Immigrant Populations Eligible for Legalization under Pending Bills

From the Center for Migration Studies:

Of the 10.35 million US undocumented residents, 58 percent had lived in the United States for 10 years or more as of 2019. The increasingly long-tenured undocumented population in the United States have built their lives in the United States. A legalization program would strengthen their contributions to their families and communities.

The state of California is home to 41 percent of the farm workers that would be eligible for legal status under the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. If passed, focused outreach and capacity-building would be needed to ensure the success of the act.

Of those potentially eligible for legal status under the Dream Act of 2021 and the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021, the vast majority (86 percent and 85 percent, respectively) speak English well, very well, or only English. Potential beneficiaries of these bills may need less support with immigration applications than other populations, because they are highly integrated and many have experience navigating the immigration system through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) programs.

More than 1.8 million persons from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras would be eligible for TPS if Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas designated Guatemala and re-designated El Salvador and Honduras for TPS.

Source: Kerwin, Donald, José Pacas, and Robert Warren. 2021. Ready to Stay: A Comprehensive Analysis of the US Foreign-Born Populations Eligible for Special Legal Status Programs and for Legalization under Pending Bills. Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) Report. New York, NY. CMS.

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