There are nearly 40 million first-generation immigrants living in our country today, including about 10 million who are undocumented. About 60% of all illegal immigrants are from Mexico and about 20% are from Central America. Family reunification is the reason for most legal immigration to the US. The number of immigrants who became legal permanent residents in 2009 as a result of family reunification (66%) exceeded those who became legal residents on the basis of employment skills (13%) or for humanitarian reasons (17%).

In 2013, a bipartisan Senate passed a comprehensive approach to modernizing our immigration system that provided a tough but fair 13-year pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. It also created a new merit-based visa category to clear the backlog of more than 4 million people who had been waiting for years or decades to get a green card. This bill also provided for the largest investment in border security to date. By a vote of 68 to 32, the Senate passed S.744 - Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. But House Speaker John Boehner refused to consider it — or any other form of immigration reform. Had this bill become law, and it likely would’ve passed Congress, studies showed it would’ve brought millions of people off the economic sidelines and put them on a pathway to citizenship. It also would have added $1.2 trillion to the economy, increase all Americans’ overall income by $625 billion and create an annual average of 145,000 jobs over a decade.

Pending Legislation: H.R.4393 - To secure the border and reform the immigration laws
Sponsor: Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (FL)
Status: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Homeland Security, Ways and Means, Transportation and Infrastructure, Education and Workforce, Oversight and Government Reform, and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,
House Speaker: Speaker Mike Johnson (LA)