November 21, 2014

Last evening, U.S. President Barack Obama gave a speech outlining his plan for changing the United States immigration system. Legal immigration into the United States is a difficult process. Only around 990,000 people in 2013 were granted a “green card” giving its holder the right to live and work in the United States. It is difficult to gauge the precise number of illegal immigrants in the United States, but the Department of Homeland Security estimates it to be some 11 million people.

U.S. Border Patrol members ride all-terrain vehicles near El Paso, Texas, looking for signs of illegal immigration and other crimes. Juarez, Mexico, rises in the background. (© Jim Young, Reuters/Landov)

For some time, politicians have called for a fix to the American immigration system, which many experts call “broken.” Some of the problems with the system that experts cite include the small number of visas available for highly educated immigrants, the way that current immigration laws can end up splitting families when children are born to or brought to the United States by parents who are illegal aliens, and the lack of a path for long-time workers in the United States to become documented workers or citizens. Also, because immigration papers are capped to a certain number of immigrants from each country per year, regardless of that country’s population or location, citizens from such countries as Mexico and China are disadvantaged for becoming legal immigrants to the United States.

Since 2001, American legislators have studied and debated versions of an act on Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors—the DREAM Act. This bill would offer a path to citizenship to illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children. In 2010, such a bill passed the House of Representatives but did not come to a vote in the Senate. In 2012, President Obama announced his administration would stop deporting qualified immigrants who had arrived in the United States illegally in childhood for at least two years under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program. The DREAM Act passed the Senate in 2013, but the House then refused to allow the bill to come to a vote as written. Because people in the United States have very strong opinions on immigration, it causes politicians to be hesitant to pass new laws concerning it.

President Obama decided to use executive order—a process whereby a president can make an official proclamation that becomes law—to implement some changes to the immigration policies of the United States. President Obama offered a “deal” to illegal immigrants last night, stating: “If you’ve been in America more than five years. If you have children who are American citizens or illegal residents. If you register, pass a criminal background check and you’re willing to pay your fair share of taxes, you’ll be able to apply to stay in this country temporarily without fear of deportation. You can come out of the shadows and get right with the law.” This change will not permit such illegal immigrants to become citizens, but it is a step that allows long-time residents and families to remain in the United States.

Additional World Book articles:

• Citizenship and Immigration Services, United States
• Illegal alien
• Immigration Politics 2006 (a Special Report)
• Passport to Reform: The INS and Homeland Security (a Special report)