| dc.description.abstract | Americans are dissatisfied with their immigration system and are seeking changes. However,
additional demands and expectations will be placed on those organizations that have to enforce
and implement these changes. How will comprehensive immigration reform affect federal
agencies? Determining the specific implementation demands likely to result from comprehensive
immigration reform (CIR) legislation without knowing the specific policy elements that will be enacted is a difficult task. Nevertheless, this report presents a broad overview of the probable
effects of likely policy changes by presenting an authoritative analysis utilizing a comprehensive
literature review, a detailed investigation of relevant case studies, secondary analysis of public
opinion polls, and in-depth interviews with eleven-stakeholder groups.
An overwhelming number of stakeholders identified the status quo as the most likely short-term
condition. Yet this does not preclude incremental change from happening within agencies
through internal reforms. Our research provides a roadmap for the likely areas of policy focus.
Likely Areas of Policy Focus
Border and Interior Enforcement
Employer Regulations
Guest Worker/Visa Program
Legalization
Border and interior enforcement refers to any type of legislation that would include security
measures taken to enforce immigration laws either on the borders by CBP or within the interior
of our country by state and local authorities. This could include proposals like the Secure Border
Initiative (SBI) that would require increases in enforcement and would create additional ICE and
CBP demands. Employer regulations refers to any polices that would change the current U.S.
employer regulations or increase current sanctions for employers. Changes in this area could
include a mandatory implementation of the current E-Verify system on a nationwide scale. The
guest worker/visa program area of focus refers to any reforms that would modify the options
immigrants currently have to work legally in the U.S. This could involve the creation of a new
guest worker program or an increase in the number of visas for any particular group of workers.
Finally, the area of legalization includes pathways to citizenship that would offer immigrants an
opportunity to become citizens through a naturalization or amnesty process.
Our stakeholder interviews suggested that CIR would most likely exacerbate the challenges
federal agencies currently face. The likely areas of policy focus we have identified create
corresponding implementation concerns for numerous agencies. The concerns for agencies are
pervasive and crosscutting.
Areas of Concern
Technology
Personnel
Management
Funding
Bush School of Government
Immigration Reform: Policies and Implementation
2
To illustrate how the policy focus areas interact with the areas of concern a few examples are
provided herein. Technology concerns for employer regulations would include improving the
current E-Verify system to avoid errors and TNC (Tentative Non-Confirmation) results.
Personnel concerns for legalization would include recommendations that USCIS staff be
augmented to respond to any increases in legalization applications that would create a capacity
strain for the agency. Management concerns for enforcement would include improving
collaboration and communication among CBP, ICE and the FBI to improve database linkage and
the sharing of information. In our stakeholder interviews 31% of our respondents felt that
interagency collaboration would be crucial for enforcement efforts. With regard to funding, there
were concerns that agencies like DOS and DOL would require additional appropriations to
combat any increases in the number of visas since this would lead to influx of applications that
would need to be processed.
Regardless of the legislation passed, these concerns will undoubtedly force agencies to address
long-standing challenges. Many of these challenges can be addressed only through costly
measures that are often price-prohibitive. Thus, contracting options offer a viable solution. In this
report, we explore several programs that provide future growth platforms for contracting.
Contracting Options
Technology Consulting Services
o Database Operations
o Biometric Technologies
o Surveillance and Monitoring Systems
Management Consulting Services
Our research indicated a number of opportunities for contractors to provide technological
consulting service and assistance to federal agencies and private employers who would need to
comply with new federal mandates. A few of these options might include IT strategy and
consolidation to address backlogs within USCIS or database consolidation to address database
fragmentation; for instance the integration of the DHS ENFORCE and Fugitive Case
Management System databases. Additionally, new enforcement measures for both national
security and employer verification could allow contractors the opportunity to help federal
agencies and private employers implement new biometric technologies. Finally, contractors
could provide agencies management consulting services to restructure agency operations or train
personnel to ensure the success of new programs and legislative mandates.
The uncertainty surrounding the immigration reform debate prevents definitive analysis of what
changes CIR will bring, but the policy areas and implementation concerns provided in this report
provide an impartial and timeless approach to the issue of immigration reform. | en |
