defines the U.S. laws relating to refugee immigrants. Under the Refugee Act, the term " refugee" refers to aliens with a fear of persecution upon returning to their homelands, stemming from their religion, race, nationality, membership in certain social groups, or political opinions.

The United States, however, denies refugee status to any alien who actively persecuted individuals of a certain race, political opinion, religion, nationality, or members of a certain social group. As a matter of public policy, the government also typically refuses refugee applicants previously convicted of murderer. For refugees who have "firmly resettled" in another country, the United States will deny a request for refugee admission. The government considers refugees "firmly resettled" if the refugees have received an offer of citizenship, permanent residency, or some other permanent status from a foreign country.

Under international law, the Geneva Conventions, and the laws of the United States, foreign citizens who have become disillusioned with their homeland cannot take temporary refuge within the United States. The Refugee Act of 1980 specifically leaves out temporary refuge as a form of refugee status that the U.S. government will recognize.

To qualify for refugee status under the persecution provision, the refugee applicant must prove actual fear. A proof of actual fear requires meeting both a subjective and an objective test. The subjective test requires that the refugee actually have an honest and genuine fear of being persecuted for some immutable trait, such as religion, race, and nationality. Seekers of asylum must show a fear that membership in a social or political group has caused past persecution or has caused a well-founded fear that persecution will occur upon returning. The applicant meets the objective standard by showing credible and direct evidence that a reasonable possibility of persecution exists upon the applicant's return to the homeland.

Deportation

Deportation refers to the official removal of an alien from the United States. The U.S. government can initiate deportation proceedings against aliens who commit an aggravated felony within the United States after being admitted. An alien's failure to register a change of address renders the alien deportable, unless the failure resulted from an excusable circumstance or mistake. If the government determines that a particular alien gained entry into the country through the use of a falsified document or otherwise fraudulent means, the government may deport.

Other common grounds for deportation include the following: aiding or encouraging another alien to enter the country illegally; engaging in marriage fraud to gain U.S. admission; participating in an activity that threatens national security; voting unlawfully; and failing to update the government with a residential address every three months, regardless of whether the address has changed.

If the government brings a proceeding for deportation because of fraud or falsification, the government bears the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that alleged falsification or fraud occurred and that the falsification or fraud proved material to the granting of admission to the alien. Upon such a proof, the government has established a rebuttable presumption that the alien gained admission through material falsification or fraud. To rebut the presumption, the alien must demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that admission would have been granted even without the falsification or fraud.

Deferred Action (DACA/DAPA)

Deferred action is an administrative relief from deportation. Through deferred action, a non U.S. citizen may apply for employment authorization for the duration of the temporary stay. Recipients of deferred action grants, however, cannot claim lawful status during that time, but they are considered lawfully present in the U.S. In other words, they are not accruing unlawful presence, which could later render them inadmissible to the U.S. if and when they apply for permanent legal status. DHS grants deferred action on a case-by-case basis.

In 2012, the Obama administration introduced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The program aimed to grant deferred action to those under 31 as of June 15, 2012, who entered the U.S. before their sixteenth birthday and continuously resided in the U.S. without lawful status since at least June 15, 2007. The policy rationale was to prevent deportation of young adults and children, who grew up as Americans yet did not voluntarily enter the U.S. unlawfully. The Obama administration later expanded the DACA program by extending the period from two to three years, removing the age requirement, and easing the continuous residency requirement. The executive actions also introduced the new Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program. The DAPA program permits parents of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents (LPR) to apply for deferred action if they have continuously resided in the U.S. since January 1, 2010 and had a U.S. citizen or LPR child as of November 20, 2014.

The Trump administration has expressed its desire to end DACA and DAPA and has taken actions to do so. However, there have been numerous legal challenges in response, and as such, this is an issue that is continually evolving.

Further Reading

For more on immigration law, see this Florida State University Law Review article, this University of Florida Law Review article, and this University of Seattle Law Review article.

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In the United States, the area of "Immigration Law" refers to the laws and enforcements dealing with immigration into the United States and the deportation of individuals from the United States. Immigration law is primarily dealt with at the federal level (although, some states have passed laws to enforce existing federal immigration laws).

