U.S. Immigration Policy Program

Reports

April 2024

How Immigrants and Their U.S.-Born Children Fit into the Future U.S. Labor Market

Engineer holding a laptop outside a power plant

iStock.com/yanguolin

The level of education and training expected of workers in the United States has increased considerably in recent decades, and this trend looks set to continue. This report explores the forces driving this change and how the education levels of immigrant-origin and other workers compare to those likely to be needed in the future U.S. workforce, overall and in key occupational groups.

Commentaries

March 2024

As Europe and the United States Face Similar Migration Challenges, Spain Can Act as a Bridge

Image of female worker at the Boqueria market in Barcelona making a crepe

Marcel Crozet/ILO

Spain and the United States both receive their greatest number of immigrants from Latin America, and have worked collaboratively together on displacement crises and other migration issues. As shared immigration challenges dominate debate on both sides of the Atlantic, Spain can serve as a vital bridge in the policy conversation, this commentary notes.

Policy Briefs

February 2024

A New Way Forward for Employment-Based Immigration: The Bridge Visa

A man in a high-visibility jacket and gloves at work

Aaron Sussell/U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. employment-based visa policies, last updated in 1990, are not aligned with the country’s current and future labor market needs. This policy brief outlines MPI’s proposal for a new visa pathway that could help the United States better leverage immigration to meet its labor market needs, boost protections for both U.S.- and foreign-born workers, and flexibly adapt to future economic and demographic changes.

Reports

February 2024

Outmatched: The U.S. Asylum System Faces Record Demands

Inadmissible migrants, some seeking asylum, are processed by CBP officers

Mani Albrecht/CBP

The U.S. humanitarian protection system, known for its long history of assisting those in need, has come under incredible pressure in recent years. The asylum adjudications system, which is under-resourced, is struggling to keep up with record asylum seeker arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border. This report examines the state of the asylum system, including changes under the Biden administration and potential lessons for other countries.

Reports

January 2024

Immigrants’ Eligibility for U.S. Public Benefits: A Primer

A young nurse hugs an elderly patient in a wheelchair

iStock.com/PeopleImages

Immigrants’ eligibility for public benefits in the United States is governed by a complex patchwork of rules that make many groups of noncitizens eligible for some benefits but not others, while other noncitizens are excluded completely. This report provides an overview of immigrants’ eligibility for programs related to general assistance, health and nutrition, employment and income, education, housing, driver’s licenses, and more.

Reports

January 2024

Migration at the U.S.-Mexico Border: A Challenge Decades in the Making

U.S.-Mexico border fence with Tijuana on the left

Josh Denmark/CBP

Unauthorized migration at the U.S.-Mexico border has been a high-profile and politically divisive issue for decades. But as the nature of migration at the border has changed profoundly, U.S. policy responses have struggled to keep up. This report explores the changing nature of migration flows and migration policy at the border from the early 1990s until today, highlighting key lessons for contemporary policy-making.

President Joe Biden signs an executive order.

Articles

Biden at the Three-Year Mark: The Most Active Immigration Presidency Yet Is Mired in Border Crisis Narrative

In three years, President Joe Biden has surpassed the number of immigration-focused executive actions taken by the Trump administration throughout its entire four-year term, making his the most active U.S. presidency ever on immigration. Yet the Biden administration has been repeatedly accused of inaction at the U.S.-Mexico border, where record levels of migrant encounters have occurred. This article reviews the Biden track record on immigration.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams meeting with asylum seekers.

Articles

New York and Other U.S. Cities Struggle with High Costs of Migrant Arrivals

U.S. cities have spent billions of dollars to provide shelter, health care, and other resources to migrants recently arrived from the U.S.-Mexico border. The exceptional costs, which the New York mayor has described as existential, are due to a unique combination of factors, this article explains, including the large numbers of migrants arriving without local connections and long waits for work permits.

