National Day of Action 2025 — Immigration: America’s Foundation, America’s Future

AILA National Day of Action Legislative Priorities

Concept 1: Immigration as a Driver of Economic Prosperity

Immigrants are an economic engine. They are entrepreneurs and founders of almost half Fortune 500 companies, and they contribute hundreds of billions of dollars in federal, state and local taxes. America needs new laws that attract and retain foreign-born talent in critical areas that will help strengthen our national security and keep America at the forefront of industry and innovation. Today, American businesses—in agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing and other vital sectors—are experiencing unprecedented labor shortages. Expanding and modernizing employment-based visa programs will help meet workforce demands, drive economic growth, and prevent disruptions that impact both businesses and consumers. The U.S. government must bolster legal migration by creating efficiency in the review and vetting process and reducing delays.

Congress Should:

• Improve Visa and Work Permit Processing: Increase funding for USCIS, DOS, and DOL to reduce delays, without sacrificing integrity, that prevents workers, entrepreneurs, and recent graduates from contributing to the U.S. economy.
• Increase Visa Availability: Increase visa caps, expand employment visas, and recapture unused visas, to align with economic needs. This includes improving and creating programs designed to attract top global talent, driving economic growth, addressing labor shortages, and maintaining U.S. leadership in innovation and security. Reintroduce and pass bills like the Jumpstart Act to enhance these efforts.
• Support American Businesses by Protecting Work Authorization Renewals: S.J Res 8 and H.J. Res. 23 threaten to destabilize communities and local economies by creating gaps in work authorization for individuals already lawfully employed in the U.S. The 540-day automatic extension prevents disruptions in employment for up to 468,000 people. Congress should protect American businesses and vote no on these resolutions.
• Support Families to Strengthen Communities: Family-based immigration is a proven driver of economic stability, yet families endure years—sometimes decades—of separation or uncertainty. Addressing and reducing these backlogs will promote family unity and strengthen the social fabric of American communities.

Supporting Data & Facts

• Immigrants play a significant role in addressing the U.S. healthcare labor shortage, comprising 18.2% of all healthcare workers. They comprise 26.5% of physicians and surgeons, 16% of registered nurses, and 23.1% of healthcare support staff, highlighting their essential contribution to the sector.
• Immigrants play a critical role in alleviating labor shortages in the U.S. agriculture industry, which has faced increased pressure from workforce gaps, leading to higher prices and potential threats to U.S. agriculture's competitiveness globally. Immigrants make up 26.1% of the agricultural workforce, helping to sustain the industry by filling essential positions in farming, crop production, and other agricultural sectors.
• Example: In 2023, immigrant households paid over $167 billion in rent in the housing market, and held over $6.6 trillion in housing wealth.
• Example: Almost 1 in 4 entrepreneurs in the country are immigrants.

Concept 2: Protect Undocumented Individuals and Create Legal Pathways

Millions of undocumented individuals—many of whom are essential workers, first responders, and long-standing members of our communities—lack a clear path to legal status. They have lived in the US for an average of 10 to 15 years and over 1 million are married to U.S. citizens, but they don’t have any way forward under our current laws. We need an orderly process for legalizing their status that requires thorough background checks, proof of paid taxes, and English proficiency.

Recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and humanitarian parole are vulnerable to losing their temporary legal status despite having contributed to our economy and society. The average DACA recipient has lived in the United States for more than 20 years and many of them have become parents to U.S. citizen children. Similarly, some TPS designated countries have retained their status for over a decade, such as El Salvador or Haiti. Now over 500,000 Haitian recipients of TPS have had their extension revoked and must live with uncertainty about their status. Permanent legal status is necessary to provide stability for these individuals and strengthen the workforce.

Congress Should:

• Create a Pathway to Citizenship: Give undocumented individuals, including Dreamers, DACA and TPS recipients, and others in limbo status, the opportunity to register and apply for permanent legal status.
• Support Protective Legislation: Pass laws like the American Dream and Promise Act of 2025, and the Afghan Adjustment Act to protect undocumented individuals who contributed to the nation.
• Support Legal Pathways for Migration: Humanitarian parole, the U.S. refugee program, and other tools that facilitate the orderly processing of migrants through legal pathways are essential to an effective legal immigration system and reduce migration at the U.S. southern border.

Supporting Data & Facts

• The creation of legal pathways, such as Uniting for Ukraine and the CHNV process, significantly reduced illegal border entries. After Uniting for Ukraine was implemented in May 2022, arrivals of Ukrainians at the southern border dropped by 99.9% from April 2022 to June 2023. Similarly, the CHNV process led to a 75% reduction in illegal entries from four countries, preventing about 750,000 illegal crossings by July 2023. Border Patrol arrests of individuals from these countries dropped from 38% to 9%.
• U.S. Government initiatives in allowing Americans to sponsor individuals from Ukraine, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela for temporary residence under parole status. With the United States offering legal entry opportunities, migration from the five countries to the United States and Mexican border has decreased.

