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Immigration is viewed as both essential to American society and a polarizing political issue. Recent flashpoints include a Supreme Court decision upholding, for now, the legality of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) for young, undocumented immigrants. The Trump administration has limited visas for foreign workers, banned travelers from predominantly Muslim countries, narrowed asylum-seeking procedures, and increased immigration enforcement. In this issue of RSF, edited by demographer Katharine M. Donato and economist Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes, an interdisciplinary group of scholars traces the history and contemporary landscape of legal immigration to the United States.

Donato and Amuedo-Dorantes outline U.S. immigration policies from 1880 to the present. They underscore that many recent immigration practices result from presidential executive orders rather than legislative acts, and that these orders have led to an exclusionary system that makes all immigrants, not only those entering without documentation, vulnerable.

Contributors to the issue investigate the ways in which immigrants secure visas and citizenship, including through work and family ties, and special statuses for military veterans, refugees, asylum seekers, and unaccompanied minors. Daniel Costa suggests the temporary worker visa system favors employers over immigrant workers, who may not complain about unfair labor practices because they fear job loss or deportation. Pia Orrenius and Madeline Zavodny show how improved economic conditions have led to employer demand for temporary work visas, creating a viable alternative to hiring unauthorized workers. Julia Gelatt compares multiple classes of legal immigrants, and reveals employer-sponsored immigrants are better educated, exhibit higher English proficiency, and work in more highly skilled jobs than others such as family-sponsored, humanitarian, and diversity visa immigrants.

Other contributors examine immigrants’ experiences with special statuses. Cara Wong and Jonathan Bonaguro find that Americans are more likely to support a path to citizenship via military service if immigrants enter with appropriate documentation, but many believe that undocumented migrants should be barred from the military and other public services. Van C. Tran and Francisco Lara-García show that schooling and employment, along with strategic financial, community building, and other support services, are critical factors in the successful integration of refugees. Luis Edward Tenorio finds the patchwork of institutions that adjudicate laws for children with special immigrant juvenile status hampers the integration of unaccompanied minors.

This issue of RSF is a timely contribution that will invigorate the field of scholarly work on the American legal immigration system.

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The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often referred to as the ACA or Obamacare, was enacted in 2010 in the wake of the Great Recession. The law transformed the way that Americans access healthcare, nearly halving the ranks of the 49 million uninsured Americans. Edited by political scientist Andrea Louise Campbell and economist Lara Shore-Sheppard, this issue of RSF examines the social, political, and economic effects of this landmark legislation.

Contributors Helen Levy, Andrew Ying, and Nicholas Bagley argue that despite repeated efforts at repeal, over 80 percent of the Act has been implemented as it was originally intended. Julianna Pacheco, Jake Haselswerdt, and Jamila Michener show that when Republican governors support Medicaid expansion, Republican voters become more favorable toward the ACA, and polarization between Republican and Democrat voters decreases. Yet Charles Courtemanche, James Marton, and Aaron Yelowitz find little impact of the ACA on voter participation. Lisa Beauregard and Edward Miller examine states’ adoption of the ACA’s home and community-based care services for the elderly and people with disabilities, finding that states with more liberal elected officials and more fiscal capacity were more likely to adopt these provisions. Paul Shafer and coauthors probe the role of different types of health insurance and political advertising on insurance enrollment. Richard Fording and Dana Patton explain the emergence of contentious Medicaid work requirements and patient copays that limit access to Medicaid.

Other contributors address how the ACA affects marginalized populations. Carrie Fry, Thomas McGuire, and Richard Frank link Medicaid expansion to lower rates of recidivism among the formerly incarcerated. Radhika Gore and coauthors study primary care practices serving South Asian immigrants in New York City and highlight the importance of social context and organizational constraints in designing population health interventions. The issue also examines the economic effects of the ACA, especially on access to private and public health insurance. Both Mark Hall and Jean Abraham study instability in ACA health insurance markets, with Hall focusing on uncertainty arising from political factors and Abraham examining the factors that lead local markets to face high premiums and low insurer participation. Philip Rocco and Andrew Kelly explore the mechanisms included in the ACA to try to spur innovations in care delivery that both improve health and generate long-term cost savings.

As the COVID-19 pandemic affects healthcare in unprecedented ways, affordable healthcare access is critical. This RSF journal issue offers a timely, thoughtful consideration of one of the most pressing issues in American life.