Recent Activity

Fact Sheets October 2020 Immigrant-Origin Students in U.S. Higher Education: A Data Profile By Jeanne Batalova and Miriam Feldblum	Commentaries October 2020 Broad and Blunt, the Trump Administration’s H-1B Changes Miss the Opportunity for Real Reform By Sarah Pierce
Articles October 1, 2020 The U.S. Presidential Campaign Cements Political Parties’ Deepening Schism on Immigration By Muzaffar Chishti and Jessica Bolter	Articles September 16, 2020 College-Educated Immigrants in the United States By Kira Olsen-Medina and Jeanne Batalova
Multimedia September 10, 2020 The U.S. Immigration Policymaker-in-Chief: The Long History of Executive Authority over Immigration	Articles September 3, 2020 The Digital Divide Hits U.S. Immigrant Households Disproportionately during the COVID-19 Pandemic By Alexis Cherewka
Reports September 2020 Immigration Enforcement and the Mental Health of Latino High School Students By Randy Capps, Jodi Berger Cardoso, Kalina Brabeck, Michael Fix and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto	Multimedia August 26, 2020 Excluding Millions: How Trump Administration Changes to the Decennial Census Could Leave Out U.S. Citizens and Immigrants

Pages

Policy Briefs May 2007 Proposed Points System and Its Likely Impact on Prospective Immigrants By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Jeanne Batalova and Julia Gelatt	Fact Sheets May 2007 Annual Immigration to the United States: The Real Numbers By Julia Gelatt
Reports November 2006 La inmigración y el futuro de los Estados Unidos: Un nuevo capítulo By Doris Meissner, Deborah W. Meyers, Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Michael Fix	Fact Sheets November 2006 Mexican-Born Persons in the U.S. Civilian Labor Force By Jeanne Batalova
Fact Sheets October 2006 Legal Immigration to United States Increased Substantially in FY 2005 By Julia Gelatt and Deborah W. Meyers	Policy Briefs October 2006 New Estimates of Unauthorized Youth Eligible for Legal Status under the DREAM Act By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
Reports September 2006 La inmigración y el futuro de los Estados Unidos: Un nuevo capítulo (Resumen ejecutivo) By Doris Meissner, Deborah W. Meyers, Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Michael Fix	Reports September 2006 Immigration and America's Future: A New Chapter (Executive Summary) By Doris Meissner, Deborah W. Meyers, Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Michael Fix

Pages

Top Ten

December 20, 2018

Pushing Migration to the Forefront, Populists Make New Strides

2018 proved a banner year for far-right populist movements in Europe and the Americas. They claimed the presidency of Brazil, sparked the collapse of the Belgian government, and—whether in or out of office—put a harder-edged stamp on migration and asylum policies in Austria, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Sweden, and beyond.

U.S. Marine secures barbed-wire fencing at the California-Mexico border.

Top Ten

December 19, 2018

Shaping a Narrative of "Crisis" at Border, Trump Administration Takes Muscular Action

The Trump administration took sweeping action in 2018 to slow legal immigration, make life harder for some immigrants already in the United States, rebuff would-be asylum seekers, and reduce refugee resettlement. Shaping a narrative of crisis at the border, the administration significantly changed the U.S. asylum system, deployed troops and tear gas, and separated families—yet Central American migrants continued to arrive.

Top Ten

December 18, 2018

Children on the Frontlines

Hardline migration and asylum policies in the United States and Australia in 2018 hit turbulence when their effects on the most vulnerable—young children—provoked widespread public revulsion and prompted a retreat, at least temporarily. Still, public outcry over the treatment of child migrants and asylum seekers often runs up against the intractability of the problems facing governments and the lack of good solutions.

Migrant processing at San Ysidro port of entry

Policy Beat

November 29, 2018

Trump Administration’s Unprecedented Actions on Asylum at the Southern Border Hit Legal Roadblock

The Trump administration’s latest effort to narrow the ability to apply for asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border hit a legal roadblock within days of implementation, as has been the pattern for much of its immigration agenda. This article examines the actions on asylum, which alongside deployment of active-duty military to the border, are among measures taken to seek to reduce the flow of Central Americans to the United States.

Policy Beat

November 8, 2018

Sessions: The Trump Administration’s Once-Indispensable Man on Immigration

In less than two years as Attorney General, Jeff Sessions oversaw wide-reaching changes to the U.S. immigration system. Even as the zero-tolerance policy, fights with "sanctuary" cities, and DACA termination might be more visible, Sessions' enduring legacy may be his muscular use of a little-noted authority, which he wielded to significantly reshape immigration and asylum policy by referring immigration cases to himself.

