<P> For those who enter the US illegally across the Mexico--United States border and elsewhere, migration is difficult, expensive and dangerous . Virtually all undocumented immigrants have no avenues for legal entry to the United States due to the restrictive legal limits on green cards, and lack of immigrant visas for low - skilled workers . Participants in debates on immigration in the early twenty - first century called for increasing enforcement of existing laws governing illegal immigration to the United States, building a barrier along some or all of the 2,000 - mile (3,200 km) Mexico - U.S. border, or creating a new guest worker program . Through much of 2006 the country and Congress was immersed in a debate about these proposals . As of April 2010 few of these proposals had become law, though a partial border fence had been approved and subsequently canceled . </P> <P> In January 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order temporarily suspending entry to the US from Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, and Libya, and a suspension of entry from Syria for an indefinite period . The order also limited the number of refugees permitted to enter the United States in 2017 to 50,000 and suspended the United States Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days to allow authorities to review the application and adjudication processes . The order was replaced with a new executive order in March 2017 with various changes including removing Iraq from the list of countries with suspended immigration, clarifying that legal immigrants are exempt from the ban, and reducing the ban on Syrian immigrants to a 120 - day suspension . Another executive order called for the immediate construction of a wall across the U.S.--Mexico border, the hiring of 5,000 new border patrol agents and 10,000 new immigration officers, and federal funding penalties for Sanctuary Cities . </P> <P> On February 3, 2017, a federal judge in Washington State ordered a nationwide halt to the enforcement of Trump's executive action . And on February 4, 2017, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security suspended the rules that flagged travelers under the executive order . </P> <Dl> <Dt> Persons Obtaining Legal Permanent Resident Status Fiscal Years </Dt> </Dl>

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