On December 4, news broke that immigration negotiations between six bipartisan senators had fallen apart. These talks revolved around Republicans pushing changes to asylum in return for aid for Israel and Ukraine. It's a common event in immigration policy—many small groups of Senators have tried and failed to find a consensus. But it's unfortunate because smart immigration reform has the potential to improve the lives of both Americans and those arriving at our shores.
States have recently been taking matters into their own hands, some with efforts to keep immigrants out (as in Texas's border barriers) and others with efforts to better integrate immigrants (like in-state college tuition and language training support). Neither approach, however, has had much success. Our new study (joint with Susan Averett and Grace Condon) shows that integrating undocumented immigrants is more complex than what states can do alone. A real solution for "Dreamers" and the undocumented immigrants in the country will require Congress to open the nation's golden door to them.