Pages

Video, Audio

March 19, 2013

Avoiding the Pitfalls on the Road to Reform: Issues that Must Be Addressed to Build an Effective U.S. Immigration System

This discussion covers some of the most difficult issues that must be addressed if the United States is to reform its immigration system in ways that work not only for today’s reality but tomorrow’s future.

Video

March 14, 2013

Demetrios G. Papademetriou Testimony: The Separation of Nuclear Families under U.S. Immigration Law

Testimony of Demetrios G. Papademetriou, MPI President, before the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives.

Video, Audio

January 7, 2013

Immigration Enforcement in the United States: The Rise of a Formidable Machinery

MPI has released a major study that describes and analyzes today’s immigration enforcement programs, as they have developed and grown in the 25 years since IRCA launched the current enforcement era.

Audio

October 1, 2012

9th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

The conference offers thoughtful, evidence-based law and policy analysis and discussion of cutting-edge immigration issues.

Video, Audio

August 7, 2012

The New Deferred Action Program: Strategies for Success

Join MPI as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas discusses the application process and policies that the agency has announced to implement the administration’s deferred action program.

Recent Activity

Video

March 28, 2022

A Tribute to Demetrios G. Papademetriou

Colleagues from around the world gathered to celebrate the life and legacy of Demetrios G. Papademetriou, who was MPI's first president and the founder of MPI Europe. One of the world's pre-eminent scholars and lecturers on international migration, he developed a rich body of scholarship and advised numerous governments, international organizations, civil-society groups, and philanthropic organizations on immigration and immigrant integration issues.

Articles

March 17, 2022

Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

Need information about U.S. immigration trends or the makeup of the country's immigrant population? This useful, stats-rich article answers the most common questions about the size, shape, and changing nature of the U.S. foreign-born population. It also offers data on immigration enforcement actions, backlogs, and other elements of the U.S. immigration system.

Commentaries

March 2022

Straight Path to Legal Permanent Residence for Afghan Evacuees Would Build on Strong U.S. Precedent

Dating to the 1950s, Congress on multiple occasions has provided a direct path to permanent residence for Hungarians, Vietnamese, Cubans, and others fleeing upheaval in their countries. Given this precedent, this commentary suggests Congress should act to provide a more secure future for the more than 72,000 Afghans who were airlifted to the United States under an uncertain immigration status known as parole.

Articles

March 2, 2022

The World Is Witnessing a Rapid Proliferation of Border Walls

The number of border walls globally has multiplied at a rapid clip, from fewer than five at the end of World War II to more than six dozen now, with more under construction. Most of the world's border fortifications have been built since the turn of the millennium, and are intended to accomplish a range of functions. This article charts the remarkable growth and normalization of border walls globally.

Articles

February 23, 2022

Mounting Backlogs Undermine U.S. Immigration System and Impede Biden Policy Changes

President Joe Biden has made efforts to overhaul the U.S. immigration system, but could see his administration's agenda slowed by massive backlogs across the immigration system. Case application wait times and immigration court queues have swelled during the COVID-19 pandemic, slowing legal arrivals to the United States and undermining the entire immigration system.

Articles

February 16, 2022

South American Immigrants in the United States

South Americans make up a relatively small share of all U.S. immigrants. But their numbers have been growing in recent years and flows are diversifying, particularly with new arrivals from Venezuela. This article offers key statistics on the South American immigrant population in the United States.

Articles

February 10, 2022

Black Immigrants in the United States Face Hurdles, but Outcomes Vary by City

The 4.3 million Black immigrants in the United States come largely from the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa. This article offers insights about rates of poverty, health insurance, and other metrics for Black immigrants both nationally and in the top five major cities of residence, finding that policies at federal and local levels, as well as the legacy of historical Black disenfranchisement, can exaggerate or reduce some of the gaps with U.S.-born White residents.

Articles

February 2, 2022

The Increasing Use of Artificial Intelligence in Border Zones Prompts Privacy Questions

Artificial intelligence systems that promise speedier travel and improved tools to halt smuggling and detect illegal entry have been embraced by border officials across the globe. But critics contend they also pose serious privacy concerns, which may become more pronounced as technologies evolve. This article examines the challenges and promises.

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