The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 swiftly brought the US economy to a near standstill—more than 36 million people had lost their jobs by the summer. The Wall Street Journal estimated that one-quarter of all business activity shut down in a matter of weeks.

This issue advisory considers how we should rebuild the US economy when we emerge from the pandemic and the recession. What will our priorities be? What lessons should we learn from this experience? What can communities do to build a prosperous future?

The immigration issue affects virtually every American, directly or indirectly, often in deeply personal ways. This guide is designed to help people deliberate together about how we should approach the issue. The three options presented here reflect different ways of understanding what is at stake and force us to think about what matters most to us when we face difficult problems that involve all of us and that do not have perfect solutions.