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Immigration Reform a Top Obama Priority after Debt Ceiling Crisis

Fred Dews
Fred Dews Managing Editor, New Digital Products - Office of Communications

October 28, 2013

  • 4 min read

* Stay up-to-date on the latest about immigration reform from Brookings scholars on the weekly “This Week in Immigration Reform” blog post and on the immigration research topic page. *

Immigration reform is one of President Obama’s top priorities now that the debt ceiling and government shutdown crises have passed. Here is a roundup of immigration reform ideas and commentary from Brookings experts.

Here is a roundup of immigration reform ideas and commentary from Brookings experts:



What’s next for cities and metropolitan areas in immigration reform?

In a recent podcast, Audrey Singer explains where immigrants live now and how they contribute to their communities, and looks ahead to the prospect for comprehensive immigration reform at the federal and local levels.

The Hamilton Project finds that, for the Senate-passed immigration bill (S.744), “the average impact of immigrants on wages for U.S.-born workers is positive. The wage gain may be small … but nevertheless runs counter to the common belief that immigrants generally compete for jobs and bring down wages for U.S.-born workers.”

Immigrants “are opportunists,” say Audrey Singer and Jill Wilson, and “Immigration is a healthy sign that a region is viewed as appealing and opportunity rich.”

Jill Wilson and Kelly Bies offer an alternative to increased militarization of the border by “providing legal avenues for the types of immigrant workers that our economy has come to rely upon, implementing a sensible, reliable mechanism for employers to verify the legal work status of potential hires, and strengthening our visa entry/exit system to crack down on overstays.”

Learn how the Senate bill would affect temporary foreign workers, including high-skilled workers here under the H-1B visa and agricultural workers under the H-2A visa.

Follow “This Week in Immigration,” a series on The Avenue blog, to get the latest information on federal, state and local action on immigration.


What Percentage of U.S. Population Is Foreign Born?

Contemporary Immigrant Gateways in Historical Perspective—Audrey Singer’s report of where immigrants live now.

Get all Brookings research and commentary on immigration.

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