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Where do immigrants come from and where do they go
https://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/yearbook/2016/table14

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/maps-foreign-born-united-states

https://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/yearbook/2016

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The U.S citizenship test, and what do immigrants need to know to be a citizen in America?
https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/teachers/educational-products/100-civics-questions-and-answers-mp3-audio-english-version

https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learners/study-test

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Senator Feinstein Bill to Reform H2-A Visas

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Senator Feinstein Bill to Reform H2-A Visas

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The bill would STREAMLINE (i.e. reduce red tape) for the H-2A seasonal worker program so that it realistically responds to agriculture needs.

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Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today re-introduced legislation to provide much-needed relief to the nation's ongoing agriculture labor shortage.

The Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits and Security Act (AgJOBS) would reform the broken H-2A seasonal worker program, provide farmers with the stable, legal workforce they deserve, and offer a pathway to citizenship for hard-working, law-abiding immigrants already employed on American farms.

"Today across the United States, there are not enough agricultural workers to pick, prune, pack or harvest our country's crops. With an inadequate supply of workers, farmers from Maine to California, and from Washington State to Georgia, have watched their produce rot and their farms lay fallow over the years," Senator Feinstein said.
"As a result, billions of dollars are being drained out of our already struggling economy. This legislation would help to ensure a consistent, reliable agriculture work force to ensure that farmers and growers never again lose their crops because of a lack of workers."
Sixteen senators have signed on as co-sponsors: Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.); Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.); Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.); Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.); Robert Casey (D-Pa.); Chris Dodd (D-Conn.); Russ Feingold (D-Wis.); Ted Kauffman (D-Del.); Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.); John Kerry (D-Mass.); Herb Kohl (D-Wis.); Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.); Carl Levin (D-Mich.); Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.); Patty Murray (D-Wash.); and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.)

"In Vermont, as in many states across the country, farmers are feeling the effects of a scarce labor pool," said Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) "This problem is particularly acute for the dairy industry, where the employment needs are year-round and require a significant investment from the farmer in terms of training and development. I have long been concerned about the dairy farmers' difficulties in trying to use the agricultural visa program. The AgJOBS bill will give dairy farmers needing workers the opportunity to lawfully hire foreign workers who can remain with their employers for a meaningful period of time."

"California's farmers and growers are still waiting for a solution to the persistent labor shortages that each year cost our state's agricultural economy billions of dollars," said Senator Boxer (D-Calif.) "The AgJobs bill will provide our agricultural community with a stable and reliable workforce, and I look forward to working with Senator Feinstein and my colleagues to see that this bill finally becomes law."

"During these rough economic times, our own farmers can't find enough workers," said Senator Nelson (D-Fla.) "And the system for bringing agricultural workers here legally is broken. We need to get it fixed, which is why we're pressing for this legislation."

The AgJOBS bill is a two-part bill. The first part would create a five-year pilot program to identify undocumented agricultural workers and legalize the immigration status for those who have been working in the United States for the past two years or more. The second part would reform the H-2A visa system to provide farmers and growers with a legal path to bring guest workers to the United States to harvest their crops.

The labor needs of the nation's agriculture industry remain consistent. Across the country, farmers are reporting that they do not have enough labor to plant, tend and harvest their crops. There are not enough workers to milk cows. As a result, farmers have been forced to decrease the size of their farms and switch to less labor intensive and less profitable crops. Efforts have been made for years to get Americans to do the work, but they simply won't do it.

Other farmers are simply closing up shop. Between 2007 and 2008, 1.56 million acres of farmland were shut down in the United States.
Consider some of these stories:

Keith Eckel, of Clarks Summit, Pa. was one of the largest tomato growers in the Northeast. For seven weeks a year, 120 workers would pick, pack and ship 125 trailer loads of tomatoes. But in March 2008, after decades of growing tomatoes, he announced he was calling it quits. State, local and federal crackdowns on illegal immigration broke his supply chain of laborers and he feared that the labor he needed to harvest his tomatoes wouldn't be there when he needed it. His tomato crop was valued at $1.5 million to $2 million. In the year before closing down, Eckel had planted 2.3 million tomato plants on 340 acres, supplying nearly 75 percent of the fresh tomatoes in produce aisles between Boston and Washington, D.C.

Gebbers Farms, located in Washington's Cascade Range, operates one of the largest apple orchards in the world, with more than 5,000 acres. The company, in business for more than a century, has persistently struggled to find enough workers for recent harvests. Since 2005, the fruit has gone unpicked and much of what was picked came off the trees too late. (Associated Press "Farm Worker Programs Debated as Economy Sours" 2/11/09)

Steve Scaroni couldn't find enough workers to work at his lettuce processing plant in California. So he moved the plant to Guanajuato, Mexico to get the labor force that he needed. He now has 2,000 acres in Mexico and 500 employees. He exports to the United States about 2 million pounds of lettuce a week. In fact, American farmers have moved more than 84,000 acres of agriculture production and 22,285 jobs to the Mexican states of Baja California, Sonora and Guanajuato.

