Improving the Immigration System through Executive Action

Immigrant Rights News 03.21,11

A report released by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) last week entitled “Executive Action on Immigration: Six Ways to Make the System Work Better” provides recommendations to the Executive Branch for improving the nation’s immigration system.

Despite a strong national consensus that the U.S. immigration system is badly broken, Congress has not passed legislation to comprehensively address the problem. By implementing changes from office of the president and improving coordination among federal agencies, MPI’s report recommends practical ways in which executive action could help repair the nation’s broken immigration system. The recommendations are based on improvement without a need for new legislation or major additional resources.

According to the report, the core goals of the immigration system are: promoting family unity, meeting legitimate labor market needs, offering protection from persecution, and awarding U.S. citizenship as an important step toward full incorporation into U.S. society.

MPI recommends the following:

  • Define and measure border control and border enforcement to provide a more informed and honest debate.
  • Create a White House Office on immigrant integration to support the success of immigrants and their children into communities.
  • Reform citizenship procedures for undocumented residents who are approved for naturalization.
  • Create standards for enforcement priorities and law enforcement practices that take place across agencies, programs, and processes.
  • Apply administrative changes concerning how cases are handled by the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice to alleviate burdens of clogged courts.
  • Provide guidance over cases in which due process requires legal counsel to persons in the removal proceedings.

Of particular concern to the civil rights community is the lack of due process or the protection of rights to those in removal proceedings. According to the report, “25 percent of detainees were housed in ‘grossly underserved facilities’ (with only one nonprofit attorney per 500 detainees) and 10 percent were held in facilities without access to any nonprofit attorneys.” For its part, The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and Human Rights supports legal representation and counsel for those in removal proceedings in order to guarantee our immigration system will uphold the basic legal rights of all persons.