Immigration policy in the United States reflects multiple goals. First, it serves to reunite families by admitting immigrants who already have family members living in the United States. Second, it seeks to admit workers with specific skills and to fill positions in occupations deemed to be experiencing labor shortages. Third, it attempts to provide a refuge for people who face the risk of political, racial, or religious persecution in their country of origin.

Finally, it seeks to ensure diversity by providing admission to people from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. Several categories of permanent and temporary admission have been established to implement those wide-ranging goals.

This Congressional Budget Office paper describes who is eligible for the various categories of legal admission and provides the most recent data available about the number of people admitted under each category. The paper also discusses procedures currently used to enforce immigration laws and provides estimates of the number of people who are in the United States illegally.

Lawful Entry
U.S. policy provides two distinct paths for the lawful admission of noncitizens, or “aliens”: permanent (immigrant) admission or temporary (nonimmigrant) admission.

In the first category, aliens may be granted permanent admission by being accorded the status of lawful permanent residents (LPRs). Aliens admitted in such a capacity are formally classified as “immigrants” and receive a permanent resident card, commonly referred to as a green card. Lawful permanent residents are
eligible to work in the United States and may later apply for U.S. citizenship.

In 2004, the United States granted permanent admission, or LPR status, to about 946,000 noncitizens (see Summary Table 1). That figure is not a measure of first-time entries into the United States, however. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services—a bureau of the Department of Homeland Security—counts both entries of new immigrants and adjustments to lawful permanent resident status (for those aliens already in the United States) as “admissions.” In 2004, roughly 584,000 adjustments to LPR status were granted, and about 362,000 new immigrants entered the country.

The second path is admission on a temporary basis. Temporary admission encompasses a large and diverse group of people who are granted entry to the United States for a specific purpose for a limited period of time. Reasons for such admissions include tourism, diplomatic missions, study, and temporary work. Under U.S. law, citizens of foreign countries admitted temporarily are classified as “nonimmigrants.” (For definitions of terms used in this paper, see Box 1 on page 3.) Certain nonimmigrants may be permitted to work in the United States for a limited time depending on the type of visa they receive. However, they are not eligible for citizenship through naturalization; nonimmigrants wishing to remain in the United States on a permanent basis must apply for permanent admission. ...

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The Congress of the United States
Congressional Budget Office

Contents
Summary vii
The Evolution of U.S. Immigration Policy 1
Categories of Lawful Admission to the United States 2
Permanent Admission 4
Temporary Admission 10
Enforcement of Immigration Laws 11
Unauthorized Aliens 11
Enforcement Procedures 14
Appendix: Becoming a U.S. Citizen 17

Preface
Immigration has been a subject of legislation since the nation’s founding. In 1790, the Congress established a formal process enabling the foreign born to become U.S. citizens. Just over a century later, in response to increasing levels of immigration, the federal government assumed the task of reviewing and processing all immigrants seeking admission to the United States. Since then, numerous changes have been made to U.S. immigration policy.

This paper, requested by the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, is part of a series of reports by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on immigration. The paper focuses on the evolution of U.S. immigration policy and presents statistics on the various categories of lawful admission and enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws. In keeping with CBO’s mandate to provide objective, nonpartisan analysis, the paper makes no recommendations.

Douglas Hamilton is coordinating CBO’s series of reports on immigration. Selena Caldera and Paige Piper/Bach wrote the paper under the supervision of Patrice Gordon. Andrew Gisselquist reviewed the manuscript for factual accuracy. David Brauer, Paul Cullinan, Mark Grabowicz, Theresa Gullo, Arlene Holen, Melissa Merrell, Noah Meyerson, Robert Murphy, Kathy Ruffing, Jennifer Smith, Ralph Smith, and Derek Trunkey provided helpful comments on early drafts of the paper, as did Eric Larson and Judith Droitcour of the Government Accountability Office. (The assistance of external reviewers implies no responsibility for the final product, which rests solely with CBO.)

Loretta Lettner edited the paper, and Christine Bogusz proofread it. Maureen Costantino prepared the paper for publication and designed the cover. Lenny Skutnik produced the printed copies, and Annette Kalicki and Simone Thomas produced the electronic version for CBO’s Web site (www.cbo.gov).

Donald B. Marron
Acting Director

Becoming a U.S. Citizen
Naturalization is the process by which an immigrant can attain U.S. citizenship. In general, any lawful permanent resident who has maintained a period of continuous residence and presence in the United States can apply for naturalization. Applicants for naturalization must have good moral character, knowledge of U.S. history and government and the English language, and a willingness to support and defend the United States and its Constitution.

Most immigrants may apply for naturalization after three to five years of permanent residency. For certain groups of immigrants, including those who have served in the U.S. military, the requirements for permanent residency may be shortened or waived. The requirements for U.S. residency and local residency also vary according to the circumstances of the immigrant. (Table A-1 details the requirements for naturalization for various categories of immigrants.)

In 2004, U.S. citizenship was conferred upon 537,000 individuals through naturalization. That represents an increase in the annual number of naturalizations, which had declined since 2000 when 889,000 persons were naturalized.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, yearly naturalization levels reflect levels of legal immigration; typically, the number of yearly naturalizations lags behind legal immigration levels by six to seven years.

However, because of processing backlogs, naturalization numbers may not accurately reflect demand for citizenship among lawful permanent residents.

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