LexisNexis Expert Author Stephen W. Yale-Loehr Addresses Flaws, Evolution of U.S. Immigration Policy

Cornell Daily Sun, Sept. 30, 2016- "Prof. Stephen Yale-Loehr ’77 JD ’81, immigration law, discussed the current state of immigration policy and how either a Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton presidency would change the issue’s evolution in Klarman Hall Tuesday. Yale-Loehr asserted that Immigration law is the the most complicated area of law in the United States. “We are the largest immigration system in the world,” he said. “Over 10 million people come to the United States temporarily each year and over a million people immigrate permanently.” Yale-Loehr explained that many factors — including the large numbers of immigrants, complicated categories of visas, and conflicting interests between the U.S. homeland security, state and labor departments — contribute to a system that is currently “broken.” For example, he said, due to complicated bureaucratic processes, it can take 23 years for someone to petition for a green card for a sibling from the Philippines. Even after receiving the green card, it can take another three to five years for these immigrants to become citizens. “Because it takes so long to get through the front door, legally, many people come through the back door, illegally,” he said."