Ready to Stay: A Comprehensive Analysis of the US Foreign-Born Populations Eligible for Special Legal Status Programs and for Legalization under Pending Bills

On December 9, the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) and the Ready to Stay Coalition hosted a webinar and discussion of the CMS report, Ready to Stay: A Comprehensive Analysis of the US Foreign-Born Populations Eligible for Special Legal Status Programs and for Legalization under Pending Bills.

The report offers estimates of US foreign-born populations that are eligible for special legal status programs and those that would be eligible for permanent residence (or legalization) under pending bills. It seeks to provide policymakers, government agencies, community-based organizations, researchers, and others with a unique tool to assess the potential impact, implement, and analyze the success of these programs. The report views timely, comprehensive data on targeted immigrant populations as a pillar of legalization preparedness, implementation, and evaluation.  It represents a first attempt to provide a detailed statistical profile of beneficiaries of proposed US legalization programs and special, large-scale legal status programs.

The report’s authors, Donald Kerwin, José Pacas, and Robert Warren, shared key findings, data methodology, and policy recommendations. 

The webinar also included guest remarks from Ready to Stay Coalition partners:

Angelica Salas, Executive Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)

AND

Nicole Melaku, Executive Director of the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA)