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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio recently gave his state of the city address. During his speech, he spoke about education programs for young children, taxes, and even some controversial immigration matters.

Well, 2013 came and went without any real decision being made on immigration reform. A bill, known as S. 744, was first introduced in the Senate in April of last year. It was passed by the Senate, but stalled in the House.

The debate on immigration reform continues to go back and forth. Recently, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) proposed a compromise that would involve delaying immigration reform until after President Obama leaves office.

Immigration reform and politics. It’s a small phrase, but it sure says a lot. While the concept of immigration reform has been around for a long time, we have seen an increase in conversations, articles, and political debates over the past couple years.

Not too long ago, a new plan focused around deportation of the mentally ill was introduced. The plan was announced in April of last year and its first phase was implemented in August.

The Criminal Alien Program (CAP) is a broad immigration-enforcement program that is responsible for initiating a large number of removal proceedings throughout the U.S. This program has been around for decades, but it is still largely not understood by many.

The recent immigration reform bill, known as S. 744. includes a merit-based point system that will be used as a means of allocating new immigrant visas each year. If this system is implemented, a minimum of 120,000 aliens would be permitted to obtain immigrant visas based on accumulated points.

Over the past few weeks, I have written about various sections of the 2013 immigration reform bill. This proposed legislation, known as S. 744, was passed by the Senate last year. Unfortunately, S. 744 did not see the same success with the House. In order for any bill to become law, it must be passed by both chambers.

Skilled immigrants bring a boost to both the national and local economies. This is certainly true in Arizona. The proposed immigration reform bill contains policies that will ease the immigration process for the skilled workers.

As part of my ongoing series on the immigration reform bill, I will be focusing this entry on sections 2231-2233. These sections refer to a program for agricultural workers who are to be classified as nonimmigrant visitors.

The 2013 immigration reform bill is an important piece of legislation. This proposed bill has been passed in the Senate, but has yet to see the same success in the House. The law contains policies relating to a number of different immigration aspects.

At this point, the immigration reform bill is known as S. 744 and is made up of a number of different policies and regulations. Today’s piece will discuss sections 2211 and 2212. These two sections allow for an accelerated path to residency for agricultural workers through the issuance of a “blue card.”

As I wrote in my previous blog, an immigration reform bill (S. 744) was introduced in Congress last year. The bill was successfully passed in the Senate, but failed to progress further with the House.

The term “immigration reform” has been used quite a bit recently and a related bill was introduced to Congress in 2013. The bill, which was introduced in the Senate on April 16, 2013, subsequently passed the chamber, but failed to progress further with the House.

A project to build a fence along the Arizona and Mexico borders has been declared dead. The border fence was originally sanctioned by the Legislature in 2010. Initially, the hope was for the fence to stretch over 200 miles.

A Texas federal judge has recently stated that the DHS is helping to smuggle undocumented immigrant children into the U.S. in order to be reunited with their undocumented parents.

The Senate recently confirmed Jeh Johnson as the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary. President Obama nominated Johnson after former Secretary Janet Napolitano’s resignation in September.

The Department of Labor estimates that more than half of the 2.5 million farm workers hired each year in the United States are undocumented immigrants. Given this staggering number, it is obvious that there needs to be some changes associated with immigration and farm labor.

At least 42 people have lost their lives because of deadly attacks by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officers since 2005. Of these 42 individuals, approximately 13 were United States citizens.

A movement, known as Fast for Families started on November 12 and has garnered attention from others all around the nation.

On October 5, thousands gathered in the city of Phoenix to attend a rally to advocate for a resolution regarding immigration reform. This date was termed the National Day for Dignity and Respect by immigrant advocacy groups. The rally was meant to reinvigorate immigration efforts in both Washington D.C. and Arizona.

Last year, Arizona was ranked number one for the highest number of criminal immigration prosecutions in the country. However, reporting now shows a sharp decrease in the amount of these prosecutions in the state.

Whether you are actively involved in immigration reform issues or even if you just glance at an online news source every once in a while, you have undoubtedly heard about a variety of immigration matters and concerns.

Currently, Tucson police can request immigration paperwork from victims of criminal activity. This practice leads many to refrain from reporting crimes. What does this mean for the safety of our city?

Will the Archbishop's call for immigration reform compel the government to finally make a decision? Throughout the country, religious leaders have advocated for a decision on immigration reform.