How to Effectively Track Immigration Policy

Why track immigration policy?

Immigration policy has noted economic, social, and cultural effects. As fierce debates over immigration reform continue, people on both sides of the aisle are seeking certain policy outcomes.

Those in favor of pathways to citizenship say immigration reform is necessary, in part, because immigration has long been a source of strength for the country – but especially now, as the youngest baby boomers reach retirement age and the workforce continues to get older.

Meanwhile, those who support mass deportations of immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally may want to toughen related laws as they argue in favor of border reform.

Government affairs professionals must stay on top of immigration regulation and immigration policy news in order to best serve those they represent, while also understanding and conveying to their clients the significant effects that immigration policy changes can have on business (and particularly on labor) and on the nation in general.

Immigration policy tracking can help lobbyists and business leaders prepare for the potential impact that legislative changes can have on costs and processes.

Thousands of bills are introduced annually in the U.S. Congress as well as in state legislatures across the country. Sifting through this vast collection can be a daunting task. So, making a practice of tracking legislation for immigration reform – and carrying out other policy tracking as needed – can help you be more proactive, timely, and strategic as you work to maximize the impact of your advocacy.

Current immigration policy landscape

U.S. immigration policy is governed largely by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which was first codified in 1952 and has been amended significantly several times since, with Congress making amendments based on new public laws. And as U.S. immigration laws are carried out by several executive branch departments and agencies, these agencies have authority for immigration enforcement via the INA.

Today, the United States continues to have more immigrants than any other country – with one-fifth of the world’s international migrants making their home in the U.S., according to a September 2024 report from Pew Research Center.

And, in 2023, people who were “foreign born” accounted for 18.6% of the U.S. civilian labor force – up from 18.1% in 2022 – with this group including those who were “legally-admitted immigrants, refugees, temporary residents such as students and temporary workers, and undocumented immigrants,” according to a May 2024 report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Trump and Republicans’ position on immigration

President Donald Trump and many of his allies argue that immigrants are lowering wages and taking jobs from native-born Americans. And other critics argue that by creating demand for more goods and services, thereby stimulating the economy, immigration also can add to inflation.

When Trump began his second term in January 2025, he declared a national emergency at the southern border and through April 22 has issued 175 directives focused on immigration, a nearly six-fold jump compared to the same period in his first term, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

At least 50 multi-plaintiff suits have challenged those measures, and judges have set limits on Trump’s ability to use wartime powers for enforcement, paused his bid to end birthright citizenship, and preserved temporary status for hundreds of thousands of immigrants.

If his plans are implemented, Trump’s immigration policy will restructure U.S. immigration policy in meaningful ways to focus mainly on enforcement.

Democrats’ position on immigration

Those on the other side of the issue have noted some economic benefits of immigration. For example, a 2017 report on the economic and fiscal consequences of immigration from the National Academies found that while first-generation immigrants “are more costly to governments than are the native-born,” the report concluded that “the second generation are among the strongest fiscal and economic contributors in the U.S.”

Economists also have noted that immigrants helped soften the blow of unprecedented labor shortages during the pandemic recovery. And since immigrants are more likely to work in certain sectors where the demand for workers outpaces the native supply – such as agriculture, construction, and hospitality – some critics of Trump-era immigration policy have raised concerns about severe employment disruptions in these industries if Trump’s policies are carried out, according to January 2025 Bloomberg News reporting.

How public affairs software simplifies immigration policy tracking

Manual processes for tracking legislation can be challenging and cumbersome, especially for professionals who work on multiple issues or those who need to compare legislation across multiple jurisdictions.

Policy tracking software can help you work more efficiently when you’re tracking immigration regulation and immigration policy news.

Bloomberg Government makes it easy to carry out policy tracking for federal and state legislation and regulations, so you can save time, easily monitor developments, and gain a clear understanding of the latest details to best inform your strategy.

Watch how Bloomberg Government makes it easy to track federal and state legislation and regulations, so you’ll always have the latest details to inform your strategy.

Customizable alerts for immigration policy developments

With public affairs software, users can set tailored alerts to monitor:

• Specific immigration-related bills or resolutions
• Keywords such as “border control” or “deportation”
• Actions in key committees, such as the House Judiciary Committee or the Senate Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration

User-friendly legislation and regulation tracker

Legislative tracking software helps government affairs professionals keep tabs on specific bills throughout the legislative process, including major milestones and all the breaking developments. AI-powered summaries available on Bloomberg Government’s platform make it easy to understand proposed legislation, no matter how dense.

Because immigration is also addressed by several federal agencies, it’s important to have public affairs software with a robust regulation tracking feature, like Bloomberg Government’s.

Our regulation tracking tool makes it easy to find and follow documents published in the Federal Register, including notices, proposed rules, final rules, and presidential documents. It allows users to filter and search by specific criteria, including Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) concluded action.

AI-powered state bill comparisons

Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), state bill comparison tools reduce the amount of time spent reading through individual bills.

With Bloomberg Government’s tool, in one click you can cross-reference similar passages in bills from several jurisdictions and gain insight into policy positioning that you can then leverage when drafting legislation or crafting campaign messaging.

You’ll quickly see what’s in progress, learn from past failures, and identify key talking points to gain support and influence legislative action.

See how to use Bloomberg Government’s AI features to easily spot differences between bill versions, compare legislation across states, and visualize laws in the making.

Centralized information hub

Bloomberg Government offers a comprehensive repository of all immigration policy-related information in our subscriber-only immigration policy hub, where we consolidate the latest news, expert insights, and legislative developments into a single accessible platform.

Key features include:

• In-depth reporting: Rely on Bloomberg News’s unparalleled reporting resources which provide detailed analysis and updates on federal and state immigration policy trends.
• Legislative tools: Access legislative summaries, bill analyses, and historical information to better understand the context of new proposals.
• Tracking dashboard: Simplify monitoring with a user-friendly interface that allows for simultaneous tracking of multiple bills, ensuring government affairs professionals stay on top of every critical detail.

Federal and state legislative directories

Networking with the right contacts is key when it comes to tracking and setting policy. Bloomberg Government provides extensive directories at the federal and state levels, as well as searchable lists of key federal agency contacts and registered lobbyists – all to help you quickly connect with relevant contacts.

To help inform your outreach strategy, you’ll find comprehensive, insider-only details for congressional members and staff, including:

• Full biographies
• Recent news from more than 35,000 sources
• Career history
• Voting record
• Political affiliation
• Email and office phone number
• Committee and caucus assignments
• Sponsored legislation