Immigration Article of the Day: What Congress Needs to Break the Immigration Reform Stalemate by Maryam Stevenson

Abstract

This article provides a policy proposal for an immigration reform package that could be successful in the modern-day Congress. It is the second article of a  series  that  began  with  an  analysis  of  why  immigration  reform  has  been unsuccessful over the past thirty years despite bipartisan support. That article argued that polarization combined with the framing of immigration by the media and  political  elites  has  caused  the  public  to  view  immigration  as  a  one-dimensional policy largely defined by border concerns, when in reality, it is a robust  policy  area  that  encompasses  a  number  of  various  issues  (i.e.  family immigration,  skilled  and  unskilled  workers,  entrepreneurs,  asylum,  border control, etc.). This successive article offers a policy proposal that could eclipse those concerns and provides a path forward for Congress and policy elites.