What Broke The U.S. Immigration System?

2023 saw record-breaking numbers of migrant crossings at the southwestern border, with Border Patrol reporting nearly 250,000 encounters in December alone. But today, less than 1% of those looking to reside permanently in the U.S. can do so legally, according to CATO. The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse estimates that the immigration court currently has a backlog of over 3 million cases. So how did the immigration system in the U.S. get so broken? And can it ever be fixed?

In the U.S., 62.6% of permanent resident, or “green,” cards go toward family-sponsored immigrants, compared with just 21.1% for employment-based sponsorships, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Cato Institute estimates that just 1 in 1,500 new hires in the U.S. receives a green card through employment sponsorship programs.

The U.S. legal immigration system is in dire need of reform to make it work for the U.S. economy, experts say.

“I think the limitations for the numbers of annual immigrants was last updated in 1990 when our population was smaller and when the kinds of work that we did in this country was different,” Brown said.

Simon Hankinson, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said, “What I would like to see are reforms to make the majority of people who come here legally as immigrants to come because our economy needs them.”

Watch the video to see why the U.S. is having so much trouble solving the immigration crisis.

Chapters:
00:58 Legal pathways
04:12 Border security
08:55 Political stalemate

Producer: Juhohn Lee
Editor: Nora Rappaport
Animations: Jason Reginato
Supervising Producer: Lindsey Jacobson
Additional Footage: Getty Images

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What Broke The U.S. Immigration System?

[overwatch]

because the us government doesn’t want it solved. saved you guys 12 minutes 😅

[cedricjackson]

Politicians could’ve fixed this problem a long time ago, but they didn’t want to fix it because it’s not profitable for them to fix the problem. It’s profitable for them to leave the system broken.

[amateurgamer]

Govt. do not have money to give border control, but they can give money to buy arms to Israel and Ukraine.😂😂😂

[gsogymrat]

The government should fine employers who hire undocumented workers or people who pay "under the table."

[divvish]

Right, cap the legal immigrant allowed per year, but just allow everyone in if you are illegally entering is a great Then complaint that immigration is important to our sustainability. Why not increase the cap for legally entering instead?

[pjay_u]

why cant i find an entry level job if the economy is booming

[sresty]

As a legal immigrant and a tax payer, it’s insulting to us if illegal immigration takes precedence over legal.

Not to mention the current wait times to get a green card on employment based sponsorship. Current estimates are around 20+ years for a majority of the legal immigrants

[VijayDesu]

Why are we still discussing illegal immigration ??? illegal immigration is illegal and should be handled by law. by discussing it you are incentivizing illegal immigration and discouraging legal immigration system. Your are not solving legal immigration and path to citizenship for the people that are following all laws, investing here, contributing to community and paying taxes. make immigration cost effective, fix broken immigration system ( by increasing quota or different categories for south america, path to citizenship) and penalize illegal immigration.

[lilblackfish]

as a latino with parents that immigrated to us, i think its unfair for ppl who do thing right and have to wait and spend money to get in to this country, that ppl just cross the border and are given priority and resource based on what they say, i belive legal immigration just like my parents you cant just cut the line and be rewarded

[jk]

Let’s not forget. Hard working Americans’ paycheck will go towards taking care of illegal immigrants. $150 billion. And illegal immigrants still pocket zero taxed paychecks. Yet many Americans still worry about how to take care of our family, bills and future retirements. It’s a beautiful world

[edyann]

A big part of the problem is Latin America. I'm in Mexico and Obrador has OUR southern border here completely open with absolutely no restrictions. It's a mess on BOTH SIDES.

[duerf]

Because they don’t want to. If they actually solve the issue, what are they going to rail against during the following election cycles?

[NightRidah]

Me after breaking into your house "I'm not a burglar, I'm a migrant"

[melissagrice]

This administration is putting many families in difficult situations. A lot of people are financially struggling to live, put a roof over their head and put food on the table. Things are getting worse these days, if you don't find means of multiplying your money you might wake up a day to realise you didn't plan well for yourself and family.

[KingFergus]

Stop giving out incentives to come here and it will stop

[tony]

the core to solve this issue are rules and regulations, we need to pass bills/acts that make legal immigration easier at the same time making illegal immigration as difficult as possible.

[xoxoxoxoxoxo]

I feel bad for all those who fought so hard for this country back then during wars. 😢 RIP to those.

[YA-msxw]

How is the economy booming when businesses are closing and crime is increasing? How are employers supposed to hire when the skills needed to fill positions are not present and the language barriers exist? How can anyone give all those people jobs? There aren't enough to go around.

[MikesLeague]

The stupid asylum system needs to be fixed thats for sure.

[TheSingingGuitar]

It took me more than 15 years and 10s of thousands of dollars to become a citizen and I have a masters degree in Computer Engineering, an investor, a musician and a family man. Between me and the rest of my family we’ve paid 100s of thousands of dollars in university fees. I almost got kicked out of the country because I couldn’t find an employer to “sponsor” me. Make it easier please. We need people to keep inflation down.