If Congress does not act quickly to pass AgJOBS, the United States stands to lose $5 billion to $9 billion in sales to foreign competition in the next year or two. California lost nearly $1 billion between 2005 and 2006. It is estimated that the state will lose between $1.7 billion in sales in the next year.

When farmers suffer, there is a ripple effect felt throughout the economy, including in farm equipment manufacturing, packaging, processing, transportation, marketing, lending and insurance. For every job lost on family farms and ranches, the country loses approximately three jobs in other agriculture-related industries.

Many industries depend heavily on agribusiness for survival. Take California's Port of Oakland: last year more than 750 metric tons of agricultural products worth roughly $2.64 billion were shipped through the port, representing 40 percent of the port's exports.

"The central issue here is not immigration - it is about protecting and preserving the American economy," Senator Feinstein said. "We in Congress should be doing everything possible to prevent U.S. farms from shutting down."

This new legislation has been negotiated with and is backed by both laborers and growers. Well over 200 national and state agricultural organizations have signed on in support, including Western Growers, the Dairy Farmers of America, the National Cattlemens' Beef Association, the National Milk Producers Federation and the National Council of Agricultural Employers.

Reps. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) and Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) have introduced companion legislation in the House.

Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits and Security Act (AgJOBS)

Undocumented agriculture workers would be eligible for a "blue card" if they can demonstrate having worked in American agriculture for at least 150 work days (or 863 hours) over the previous two years before December 31, 2008.

The blue card holder would be required to work in American agriculture for an additional three years (working at least150 work days per year) or five years (working at least 100 work days per year), before becoming eligible to apply for a green card to become a permanent legal resident.

The blue card would entitle the worker to a temporary legal resident status. The total number of blue cards would be capped at 1.35 million over a five-year period, and the program would sunset after five years.

Before applying for a green card, participants would be required to pay a fine of $500, show that they are current on their taxes, and show that they have not been convicted of any crime that involves bodily injury, the threat of serious bodily injury, or harm to property in excess of $500.

Employment would be verified through employer issued statements, pay stubs, W-2 forms, employer contracts, time cards, employer sponsored health care or payment of taxes.

All blue cards would have encrypted, biometric identifiers and contain other anti-counterfeiting protection.

The bill also would streamline the H-2A seasonal worker program so that it realistically responds to agriculture needs.

The bill would shorten the labor certification process, which now often takes 60 days or more, and reduce the approval time to 48 to 72 hours.

The bill also would require that growers first advertise and recruit U.S. workers in the local area by filing job notifications with state employment agencies.

The Department of Labor would be required to process H-2A applications within 7 days and notify the consulate or port of entry within 7 days of receipt.

The Adverse Effect Wage Rate would be frozen for three years, to be gradually replaced with a prevailing wage standard.

H-2A visas would be secure and counterfeit resistant.

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Senator Feinstein Introduces Legislation to Relieve Labor Crisis in Agriculture

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Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today re-introduced legislation to provide much-needed relief to the nation's ongoing agriculture labor shortage.

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Super complicated - it covers a lot more than just migrant farm workers. It also includes workers who come to build power plants and the like.

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Introduction

Foreign workers have been an essential but contentious feature of the U.S. economic landscape for generations. Since the United States launched its first migrant labor program, during World War I, Washington has struggled to balance the shifting needs of industry with the concerns of the domestic labor force. Meanwhile, the temporary worker debate has been complicated by high levels of illegal immigration and deficiencies in the U.S. government's visa tracking.

U.S. temporary foreign worker programs, sometimes referred to as guest worker programs, have more than doubled in size in recent decades: more than one million visas were granted in 2014, up from some four hundred thousand in 1994. The H1B, H2A, H2B, and H4 visas, the largest of these programs, have been the subject of some of the most heated debate. President Donald J. Trump has promised to make sweeping reforms of the temporary foreign worker programs and, as part of his " Buy American and Hire American " agenda, has directed federal agencies to review the H1B process.

What are the largest foreign worker visa programs?

