US immigration (i.e. emigration to America) policies have always supported the movement of non-American residents to the US. Migration to the country has been the chief source of growth of population and cultural changes throughout the history of America.

The economic, political and social aspects of migration have been the basis of a big controversy concerning religion, ethnicity, settlement patterns, job growth, and economic benefits. These aspects have a heavy impact on work habits, moral values, social mobility, nationalities, levels of criminality and political loyalties. US Immigration policies were one of the main hot issues of discussion and debate during the recent presidential elections. These have also been spoken of as being obsolete, outdated and inconsistent with the existing situation of the American economy.

As per the data till 2006, the United States of America takes in more legal immigrants as permanent inhabitants when compared with other nations of the world. President Obama believes in fixing the dysfunctional migration system. He also is supportive towards increasing the amount of legal immigrants entering the country every year. According to him, this would help keep families united and also would meet the serious demand for skilled workers. Those places the employers find it hard to fill can be filled in by legal immigrants who are qualified for the job.

However, the main problem is the increasing number of illegal immigrants. This undocumented population comprises of either people who have entered the country illegally or are over staying their permit. It is useless to conduct raids too. Employers also play a part in exploiting such workers by paying them less than the minimum wages and some of them also deny the immigrants employer compensated benefits such as health care. The immigration laws and bureaucracy are outdated and flawed which make it hard for immigrants to get permits. They have to wait for years with their applications.

President Obama and Vice President Biden together plan to build secure borders. The entry ports and borders are to be strengthened with additional infrastructure, technology and personnel to preserve their integrity. They also have plans to track down employers hiring illegal immigrants and bring them before the law. This will discourage people from entering without a legal permit.

The Obama Immigration policies also are in favor of a system that would allow illegal immigrants who have a good reputation to pay a penalty, study English and then again be eligible to apply for a permit to become American citizens. They also intend to support financial growth and development in Mexico so as to decrease the number of illegal immigrants from there.

Obama Immigration also proposed the creation of a system that would allow employers to verify the status of their employees before hiring them. He also wishes to join Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) in the introduction of the Citizenship Promotion Act, which would ensure that the application fees for immigration into the country are very fair and affordable. He has also passed a Legislation that improved the accuracy and speed of background checks conducted by the FBI.