Immigration Law and Practice

Immigration is shaping the United States. On a daily basis, immigrants come to reunite with close family members, to fill skilled employment positions where no qualified U.S. worker is available, or to find protection from persecution in their home countries. Some individuals come for a temporary purpose, while others come to live permanently. More than one in ten U.S. residents are foreign-born.

Migration also transforms individuals. Immigrants frequently marry U.S. citizens, have children who are U.S. citizens at birth, buy homes, start businesses, and are active in civic, cultural, and religious organizations and activities. Approximately one out of seven married-couple families has at least one-foreign born spouse (14 percent of all married couples or 7.7 million) and one in five children under age 18 (14 million in all) is either an immigrant or is a member of an immigrant family. After an immigrant has spent a required number of years in the United States as a lawful permanent resident, and can demonstrate an understanding of the English language and of U.S. history and civics and meet other criteria, she or he can apply to become a U.S. citizen through the naturalization process.

Immigration to the United States is highly regulated. Categories of immigrants, how they receive permission to come to the United States, and when and why they are required to leave, are issues that are controlled by federal law. The Immigration and Nationality Act covers the categories of persons that may enter the United States temporarily and permanently. It governs who must be denied entry, as well as when and how noncitizens who are in the United States can be removed. It also determines how long-term U.S. residents can naturalize to become U.S. citizens, and those rare occasions when naturalized citizenship can be revoked.

Immigration terminology.

Immigration law has an extensive specialized vocabulary and divides foreign-born individuals into a variety of categories, each with its own eligibility criteria and characteristics. The major categories of aliens - immigrants, refugees (including those resettled from abroad and asylees), and nonimmigrants - are described briefly in the glossary. These categories also reflect the three principles that have historically guided U.S. immigration policy: family reunification, provision of needed workers, and protection of refugees fleeing persecution.