Faculty Resources
The Institute for Immigration Research (IIR) is a multidisciplinary research institute at George Mason University. The IIR’s mission is to produce valid, reliable, and objective multidisciplinary research on immigrants and immigration to the United States.
We recognize that immigration is a complex, contentious, and emotional issue clouded by myths and misinformation. We want to help Mason professors answer their students’ questions by providing factual information about immigrants and immigration.
Below is a list of helpful explainers, fact sheets, and articles on a variety of immigration topics, written by credible experts. In addition, the IIR would be happy to answer any questions you have or provide a guest speaker for your class. Please contact IIR Program Coordinator Michele Waslin at mwaslin@gmu.edu.
Click here for the PDF Version - All resources and information provided by The Institute for Immigration Research (IIR)
How the US Immigration System Works
- Explainer: How the US Legal Immigration System Works (Migration Policy Center, 2019)
- Explainer: Who Is An Immigrant? (Migration Policy Center, 2019)
- 10 Things You Need to Know: How the Legal US Immigration System Works (Bipartisan Policy Center, 2015)
- Primer on US Immigration Policy (Congressional Research Service, 2021)
- How the US Immigration System Works (American Immigration Council, 2019)
- Major US Immigration Laws, 1790-Present (Migration Policy Center, 2013)
- “Immigration Governance for the Twenty-First Century,” (Ruth Ellen Wasem, Journal on Migration and Human Security,” Vol. 6, Number 1 (2018): 97-120.)
Family and Employment-Based Immigration
- The Employment-Based Immigration System (American Immigration Council 2021)
- “Permanent Legal Immigration to the US: Policy Overview” (Congressional Research Service, 2018)
- 10 Things You Need to Know: Temporary Worker Visa Programs (Bipartisan Policy Center, 2021)
- A Profile of Immigrant Women in the Workforce (Center for American Progress, 2021)
Humanitarian Immigration (Refugees and Asylum)
- Asylum (American Immigration Council 2020)
- Refugee Admissions and Resettlement Policy, (Congressional Research Service, December 2018)
Citizenship and Naturalization
- US Naturalization Policy (Congressional Research Service 2021)
- 10 Steps to Naturalization (US Citizenship and Immigration Services 2019)
- Citizenship Through Parents (US Citizenship and Immigration Services 2020)
- Birth of US Citizens Abroad (US Department of State)
- 10 Things You Need to Know: Naturalization (Bipartisan Policy Center, 2015)
- “Room for Debate: The GOP and Birthright Citizenship” (New York Times, with contributions from Peter Wehner, Steven Camarota, Hiroshi Motomura, Tamar Jacoby, Peter Schrag, and John J. Pitney. 2010)
- “Constitutional Citizenship: A Legislative History.” (Garrett Epps, American Immigration Council, March 2011)
Immigration Courts
- Fact Sheet: Immigration Courts (National Immigration Forum 2018)
- How Immigration Court Works (The Conversation 2018)
Unauthorized/Illegal/Undocumented Immigration
- Explainer: Illegal Immigration in the United States (Migration Policy Center, 2019)
- Why Don't Immigrants Become Citizens? or Get in Line? (American Immigration Council 2019)
- Did My Family Really Come Legally? (American Immigration Council 2016)
- Unauthorized immigrants in the US (Migration Policy Institute 2020)
- Key facts about the changing unauthorized population (Pew Research 2021)
- A Profile of US Children with Unauthorized Parents (Migration Policy Center, 2016)
- “Unintended Consequences of US Immigration Policy: Explaining the Post-1965 Surge from Latin America,” (Douglas Massey and Karen Pren, Population and Development Review, March 2012.)
- “Reverse Migration to Mexico Led to US Undocumented Population Decline: 2010 to 2018,” (Robert Warren Journal on Migration and Human Security, Feb 26, 2020)
- “The Illegality Trap: The Politics of Immigration and the Lens of Illegality,” (Michael Jones-Correa and Els De Graauw, Daedalus 142(3), July 2013.)
DACA/Dreamers
- “Learning to be Illegal: Undocumented Youth and Shifting Legal Contexts in the Transition to Adulthood.” ( Roberto Gonzales. American Sociological Review 2011, 76(4), pp. 602-619)
- Top 10 Facts: DACA and DREAMers (Bipartisan Policy Cneter, 2021)
- How Many Unauthorized Immigrants Graduate from US High Schools Annually? (Migration Policy Center, 2019)
Demographic Trends
- Citizenship and Immigration Statuses of the US Foreign-Born Population (Congressional Research Service 2021):
- Key findings about US Immigrants (Pew Research 2020)
- Six demographic trends shaping the US and the world (Pew Research 2019)
Fiscal and Economic Impact of Immigration
- “New Findings on the Fiscal Impact of Immigration in the United States,” (Pia Orrenius, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, April 2017)
- The Fiscal and Economic Consequences of Immigration (The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, 2016)