The United States issued more than 530,000 visas for the H1B, H2A, H2B, and H4 visa programs in 2016, but the total number of workers participating in these programs at any one time is unknown because the various federal data systems that process visas are not linked. This includes H1B workers who have received visa extensions while awaiting permanent residency status, a process that can take more than a decade.

How did the temporary worker programs start?

The earliest U.S. temporary worker programs were established amid severe labor shortages during World War I and World War II to draw in agricultural laborers primarily from Mexico. It wasn't until 1952, however, that lawmakers attempted to regulate these programs, consolidating them in the comprehensive Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) passed that year. The INA introduced both the H2 visa and the precursor to the H1B, which was formally established in 1990; a visa category for spouses and children was created in 1970 as an amendment to the INA.

How have they changed in recent administrations?

Changes to major aspects of the programs, like numerical caps and wage requirements, must receive congressional approval, but presidents have the authority to unilaterally change some regulations and can determine how federal officials implement them. "A lot of the latitude an administration has is in how carefully the requirements are enforced," says Hiroshi Motomura, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

President Bill Clinton signed legislation significantly increasing the H1B cap for the years 1999-2001 in response to pressure from technology companies and strengthened enforcement of the program, placing additional requirements on employers with high proportions of H1B workers, known as H1B-dependent, and penalizing those who falsified information.

A lot of the latitude an administration has is in how carefully the requirements are enforced.

Hiroshi Motomura,

President George W. Bush reduced [PDF] the H1B program's numerical cap in 2004 to today's limit. In 2008, he loosened oversight of the H2A program's labor certification process, which had formerly been supervised by federal and state officials, by allowing employers to merely attest to complying with the program's requirements.

President Barack Obama reverted to a more supervised process in 2010, and in 2015 he began allowing some H4-visa holders to work to ease economic burdens on H1B families.

What is the process for getting a temporary work visa?

Several executive branch agencies are involved in reviewing and approving petitions for temporary work visas, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Labor (DOL), and the Department of State. Employers must obtain certification from the DOL and are required to show that there are no qualified or available U.S. workers for the open positions (oversight of this process varies by program). They then file a nonimmigrant worker petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a branch of DHS, on behalf of prospective workers.

Once approved, workers apply to their local U.S. embassy or consulate for a visa. Consular officers interview visa applicants to determine whether they qualify. H2A and H2B recipients typically must provide evidence they plan to return to their country of origin. H1B visas have in recent years been distributed based on a lottery as the number of applications has overwhelmingly exceeded the numerical cap. DHS officials still have the ability to deny visa holders at ports of entry on grounds related to health, crime, or security.

What is the debate over these programs?

H1B. Criticisms of the program are many and varied. Depending on the critic, the H1B program is too large, too small, too inflexible, poorly monitored, or overly regulated. Many corporate executives say the H1B program is necessary to make up for a shortage of qualified domestic applicants, particularly for those with advanced technical degrees. They say the government should expand and streamline the program, doing away with the current lottery system. On the other hand, U.S. labor groups allege that some businesses take advantage of the H1B program because they can get away with paying foreign workers less. All companies must attest they will comply with rules regarding wages and working conditions, but only H1B-dependent employers, under certain circumstances, must attest to having first sought out qualified American workers.

H2A/B. Some experts claim the red tape involved in temporary worker immigration leads to an inefficient system that spurs employers to hire from a massive pool of unauthorized immigra [PDF], many of whom are just as willing to avoid the required fees and paperwork. The agricultural worker program has no numerical cap, but it provided visas to only about 130,000 workers in 2016, a small portion of the estimated eight hundred thousand to 1.1 million hired farmworkers in the country. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that in recent years around half of farmworkers were undocumented, binding this issue to the broader debate over immigration enforcement. "When it's more difficult to come into the United States to work legally, all things being equal, more people enter to work illegally or overstay their visas," says Alex Nowrasteh of the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute. Despite the problems plaguing these programs, cutting them entirely would increase undocumented immigration, he says.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that in recent years around half of farmworkers were undocumented.

Some lawmakers and advocacy groups say the government agencies managing these programs do not go far enough to ensure that foreign workers are not displacing domestic workers. Others stress they fail to protect foreign workers from exploitation. Current rules and fee requirements make it difficult for temporary workers to change employers, which, advocates say, prevents them from negotiating for fair wages and improved working conditions. "One of the biggest problems our system has" is that the legislation behind these programs is inflexible, says the Urban Institute's Audrey Singer. "By the time we develop and pass these bills into law, they become outdated."

