Guiding Question:
How do we make the US immigration system more humane?
EXTRA RESOURCES (*pay attention to dates!)
General
VIDEO: A look at the history of U.S. immigration policies that led to today's complex system, PBS NewsHour, Jan 2025*
FACT SHEET: How the United States Immigration System Works, American Immigration Council, June 2024*
Background: The U.S. Immigration Debate, Council on Foreign Relations, 2024
Human Rights and US Immigration System
Human Rights and Immigration, ACLU
( VIDEO: UDHR @ 70: The History, United Nations )
A Human Rights Analysis of American Immigration Policy, University of Alabama, 2023*
The Right to seek asylum does not exist at U.S. Mexico Border, Amnesty International, Feb 2025*
Refugees and Asylum Seekers
Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants, Amnesty International
VIDEO: How refugees and asylum seekers can resettle in the US, USA Today, 2021
VIDEO: A look inside the journey asylum seekers make through Mexico to reach U.S. border, PBS NewsHour, 2024
VIDEO: State Department cancels all refugee travel to the U.S., CBS News, Jan 2025*
VIDEO: Advocate groups ordered to stop aiding refugees who have already arrived in US, CNN, Jan 2025*
VIDEO: Asylum seekers in tears as Trump suspends Biden-era app, Reuters, Jan 2025
Facts About Immigration
What the data says about immigrants in the U.S., Pew Research Center, 2024
Eight Facts about Immigrants and Immigration (In English and Espanol), ADL, 2021
Democrats and Republicans Starkly Divided on Immigration Policy, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, 2024
History of Xenophobia
VIDEO: Xenophobia in America: How we got here and what's at stake, Erika Lee, TEDx, 2020
Deterrence at the Border
Statement of Human Rights Watch: The Cost of Harsh US Immigration Deterrence Policies, Human Rights Watch, 2023
VIDEO & TEXT: What is Title 42 and what does it mean for immigration and the southern border? PBS NewsHour, 2023*
Family Separation
Family Separation- a timeline (until 2022/Background), SPLC, 2022*
US: Lasting Harm form Family Separation at the Border, Human Rights Watch, 2024
Trump's border policy tore apart many families. Nobody knows what happens to them now, The Guardian, Jan 2025
VIDEO/FILM: Separated: Children at hte Border (full documentary), Frontline, 2020
VIDEO: 'Separated' film shows impact of Trump's family separation policy on migrant children, MSNBC, 2024
AP fact check: Obama didn't have a family separation policy, PBS News, 2018
A More Humane Border
U.S. Immigration Policy and the Violation of Human Rights, It doesn't have to be this way, TEDx, 2018* (slightly out of date)
How guest worker visas could transform the US immigration system, TED, 2020*
Alternatives to Immigration Detention: An Overview, American Immigration Council, 2023
Trump and Immigration / Current Events
US deports over 200 Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador despite court ban, Aljazeera, March 16, 2025
Trump deported fewer people last month than Biden a year ago, but border crossings have plummeted, NBC News, March 10, 2025
Trump ends extension of temporary protected status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants, NPR, Jan 2025
AUDIO + Text: Trump takes birthright citizenship to the Supreme Court, NPR, March 2025
VIDEO: Trump may revive Title 42 policy to expel migrants citing tuberculosis, documents show, CBS News, Feb 2025
VIDEO & TEXT: Trump administration touts deportations under Alien Enemies Act after a judge temporarily blocked its use, NBC News, March 2025*
DHS Launches CBP Home App with Self-Deport Reporting Feature, Dept of Homeland Security, 2025
Reagan and Amnesty
Nearly 3 million immigrants got amnesty under Reagan. Some of them still work on Washington's farms, KUOW, March 2025
AUDIO: A Reagan Legacy: Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants, NPR, 2010* (Many now choose the term "Undocumented" vs. "Illegal")
Obama and DACA
Top 10 Facts: DACA and DREAMers, Bipartisan Policy Center, 2021
CBP One and Asylum / Refugee Program
VIDEO: Asylum seekers admitted through CBP One app allegedly being detained, ABC Arizona, Feb 2025
Immigrant Rights
Immigrants' Rights, ACLU
Immigrants' Rights, NYCLU
Know Your Rights Resources, NYC Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs
CLASS RESOURCES (Pulled from Google Classroom Classwork)
12 - Immigrant Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (abbreviated), UN
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (full text), UN
VIDEO: We Have Rights, ACLU
VIDEO: Inside the 2 million-plus backlog of immigration cases, CBS, 2023
11 - CBP One and Asylum / Refugee Program
GRAPH: Encounters with migrants at the US-Mexico border peaked in December 2023 but have plummeted since then, Pew Research
Six big immigration changes under Trump-and their impact so far: Halting the processing of migrants and asylum seekers, BBC, Jan 2025
10 - Obama and DACA
A Dream Deferred: DACA, National Museum of American History
9 - Reagan and Amnesty
AUDIO: A Reagan Legacy: Amnesty For Illegal Immigrants, NPR, 2010
To fix today's border problem, update Reagan's 1986 amnesty, The Hill, 2024
8 - Trump and Immigration
Trump's Executive Order: "Protecting the American People Against Invasion," Jan 2025
Venezuelan Immigrants sent to Guantanamo
“Traumatized” Venezuelan speaks on conditions in Guantanamo Bay (Video - NBC News)
Trump administration moves more migrants to Guantanamo Bay (Article - NYT)
Immigrants sent to Panama
Migrants detained in Panama hotel plead for help (Video - NBC News)
Isolated in ‘harsh conditions:' Deportee from US details legal limbo in Panama camp near Darien Gap (Article - AP)
Title 42 - Expanding Border Patrol Power
Trump officials prepare plans to revive Title 42 policy to expel migrants, documents show (Article - CBS News)
Border crossings drop as Trump weighs reviving Title 42 policy (Video - CBS News)
Ending Temporary Protected Status for Hatians
Trump ends deportation protection for 500,000 Hatians (Article - BBC)
Trump administration ends TPS for half a million Hatians (Video - CBS News)
Deporting Minors
Trump launch ICE effort to deport unaccompanied migrant children (Article - Reuters)
7 - A More Humane Border
VIDEO: We need to get back to 1980 on immigration, NYTimes Opinion
Solutions For A Humane Border Policy, National Immigrant Justice Center, 2023
6 - Family Separation
Migrant families separated under Trump still feel the fallout and they fear his return to office, AP, 2024
VIDEO: Zero Tolerance, PBS Frontline, 2019
AUDIO (+ text): Separated at the Border, a Father Reunites with His Son. But Struggles Remain, NPR Morning Edition, 2021
5 - Deterrence at the Border
This is what the US-Mexico border looks like, CNN
PODCAST: Border Trilogy Part 1: Hole in the Fence, Radiolab, 2018 (Transcript)
Border Trilogy Part 2: Hold the Line, Radiolab, 2018
Scorching Heat is Contributing to Migrant Deaths, NYTimes, 2023
4 - History of Xenophobia
Xenophobia Gallery Walk (Classwork)
3 - Facts About Immigration
VIDEO: The 3 Biggest Misconceptions About Immigration, Harvard Kennedy School
4 myths about how immigrants affect the U.S. economy, PBS News, 2018
The Most Common Arguments Against Immigration and Why They're Wrong, Cato Institute, 2021
2 - Refugees and Asylum Seekers
Facts About Refugees and Asylum Seekers (Class Handout)
1 - Human Rights and US Immigration System
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United Nations (1948)
What Part of Legal Immigration Don't You Understand? Infographic by Mike Flynn & Shikha Dalmia
How to Immigrate to the United States (Class Handout)