Media Advisory
December 4, 2007
Contact: April Siruno, 202-266-1908
asiruno@migrationpolicy.org
WASHINGTON –Political paralysis ultimately crippled
one of the most promising attempts to reform the broken U.S.
immigration system in years, a leading research organization
said in its third-annual ranking of the year’s top global
migration issues.
The December Special Issue of the Migration Information Source
said that congressional failure to pass immigration reform
ranked as the most noteworthy migration issue of 2007. The
worsening plight of an estimated 2.4 million Iraqis displaced
by violence since the 2003 US invasion; new national and EU-level
initiatives to attract highly skilled migrants; and new citizenship
and language tests for immigrants followed in the ranking.
The U.S. failure on comprehensive immigration reform also
makes immigration an important issue in the upcoming presidential
election, and “One to Watch” in 2008, according
to the Source. Immigrants’ new settlement patterns prompted
by state and local lawmaking on immigration also ranked as
an issue predicted to generate coverage in 2008. Other “Ones
to Watch” include migration and climate change, the possible
end of the Visa Waiver Program, and France’s role as
a trendsetter for migration policy in Europe.
Demetrios G. Papademetriou, president of the Migration Policy
Institute, the nonpartisan think tank that publishes The Source,
said his organization based its choices on the institute’s
work with researchers from virtually all major immigrant-receiving
countries, as well as ongoing news events and developments.
Released in advance of U.N.-designated International Migrants’ Day
on December 18, the Top 10 list is part of a special year-in-review
issue of The Source, an online resource for data and analysis
on migration.
The Migration Information Source Top 10 Migration Issues of
2007 are:
1. Political Paralysis: The Failure of U.S. Immigration Reform
2. Iraqi Refugees: Diminished Options and Little U.S. Support
3. Wanted More Than Ever: The Highly Skilled
4. Testing Immigrants - Literally
5. Managing Global Travel with Technology and Cooperation
6. Integration Means Belonging
7. U.S. Cities Face Legal Challenges, and All 50 States Try
Their Hand at Making Immigration-related Laws
8. Mobility Partnerships, the Latest Policy Fashion
9. Migration and Development Issues: No Longer a Novelty in
Policy Discussions
10. South Korea Opens Its Arms
Please click here to see The Source's Top 10 Migration
Issues of 2007:
www.migrationinformation.org/top10_2007.cfm.
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