Testimony of Andrew R. Arthur Before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary

Under our Constitution, Congress has plenary authority to make rules concerning the admission of aliens, their presence in the United States, and their removal from this country. It is the role of the executive branch to carry out those rules, consistent with due process.

The Center hosted a panel to discuss a new report, which includes key policy recommendations for the next administration.

The topic gains fresh relevance as President-elect Donald Trump recently named Sen. Marco Rubio as his nominee for Secretary of State. Rubio’s selection comes at a pivotal time when the Department of State’s leadership could help shape U.S. immigration policy.

A Greek Tragedy 

The Immigration Act of 1924 ushered in a four-decade-long Great Pause in mass immigration. This allowed the United States to assimilate the 20-plus million immigrants who arrived during the “Great Wave” that had begun in the 1880s. And the Act fostered a national economic climate conducive to the flowering of the American Dream, especially for Black Americans.

The Welcome Corps is a private sponsorship program designed by the Biden-Harris administration to create opportunities for private individuals in the U.S. to select their own “refugees” and future American citizens. Sponsored individuals do not need to actually be refugees according to the UNHCR Refugee Status Determination, let alone in that subset of refugees determined by the UN to be in “need of resettlement”.

Read also: Higher Refugee Admissions in FY 2024 under the Biden-Harris Administration

The foreign-born or immigrant population (legal and illegal) hit new record highs in March 2024 of 51.6 million and 15.6 percent of the total U.S. population. Since March 2022 the foreign-born population has increased 5.1 million, the largest two-year increase in American history.