A valuable resource for high school, college, and general readers, this book provides an up-to-date, comprehensive examination of illegal immigration in America, addressing its complex history, comparing its occurrence today with the past, and explaining why a solution is so difficult to enact. Who is coming into the United States illegally and why? What compels people to leave their country of origin? Is the United States responsible for taking care of the more than 11 million individuals who are here illegally? Are illegal immigrants helping or harming our nation's economy and infrastructure? Should our borders be "secured" as called for by many politicians? This book examines the history of illegal immigration in the United States, addressing the tough questions about the issue and describing in detail the most significant issues and events in recent decades. It succinctly tackles the topic of illegal immigration without bias, explores the myriad of problems and controversies that have arisen due to illegal immigration, and explains how lawmakers have historically tried—and continue to try—to solve these issues. This thoroughly revised and updated second edition ofIllegal Immigration: A Reference Handbook covers the debate over the vexing and seemingly intractable illegal immigration problem from all angles and updates the discussion to 2015. It covers the key court, executive, and legislative-branch actions on the matter and examines both state and national-level government attempts to cope with illegal immigration. The book also contains a variety of primary source documents in summary format that cover all the key laws enacted, presidential or state governor's executive actions taken, and key court decisions since 1985. These documents not only provide factual data but also give context that allows readers to better grasp the complexity of the problem and the difficulty in trying to improve the situation through regulation. Discusses in detail all of the proposed solutions to the illegal immigration problem in the United States Enables the reader, on an objective and factual basis, to compare illegal immigration of today with the immigration of the past, and to assess for themselves whether today's immigrants are any more or less likely to be able to successfully assimilate into American society and economy Provides perspective essays by a range of scholars, "think-tank" subject experts, and advocacy activists that give voice to various sides of the issue in a contrasting point/counterpoint fashion Documents how the U.S. federal system of three levels and three branches of government complicates any effort and approach to resolving the illegal immigration problem Includes an extensive, annotated bibliography of print and nonprint resources that directs readers toward further reading on the topic