The most consequential change in legal immigration is receiving remarkably little attention. It is not a single executive order, policy memorandum, court decision, or rulemaking. It is the gradual transformation of legal immigration from a system built around discrete petitions or applications into one built around permanent records, continuous vetting, and expanding discretion.

For decades
As a new administration takes office on January 20, and the tantalizing prospect of enlightened immigration reforms looms on the horizon, an intriguing 




