Immigration Policy in the United States: An Update
Abstract
The Immigration and Nationality Act sets immigration policy in the United States. The act provides for the lawful entry of foreign nationals on a permanent or temporary basis. In 2009, the United States granted legal permanent resident status to more than 1.1 million people. About two-thirds of those people were admitted to the United States on the basis of family connections to current U.S. citizens or residents. Also in 2009, roughly 5.8 million temporary visas were issued, about three-quarters of which were for people visiting the United States for business or tourism for a short period. This document updates the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO's) February 2006 paper Immigration Policy in the United States. It presents data through 2009 on permanent and temporary admissions of foreign nationals to the United States, the number and types of visas issued, the naturalization of residents, and enforcement of immigration laws - and makes comparisons with 2004, which was the most recent year for which most data were reported in the earlier paper. In keeping with CBO's mandate to provide objective, impartial analysis, this document does not make any recommendations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- AD1148420
Entities
Organizations
- Congressional Budget Office