U.S. IMMIGRATION REFORM EFFORTS SINCE 2013

Echoes of Ellis Island

Background (to date):
In June 2013, President Barack Obama secured passage by the U.S. Senate of a bipartisan immigration "overhaul bill" more comprehensive than unsuccessful proposals of President George W. Bush (who sought "legal status over time" without another "blanket amnesty" as in 1986). The Republican controlled House of Representatives, however, did not act on the 2013 Senate bill.

In November 2014, Obama announced "deferred actions" enabling about half of undocumented immigrants to legally live and work in America. These measures, somewhat exceeding those exercised by prior presidents and expanding on his 2012 DACA ("Dreamers") program, were blocked by court challenges. Addressing such objections to his actions in advance, Obama told Congress to "pass a bill" instead. There were, however, no further attempts at bipartisan immigration policy overhaul during the remainder of his presidential term.

In 2016, Donald Trump declared his desire to "have Mexico pay" for building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. After being elected president that November, he suggested that in places it could be a fence instead of a wall. In September, 2017, acting ahead of threatened lawsuits by state attorneys-general, the Trump administration announced that the DACA program would end after six more months unless Congress passed legislation formally authorizing it.

General articles here below

Specific analyses, listed to the left* here, and in

Commentary section at bottom of this page

* Smart phone users see under "US Immigration Reform..." here for links

Democrat deal with Trump on "Dreamers" ?

(NPR, Sept, 2017)

"A giant exercise in ignoring reality"

(Congress failing to acknowledge a choice limited to (a) failed executive actions, (b) failed immigration policy, or (c) enacting "something like DACA," Economist, Sept, 2017)