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E.g., 04/16/2024
Aaron Terrazas
MPI Authors

Aaron Terrazas

Aaron Terrazas is a former Policy Analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, where he served as Project Manager for the Regional Migration Study Group. His research interests include the consequences of macroeconomic trends for immigration flows and for immigrants in the labor force, the relationship between migration and the development prospects of migrant countries of origin, and the role of diasporas in foreign policymaking.

Bio Page Tabs

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Reports
May 2011
By  Aaron Terrazas, Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Marc R. Rosenblum
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Reports
October 2010
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Madeleine Sumption and Aaron Terrazas
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Reports
September 2010
By  Kathleen Newland, Aaron Terrazas and Roberto Munster

Pages

Immigration and international development policy conversations have become entangled in the U.S. context, not necessarily to the benefit of either debate. This article explores how a contemporary understanding and decoupling of the issues can contribute to more effective policymaking.

After decades of pressure, the Mexican government passed a law in 2005 allowing Mexicans living outside the country to vote in presidential elections in Mexico. The upcoming election scheduled for July 1, 2012 will be the second time voting-eligible Mexican expatriates throughout the world will exercise their vote-from-abroad privilege. This Spotlight discusses the history and process of external voting in Mexico, voter participation rates inside and outside of Mexico, and several key characteristics of voting-age Mexicans in the United States.

Development practitioners have long been aware of the change-making potential of diasporas, but only recently have begun to design programs that convert their latent talent and enthusiasm into results. This article by Tedla W. Giorgis and Aaron Terrazas examines the Ethiopian Diaspora Volunteer Program (EDVP) as a powerful example of how diasporas, donors, and developing countries work together to build from individual strengths and address common challenges facing the developing world.

Immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa are more likely than the overall foreign-born population to be proficient in English, to have a college degree, and to be naturalized U.S. citizens. MPI's Aaron Terrazas uses the latest federal data to explore the population's size, geographic distribution, and socioeconomic characteristics.

Over the past two decades, the settlement patterns of immigrants in the United States have changed as an increasing number of the foreign born are choosing to make states in the southern and middle regions of the country their home. MPI's Aaron Terrazas profiles the immigrants in these "new-destination" states and compares them to the rest of the foreign-born population.

Los Estados Unidos es hogar para aproximadamente 2.9 millones de inmigrantes provenientes de los países centroamericanos Belice, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, y Panamá. La migración de Centroamérica ha crecido rápidamente en las recientes décadas, pero más de dos de cada cinco inmigrantes centroamericanos carecen de estatus migratorio legal mientras que alrededor de uno en diez residen en los Estados Unidos bajo la protección temporal humanitaria.

The 2.9 million Central American immigrants living in the United States were more likely than both the native born and the foreign-born population overall to be of working age and to be participating in the U.S. labor force. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines the population's size, geographic distribution, and demographic characteristics.

Interested in information on annual naturalization trends, illegal immigration, the geographical distribution of immigrants in the United States, current and historical shares, and a host of other topics? MPI's Jeanne Batalova and Aaron Terrazas have assembled the latest, most interesting data on immigrants and immigration into one easy-to-use resource.

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Compared to the foreign born overall, the 1.1 million Vietnamese immigrants in the United States were less likely to hold a bachelor's degree but had much higher naturalization and homeownership rates. MPI's Aaron Terrazas and Cristina Batog look at the population's size, geographic distribution, and socioeconomic characteristics.

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The nation's 1.0 million Korean immigrants have settled in greater numbers in new destination states like Georgia, Washington, and Virginia. They are also more likely than immigrants overall to have a college degree and be naturalized citizens. MPI's Aaron Terrazas and Cristina Batog look at the population's size, geographic distribution and socioeconomic characteristics.

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The 1.6 million Indian immigrants in the United States are the country's third-largest immigrant group and one of its best educated and fastest growing during the 2000s. MPI's Aaron Terrazas and Cristina Batog use the latest federal data to explore the population's size, geographic distribution, and socioeconomic characteristics.

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The 1.6 million Chinese immigrants in the United States made them the country's fourth-largest immigrant group in 2008. MPI's Aaron Terrazas and Jeanne Batalova use the latest federal data to explore the population's size, geographic distribution, and socioeconomic characteristics.

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The 1.7 million Filipino immigrants in the United States made them the countrys second-largest immigrant group in 2008. MPIs Aaron Terrazas and Jeanne Batalova use the latest federal data to explore the population's size, geographic distribution, and socioeconomic characteristics.

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Mexican immigrants have claimed the top spot among all immigrant groups in the United States since the 1980 census. In 2008, the country's 11.4 million Mexican immigrants accounted for 30.1 percent of all U.S. immigrants and 10 percent of all Mexicans. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines their socioeconomic characteristics, where they live, and the size of the Mexican-born unauthorized population.

The 535,000 Haitian immigrants residing in the United States in 2008 accounted for 1.4 percent of all U.S. immigrants and the fourth-largest immigrant group from the Caribbean. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines their socioeconomic characteristics, where they live, and the size of the Haitian-born unauthorized population.

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The 1.1 million Salvadoran immigrants residing in the United States in 2008 accounted for 2.9 percent of all U.S. immigrants, making them the second-largest immigrant group from Latin America. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines their socioeconomic characteristics, where they live, and the size of the Salvadoran-born unauthorized population.

The 4.5 million older immigrants residing in the United States in 2007 accounted for 12 percent of all senior citizens age 65 and older. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines the socioeconomic characteristics, where they live, their health and disability status, and their sources of income.

