Immigration — Borders With Humanity, Pathways With Dignity

The legal backlog is catastrophic. 11.65 million USCIS cases are pending nationwide, 6.28 million of them formally backlogged. Indian workers in the EB-2 employment-based category face green card waits of 20 to 134 years — the government is processing petitions filed over 12 years ago. People who played by the rules are waiting longer than any human lifetime.

Asylum is dysfunctional. The average processing time is 4.3 to 6+ years. 1.4 million affirmative claims are waiting. Newly filed cases are being scheduled for hearings into the early 2030s. Meanwhile, when asylum seekers have legal representation, 96–99% show up to their court hearings — the system's problem is capacity, not compliance.

Eleven million undocumented residents live in legal limbo, paying taxes but unable to participate fully in the economy. ITEP documented that undocumented immigrants alone paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022 — for a system that offers them no path forward.

For-profit detention dominates enforcement. 86% of ICE detainees are held in for-profit facilities at $152 per person per day. 33 people died in ICE custody in 2025 — the highest non-COVID total on record. Community-based alternatives cost $4.50 per person per day and deliver equivalent or better compliance.

For American workers, criminal employer enforcement ends the wage-suppression weapon of undocumented status. In FY2018–19, zero companies were criminally prosecuted for hiring unauthorized workers. Under the CGP plan, the first offense costs $50,000 per worker plus back wages; the second triggers criminal charges, personal officer liability, and federal contract debarment. Wage theft recovery proceeds regardless of immigration status, and whistleblower protection breaks the deportation-threat leverage employers currently wield.

For construction and healthcare, clearing the legal backlog unlocks the workforce those sectors already depend on. Construction is 29.8% immigrant; healthcare is 18.2% immigrant. Credential recognition lets trained immigrant professionals actually practice in the fields they were trained for, instead of being permanently underemployed.

For mixed-status families and Dreamers, the change is immediate. 515,600 DACA recipients convert to permanent residency on application. No child is detained for a parent's immigration status. TPS holders get a real path. Family detention ends entirely, and the for-profit facilities that caused 33 deaths in 2025 are phased out.

For the federal budget, the CBO projects $348 billion in new Social Security revenue over the decade from the pathway alone. Undocumented immigrants already paid $96.7 billion in taxes in 2022; bringing them into the full legal economy expands the tax base, not shrinks it. Community-based enforcement alternatives cost a fraction of current detention.