The federal government shutdown last year delayed more than 37,000 immigration hearings by months or years for immigrants already waiting in lengthy lines to plead for asylum or green cards.

The conversation, in December 2010, was secretly recorded by federal officials conducting a wide investigation of immigration fraud in New York’s Chinese population.

OLYMPIA, Washington — Washington state lawmakers have voted to make students brought to the United States illegally by their parents eligible for need-based college financial aid. Passage of the measure, which supporters have labeled the Dream Act

Rep. Joe Barton of Texas told reporters at a Capitol Hill meeting of conservatives that immigration was not ready for prime time legislatively.