What are the prospects for reform?

President Trump said during the 2016 campaign that he would seek to reduce both legal and illegal immigration and implement a "merit-based" immigration system . In early 2017, the Trump administration quit expediting H1B visas and announced plans to crack down on fraud in the program. In April Trump an executive order directing federal agencies to reevaluate the immigration system with the aim of protecting U.S. workers, specifically requesting that those agencies suggest reforms to the H1B program to ensure visas are awarded to the most skilled or highest paid applicants.

Recent H1B bills have included proposals to raise the numerical cap, prioritize foreigners who have completed U.S. degree programs on student visas, and reduce fraud and abuse [PDF]. A bipartisan bill introduced in January 2017 would impose additional requirements on companies requesting H1B visas for workers they plan to pay less than $100,000.

Proposed reforms to the H2 programs have focused on streamlining their administration to shorten the labor certification and application process from up to two months to just days. Some have proposed overhauling or entirely replacing the programs; Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has pushed for an agricultural worker program focused not only on admitting new workers but also on identifying undocumented workers who have been in the country and granting them legal status. A Republican-sponsored bill introduced in May 2017 would allow state governments to craft their own temporary worker programs. Some proposals for H2A reforms have sought to allow employers to hire temporary workers for year-round, rather than just seasonal, labor needs. Other proposals have sought to broaden the scope of the types of labor authorized under the H2B program and the groups exempted from its numerical cap.

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Foreign workers have been an essential but contentious feature of the U.S. economic landscape for generations. Since the United States launched its first migrant labor program, during World War I, Washington has struggled to balance the shifting needs of industry with the concerns of the domestic labor force.

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Would NOT consider this a reliable source - but might be useful to gather ideas for legit research.

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Find Everything You Need to Know about Immigration - Avvo

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Avvo's definitive resource on immigration. Learn about immigration to the US, including visas, holds and deportations, and life in the US.

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Full Breakdown of the US Immigration Issue
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-immigration-debate-0

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Remove the naturalization test from the requirements to become a US citizen.
https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/civics-test-high-school-laws/2650949.html

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https://www.uscis.gov/i-589

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The prison industry's profits have doubled from the government's increased spending on detaining undocumented immigrants. And that may be one reason the prisons, in turn, spend so much on lobbying.
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/08/the-winners-in-immigration-control-private-prisons/279128/

Asylum 101: Different Pathways Asylum-Seekers, Refugees Take To Reach The US

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2017/may/08/asylum-seekers-refugees-san-diego/

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How Coleveland residents could help with immigration issues https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/oh-cuyahoga/cleveland-heights-residents-could-soon-weigh-in-on-immigration-issues-through-new-task-force

Requirements for naturalization

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Naturalization is the way that a person not born in the United States voluntarily becomes a U.S. citizen. Are you thinking about applying (PDF, 864 KB) for naturalization? Learn about the general 10 steps to naturalization (PDF, 797 KB).

Before you apply, you must meet a few requirements. Depending on your situation, different requirements may apply to you.

General Eligibility Requirements

Be at least 18 years old at the time you file Form N-400, Application for Naturalization.

Be a permanent resident (have a "Green Card") for at least 5 years.

Demonstrate continuous residence in the United States for at least 5 years immediately before the date you file Form N-400.

Show that you have been physically present in the United States for at least 30 months out of the 5 years immediately before the date you file Form N-400.

Show that you have lived for at least 3 months in the state or USCIS district where you apply. Students may apply for naturalization either where they go to school or where their family lives (if they are still financially dependent on their parents).

Be a person of good moral character.

Demonstrate an attachment to the principles and ideals of the U.S. Constitution.

Be able to read, write, and speak basic English.

Have a basic understanding of U.S. history and government (civics).

Take an oath of allegiance to the United States.

See the graphic below for a visual outline of the general requirements for naturalization.

For more detailed information on the naturalization process, please visit Citizenship Through Naturalization and the Path to U.S. Citizenship.

Certain applicants, because of their age and time as a permanent resident, do not have to take the English test for naturalization and may take the civics test in the language of their choice. For more information, see the exceptions and accommodations page on our website.

Additional Resources

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Naturalization is the way that a person not born in the United States voluntarily becomes a U.S. citizen. Are you thinking about applying (PDF, 864 KB) for naturalization? Learn about the general 10 steps to naturalization (PDF, 797 KB). Before you apply, you must meet a few requirements.