The middle class has received considerable attention during the current economic crisis. About 15 million people resided in middle-class immigrant households in 2007, and three-quarters of all children in such households were native-born U.S. citizens. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines where the heads of middle-class immigrant households are from, when they arrived in the United States, their occupations, and other characteristics.

Immigration flows to the United States have noticeably slowed in the last year, raising fundamental questions for policymakers and analysts about the effect the economic crisis is having on inflows and return migration. MPI's Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Aaron Terrazas assess the potential impacts by examining recent data, the likely behavior of immigrants, and immigration history.

The 102,000 Iraqi immigrants residing in the United States in 2007 accounted for just 0.3 percent of all U.S. immigrants. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines their socioeconomic characteristics, where they live, and the category of admission of the Iraqi-born immigrant population.

The 1.4 million African immigrants residing in the United States in 2007 accounted for 3.7 percent of all U.S. immigrants. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines their socioeconomic characteristics, where they live, and the category of admission of the African-born immigrant population.

The 1.0 million Korean immigrants residing in the United States in 2007 accounted for 2.7 percent of all U.S. immigrants. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines their socioeconomic characteristics, where they live, and the size of the Korean-born unauthorized population.

In 2006, Department of Homeland Security immigration officials made over 1.2 million apprehensions of immigrants at points of entry along the U.S. border and within the United States. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines the most recent data on immigration enforcement.

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The 1.6 million Filipino immigrants residing in the United States in 2006 accounted for 4.4 percent of all U.S. immigrants. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines their socioeconomic characteristics, where they live, and the size of the Filipino-born unauthorized population.

spot aug08

In 2006, 1.1 million Vietnamese immigrants resided in the United States, accounting for 3.0 percent of all U.S. immigrants. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines their socioeconomic characteristics, where they live, and the size of the Vietnamese-born unauthorized population.

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The 1.5 million Indian immigrants residing in the United States accounted for 4.0 percent of all U.S. immigrants in 2006. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines their socioeconomic characteristics, where they live, and the size of the Indian-born unauthorized population.

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In 2006, about 1.6 million Chinese immigrants resided in the United States. MPI's Aaron Matteo Terrazas and Bhavna Devani examine their socioeconomic characteristics, where they live, and the size of the legal and unauthorized population from China.

MPI's Gretchen Reinemeyer, Aaron Matteo Terrazas, and Claire Bergeron report on USCIS backlogs, actions to limit access to driver's licenses in Oregon and Maine, the latest on "no-match" letters, and more.

MPI's Aaron Matteo Terrazas and Trinidad Macias report on driver's licenses for the unauthorized in New York State, H-2A reform, a material support bar exemption for Hmong, and more.

MPI's Aaron Matteo Terrazas reports on the death of the Senate's comprehensive immigration reform bill, employment visa suspension, delays to land and sea border entry passport requirements, and more.

MPI's Aaron Matteo Terrazas, Dawn Konet, and Julia Gelatt report on the Senate's comprehensive immigration reform bill, Iraqi refugee resettlement, temporary changes to U.S. passport requirements, and more.

EVENT%20PHOTO%202011.6.13%20Recession1web[1]
Audio
June 13, 2011

This Migration Policy Institute event was held to discuss the release of MPI's book, Migration and the Great Recession: The Transatlantic Experience, which reviews how the financial and economic crisis of the late 2000s marked a sudden and dramatic interruption in international migration trends.

Recent Activity

Articles

Immigration and international development policy conversations have become entangled in the U.S. context, not necessarily to the benefit of either debate. This article explores how a contemporary understanding and decoupling of the issues can contribute to more effective policymaking.

Articles

After decades of pressure, the Mexican government passed a law in 2005 allowing Mexicans living outside the country to vote in presidential elections in Mexico. The upcoming election scheduled for July 1, 2012 will be the second time voting-eligible Mexican expatriates throughout the world will exercise their vote-from-abroad privilege. This Spotlight discusses the history and process of external voting in Mexico, voter participation rates inside and outside of Mexico, and several key characteristics of voting-age Mexicans in the United States.

Reports
July 2011

The United States has historically offered unparalleled economic opportunity to successive generations of immigrants and their children, poised to play an increasing role in the U.S. economy. But the lasting impact of job loss and slower growth over the next decade will translate into fewer opportunities for workers—and immigrants may prove the most vulnerable.

Articles

Development practitioners have long been aware of the change-making potential of diasporas, but only recently have begun to design programs that convert their latent talent and enthusiasm into results. This article by Tedla W. Giorgis and Aaron Terrazas examines the Ethiopian Diaspora Volunteer Program (EDVP) as a powerful example of how diasporas, donors, and developing countries work together to build from individual strengths and address common challenges facing the developing world.

Audio
June 13, 2011

This Migration Policy Institute event was held to discuss the release of MPI's book, Migration and the Great Recession: The Transatlantic Experience, which reviews how the financial and economic crisis of the late 2000s marked a sudden and dramatic interruption in international migration trends.

Reports
June 2011

The report examines U.S. immigration and international development policies, which have unique objectives and respond to distinct political and administrative constraints, and points out that international development has never been a U.S. immigration policy objective; nonetheless, it is an unintended consequence.

Reports
May 2011

Over the past half century, migration from Mexico and Central America to the United States has been driven in part by regional demographic and human-capital trends. As the U.S. labor force became better educated, fewer native workers accepted certain low-skilled jobs. This report offers a look at the economic changes that have coincided with a Mexican and Central American population boom.

Articles

Immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa are more likely than the overall foreign-born population to be proficient in English, to have a college degree, and to be naturalized U.S. citizens. MPI's Aaron Terrazas uses the latest federal data to explore the population's size, geographic distribution, and socioeconomic characteristics.

Pages