Concept 3: Immigration Enforcement That Is Effective, Fair, and Orderly

The enforcement of immigration law is necessary for an effective, functioning immigration system. America needs secure borders, and the government should screen people who seek entry through a fast, orderly, and fair process. The rule of law requires a system that is accountable, humane and gives people their day in court to ensure them a fair chance to make their case to remain in the U.S.. Importantly, the law must be applied consistently and with finality to remove people who are in the U.S. without legal status and have no legal basis to stay. What does not work are inhumane and unlawful enforcement actions, such as ICE raids in schools, churches, and workplaces, which disrupt local economies and hurt American communities. Law enforcement resources are being diverted from efforts to combat drug trafficking and violent crimes – that will compromise public safety. Courts need to function neutrally and fairly and should not be unduly influenced as the administration is now seeking to do by pressuring judges to deport people. Polls show Americans favor a balanced approach that enforces the law but does not resort to severe enforcement measures that block or expel people without giving them a fair process.

Congress Should:

• Boost Law Enforcement Operations: Stop cartel and narcotics trafficking that pose threats to border security and the safety of local communities. Invest in federal law enforcement and provide resources to seize opioids and increase the disruption of the illicit drug trade. U.S. citizens, not migrants, are responsible for fentanyl trafficking.
• Improve Immigration Court Efficiency and Backlog Reduction: The court backlog is an astonishing 3.6 million cases. More resources and court personnel are needed to reduce the backlog, ensure thorough review of cases, and bring more cases to a final decision quickly.
• Stop inhumane and unlawful enforcement actions that harm communities and disrupt local economies: Cosponsor Protecting Sensitive Locations Act which provides humane and commonsense protections to immigrants at sensitive locations.
• Ensure Due Process: Protect and fund legal representation and education programs and people’s access to counsel to increase fairness and improve efficiency. Legal representation is linked to higher efficiency at every stage of the court process. People who are represented by legal counsel are about five times more likely to obtain relief, such as asylum. However, only about one-third of immigrants receive legal counsel.

Supporting Data & Facts

• From fiscal year 2016 through fiscal year 2023, non-detained respondents with legal representation had an in-absentia rate of just 9%, while those without legal representation had an in absentia rate of 75%.
• The average daily cost of detaining an adult noncitizen is approximately $164.65. In contrast, the average daily cost for participants in ICE's Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP), an alternative to detention, is about $8.00. Alternatives to detention are more cost-effective while ensuring compliance with immigration proceedings.

Concept 4: The Immigration System Must Be Accountable and Efficient

To restore accountability and efficiency, the immigration system must be transparent and properly resourced to meet the needs of American families, communities, and businesses. For far too long, outdated policies, underfunding, and inefficiencies have resulted in years-long processing backlogs and have compounded the undocumented problem. The United States has a right to control our borders and determine who enters. At the same time, shutting down legal pathways for orderly processing are inefficient and counterproductive.

Congress Should:

• Ensure efficient government operations: The Department of Homeland Security and other agencies that process immigration cases and enforce immigration laws need adequate funding and oversight. Americans want a system that is orderly, fair, and accountable to the public.
• Maintain Oversight Agencies: Agencies such as the CIS Ombudsman, Office of Immigration and Detention Ombudsman, and the DHS Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties must be properly resourced and functional to ensure accountability and safe, humane treatment for everyone going through the immigration process.
• Hold the Executive Branch Accountable for Systemic Attacks on Immigration Courts: Since January 20, at least 28 immigration judges have been terminated without explanation, despite a backlog of over 3.6 million cases, worsening delays and straining the courts. New EOIR policies pressure judges to resolve asylum cases within 180 days, undermining fairness, judicial neutrality, and due process, while allowing ICE arrests at court further erodes the courts' role as impartial institutions. These actions suggest a broader effort to replace immigration courts with expedited removal, warranting urgent Congressional oversight.

Supporting Data & Facts

• The U.S. immigration courts currently face a significant backlog, with approximately 3.6 million pending cases. Additional funding could enable the hiring of more immigration judges and support staff, expediting case processing and reducing delays.
• As of September 30, 2024, there were 3.8 million benefit requests pending at USCIS. Processing times continue to rise, which will only exacerbate the backlog. Congress should ensure that USCIS has the proper technology to adjudicate efficiently, resources to maintain and improve upon adjudication levels and adheres to its statutory mandate of processing immigration benefits applications, rather than prioritizing enforcement.
• In FY 2023,the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman (OIDO) received 95 complaints highlighting violations of detention standards. Additionally, OIDO conducts facility inspections and issues recommendations, such as those made in 2022 for CBP facilities in the Yuma and Tucson sectors, promoting improved compliance with detention standards.
• In September 2023, the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) reported having opened over 60 complaints related to mental health and segregation concerns, including incidents of sexual assault in ICE detention facilities.
• The CIS Ombudsman’s 2024 Annual Report to Congress highlighted systemic challenges within USCIS, such as delays and inefficiencies. The report includes actionable recommendations, and USCIS has committed to reviewing and responding to each, ensuring transparency and accountability.

Bills AILA Support or Opposes

Endorsed in the 119th Congress

• American Dream and Promise Act 2025
• No Round Up Act
• Protecting Sensitive Locations Act

Opposed in the 119th Congress

• Laken Riley Act
• No Bailout for Sancturary Cities
• The Preventing Violence Against Women by “Illegal Alien Act”
• The Stop Illegal Reentry Act (Kate’s Law)