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Increased protections and eligibility for family-sponsored immigrants.
https://immigrationforum.org/blog/fact-sheet-family-based-immigration/
In the case of an alien subject to removal who is the parent of a U.S. citizen child, to authorize an immigration judge to decline to order such removal if the judge determines that action to be against the child's best interests.
https://www.uscis.gov/family/family-us-citizens/provisional-waiver/provisional-unlawful-presence-waivers

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Class of admissions

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A lawful permanent resident (LPR) or "green card" recipient may live and work anywhere in the United States and may apply to become U.S. citizens if they meet certain eligibility and admissibility requirements. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides several broad classes of admission for foreign nationals to gain LPR status, the largest of which focuses on admitting immigrants for the purpose of family reunification. Other major categories include economic and humanitarian immigrants, as well as immigrants from countries with relatively low levels of immigration to the United States.

Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens

The largest category of new LPRs consists of immediate relatives of U.S. citizens (spouses, children, and parents of U.S. citizens age 21 and older). Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are not subject to numerical limits and typically account for more than 40 percent of new LPRs annually.

Family-sponsored preferences

Family members not included in the immediate relative class of admission may be eligible for immigration under family-sponsored preferences. Categories are organized by priority.

Employment-based preferences

Those seeking to provide needed skills in the U.S. workforce or invest in new U.S. jobs may be eligible to immigrate under employment-based preferences. Categories are organized by priority.

Refugees and Asylees

The United States provides refuge to persons who have been persecuted or have a well-founded fear of persecution through two programs: a refugee program for persons outside the United States and their immediate relatives, and an asylum program for persons in the United States and their immediate relatives.

Diversity

Those who seek to immigrate to the United States from countries with relatively low levels of immigration may be eligible to seek immigration under the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program.

Other

Remaining admission categories are generally limited to persons admitted under special legislation.

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

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A lawful permanent resident (LPR) or "green card" recipient may live and work anywhere in the United States and may apply to become U.S. citizens if they meet certain eligibility and admissibility requirements. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides several broad classes of admission for foreign nationals to gain LPR status, the largest of which focuses on admitting immigrants for the purpose of family reunification.

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nship test, and what do immigrants need to know to be a citizen in America?
https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/teachers/educational-products/100-civics-questions-and-answers-mp3-audio-english-version   

https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learners/study-test 
Senator Feinstein Bill to Reform H2-A Visas
Senator Feinstein Bill to Reform H2-A Visas
The bill would STREAMLINE (i.e. reduce red tape) for the H-2A seasonal worker program so that it realistically responds to agriculture needs. 
 Senator Feinstein Introduces Legislation to Relieve Labor Crisis in Agriculture
Senator Feinstein Introduces Legislation to Relieve Labor Crisis in Agriculture
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today re-introduced legislation to provide much-needed relief to the nation's ongoing agriculture labor shortage.
united states senator for california
The H1B program
The H1B program
Super complicated - it covers a lot more than just migrant farm workers.  It also includes workers who come to build power plants and the like.  
 U.S. Temporary Foreign Worker Programs
U.S. Temporary Foreign Worker Programs
Foreign workers have been an essential but contentious feature of the U.S. economic landscape for generations. Since the United States launched its first migrant labor program, during World War I, Washington has struggled to balance the shifting needs of industry with the concerns of the domestic labor force.
council on foreign relations
Ania
Ania
Full Breakdown of the US Immigration Issue
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-immigration-debate-0
Ania
Ania
Remove the naturalization test from the requirements to become a US citizen.
https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/civics-test-high-school-laws/2650949.html
Isaiah
Isaiah
https://www.uscis.gov/i-589
Isaiah
Isaiah

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Reduce restrictions for family member allowance into the U.S. through family immigration programs https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/advantages-family-based-immigration
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Reduce restrictions for Middle-Eastern immigrants who have sustained significant losses during wartime.
https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/04/12/602022877/the-u-s-has-welcomed-only-11-syrian-refugees-this-year

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F.A.S.T Pass giving translators who helped foreign troops a fast pass to become american citizenship   ( https://theintercept.com/2018/04/15/iraq-war-translators-trump-refugee-visa/ )  ( http://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/pm/australian-veteran-protests-to-protect-afghan-translator/9664170 )
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the caravan of immigrants coming here to seek protection ( http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-caravan-migrants-border-20180430-story.html )