Explaining the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Stalemate in Congress

Authors

Maryam T. Stevenson

Abstract

Historically, congressional policy goals on immigration have vacillated from open to restrictive as various micro and macro level factors have changed both inside and outside the Beltway. While Congress has been subjected to some immigration lobbies over time, it has largely been isolated from a general public opinion on immigration policy until fairly recently. Specifically, while Congress was successful at passing a variety of immigration policies through 1990 without much regard to public opinion, it has since failed even amid bipartisan congressional and presidential support. This article will offer a number of theories in order to explain why Congress has been unable to pass immigration reform at a time when there was significant bipartisan support for it among policy elites. It begins with a legislative history of immigration policy, explains the current immigration system and categories of admission into the United States, and then offers an explanation for the failure of immigration policy. It also teases a subsequent article that offers a policy prescription to overcome the challenges to reform outlined in this article.

Recommended Citation

Maryam T. Stevenson, Explaining the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Stalemate in Congress, 73 Cath. U. L. Rev. 400 (2024).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.edu/lawreview/vol73/iss3/6