The unauthorized population has become a hot political topic yet again, with various solutions to the illegal immigration “problem” being debated in Washington, D.C., and across the country. In June 2006, as this report was written, the U.S. Congress was debating whether to grant legal status to the more than 11 million unauthorized immigrants estimated to be in the country. The House of Representatives had passed a bill that would further criminalize unauthorized presence, while the Senate passed a bill granting temporary work permits to unauthorized workers and providing a path to eventual citizenship for those in the country at least two years. The two pieces of legislation are very far apart, reflecting the fact that no consensus exists—in Congress, within or between the political parties, or in the public at large— on the best solution to the long-range integration issues that such a large unauthorized population presents. The debate has centered on stereotypes about unauthorized immigrants—as workers and taxpayers on the positive side, or as lawbreakers and service users on the negative side—but the debate has not been well informed by research on the characteristics of the unauthorized population.

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