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

Reports

July 2022

The Missing Link: Connecting Eligible Asylees and Asylum Seekers with Benefits and Services

Asylees in the United States are eligible for many of the same benefits and services as refugees, but many may not be aware of this fact. For asylum seekers awaiting a decision in their case, available assistance is far more limited, but similar information gaps exist. This report examines which supports are available to asylees and asylum seekers and offers recommendations to improve how they are connected with programs for which they are eligible.

Reports

July 2022

Changing the Playbook: Immigrants and the COVID-19 Response in Two U.S. Communities

U.S. cities and towns have responded to COVID-19 in ways that are as diverse as the communities they aim to support. This report looks at how two very different locations—Worthington, MN, and the greater Houston area—incorporated immigrants into their relief efforts, through partnerships, strategic outreach, targeted assistance, and more. The report also highlights useful lessons for responses to future emergencies.

Articles

July 13, 2022

Welcoming Afghans and Ukrainians to the United States: A Case in Similarities and Contrasts

The sluggishness of an overwhelmed U.S. immigration system and long lead times for refugee resettlement pushed government officials to use ad hoc pathways for Afghans and Ukrainians to enter the United States, with a two-year parole status given to most. This article examines the use of parole, the Uniting for Ukraine sponsorship program, and how the use of ad hoc statuses could evolve for future crises.

Articles

July 7, 2022

Caribbean Immigrants in the United States

Immigrants from the Caribbean living in the United States come from a diverse set of countries and territories, with Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago the top origins. This article offers a sociodemographic profile of Caribbean immigrants, who represent 10 percent of the U.S. foreign-born population and nearly half of all Black immigrants in the United States.

Articles

June 17, 2022

Growing State and Local Role in U.S. Immigration Policy Affects Sense of Belonging for Newcomers and Natives Alike

The adoption of immigration measures by state and local governments can affect the sense of belonging not just for immigrants but also for the U.S. born, with impacts on individuals’ wellbeing, their engagement with others, and political participation. As the number of subfederal immigration measures has proliferated in recent years, research suggests this growth could have wider-ranging repercussions than commonly understood.

Commentaries

June 2022

The Los Angeles Declaration Could Represent a Big Step for Real Migration Cooperation across the Americas

The Los Angeles Agreement on Migration and Protection signed by leaders from 20 countries across the Western Hemisphere at the 2022 Summit of the Americas marks a significant step forward in creating a common language and a coherent set of ideas for more cooperatively managing migration movements across a region that has seen very significant mobility in recent years, as this commentary explains.

Articles

June 9, 2022

At Its 10th Anniversary, DACA Faces a Tenuous Future Despite Societal Benefits

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program reached its 10th anniversary in June 2022. This article reviews the evidence on DACA’s impacts for Dreamers and the broader society, looks at the increased reliance on similar limited legal statuses to help segments of the unauthorized immigrant population, and examines the legal challenges the program has and is continuing to face.

Reports

June 2022

COVID-19’s Effects on U.S. Immigration and Immigrant Communities, Two Years On

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic recession have affected the lives of all U.S. residents, but immigrants have been among the hardest hit, with evidence of disproportionately high rates of death as well as a particularly high spike in unemployment. This report takes a look back at how the COVID-19 crisis has affected U.S. immigration policies and levels and the country’s immigrant communities.

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