|
|
 |
You must have Adobe
Acrobat Reader to view some of the following materials:
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias
Associate Policy Analyst
Engaging the Asian Diaspora
By Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias and Kathleen Newland
This brief explores how governments in Asia are facilitating diaspora contributions, including creation of conducive legal frameworks and diaspora-centered institutions to initiation of programs that specifically target diasporas as development actors. The authors detail a number of legislative proposals geared at diasporas, including flexible citizenship laws and visa arrangements, political and property rights, and reduced income tax rates.
Download Brief
Strengthening Pre-Departure Orientation Programmes in Indonesia, Nepal and the Philippines
By Maruja M.B. Asis and Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias
With overseas employment a more permanent feature of the development strategies of a number of Asian states, predeparture orientation programs have emerged as an important tool for the protection of migrant workers. This brief examines the strengths, limitations, and areas for improvement of this intervention, based on findings from field research conducted in Indonesia, Nepal, and the Philippines.
Download Report
Regulating Private Recruitment in the Asia-Middle East Labour Migration Corridor
By Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias
The Middle East represents one of the most sought-after labor markets in the world, with an estimated 10 million contract workers (mostly Asian) in the Gulf states alone. The vast majority of this temporary labor movement is brokered by recruitment agencies, with oversight difficult. This brief examines how sometimes unscrupulous agencies take advantage of the migrants they purport to serve by charging excessive placement fees and offering expensive predeparture loans; it also outlines the available policy levers for regulating recruitment practices.
Download Brief
Labour Migration from Colombo Process Countries: Good Practices, Challenges and Ways Forward
By Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias and Christine Aghazarm
This issue brief, the first in a series launched by MPI and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) that examines migration trends and issues in Asia, discusses labor migration from the 11 Colombo Process countries (which include China, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Vietnam). Since 2005, these countries have taken concrete steps to manage these labor flows and protect their citizens working abroad, particularly with respect to recruitment regulation and welfare protection. Despite the progress, however, the brief details a number of remaining challenges and highlights possible areas of focus for these governments.
Download Brief | Press Release
Developing a Road Map for Engaging Diasporas in Development
By Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias and Kathleen Newland
Governments at both ends of the migration cycle increasingly are seeking ways to magnify the human capital and financial resources that emigrants and their descendants contribute to development in their countries of origin. This user-friendly handbook offers a strategic road map for governments in both origin and destination countries to build a constructive relationship with diasporas. The guide, a project of MPI and the International Organization for Migration, offers practical advice to policymakers and practitioners and details the wide range of institutions that governments worldwide have established to work with diasporas.
Learn More About Handbook | Press Release
Running in Circles: Progress and Challenges in Regulating Recruitment of Filipino and Sri Lankan Labor Migrants to Jordan
By Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias
Labor migration from the Philippines and Sri Lanka to Jordan has filled a growing share of unskilled and semi-skilled jobs in recent years, with private recruitment agencies playing an important role in facilitating and driving labor migration. But despite a comprehensive set of laws and guidelines to control migration systems in these countries, workers remain vulnerable to abuse and exploitation at the hands of recruitment agents. Excessive placement fees, violations of contractual terms and conditions, underpayment or nonpayment of wages, poor working or living conditions, confiscation of passports, and even physical abuse highlight the significant gaps in these countries' migration protection systems. This report identifies problem areas and recommends ways to strengthen system management.
Download Report | Press Release
Migration's Middlemen: Regulating Recruitment Agencies in the Philippines-United Arab Emirates Corridor
By Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias
Private recruitment agencies manage much of the flow of the 200,000 Filipino workers who head annually to the United Arab Emirates, which is the third-largest destination for Filipino migrants after the United States and Saudi Arabia. While the recruitment agencies provide critical services, some abuse their clients by charging exorbitant fees or violating basic human rights. This report, based on exhaustive interviews with key actors and migrants themselves, examines the recruiters' practices as well as their regulation by the Philippine and UAE governments, finding room for significant improvement.
Download Report | Press Release
Closing the Distance: How Governments Strengthen Ties with Their Diasporas
Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias, Editor
This book explores how developing-country governments have institutionalized ties with emigrants and their descendents. It offers an unprecedented taxonomy of 45 diaspora-engaging institutions found in 30 developing countries, exploring their activities and objectives. It also provides important practitioner insights from Mali, Mexico, and the Philippines.
Order a Copy
Managing Temporary Migration: Lessons from the Philippine Model
By Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias
Developing countries can proactively manage large-scale, systematic, and legal movement of temporary migrant workers. This MPI report analyzes the system the Philippines uses to manage the temporary migration of millions of Filipinos who work in countries around the globe. For many observers, the Philippines' system of managing temporary migration has unrivaled sophistication, making it a model for other developing countries hoping to access the benefits of global labor mobility.
Download Report | Press Release
Learning
by Doing: Experiences of Circular Migration
By
Kathleen Newland, Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias, and Aaron Terrazas
Increasingly, policymakers are considering whether circular migration could improve
the likelihood that global mobility gains will be shared by migrant-origin and
destination countries alike — as well as by migrants themselves. This MPI
Insight examines the record of circular migration, both where it has arisen naturally
and where governments have taken action to encourage it.
Protecting Overseas Workers: Lessons and Cautions from the Philippines
By Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias, MPI, and Neil Ruiz, Brookings Institution
Insight, September 2007
The world’s largest migrant welfare fund, the Philippines’ Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), shows that countries of origin can institutionalize protection of migrant workers through a mechanism for repatriation, provision of insurance and loans, and education and training. However, countries of origin must overcome several limitations to fully realize these benefits. The Philippine case highlights the importance of meeting the core needs of overseas workers without overextending the government’s capacity; political, administrative, and financial transparency and accountability; and the effective use of government resources. Destination countries should also establish mechanisms to protect migrant workers and help build capacity for welfare funds and countries of origin. As temporary worker programs gain increased international attention, both the accomplishments and the limitations of the Philippines’ experience
offer guidance for policymakers in other countries seeking to expand temporary
migration programs.
Circular Migration and Development: Trends, Policy Routes, and Ways Forward
Co-authored with Kathleen Newland
Policy Brief, April 2007
Circular migration, the temporary or permanent return of migrants to their countries of origin, is seen as offering benefits to countries of migrant origin, to destination countries, and to migrants themselves.
The most common policy route to encourage circulation has been to ensure that migrants maintain ties with their countries of origin, by providing financial incentives to return or by enforcing strict measures to prevent their remaining permanently in destination countries. Experience from many countries shows that this conventional set of policies has not, and in all probability will not, work on its own. Effective circular migration arrangements call for policies that strengthen ties to countries of both origin and destination. An environment that helps migrants to reach their goals—as manifested for instance by accumulated savings, newly acquired skills, and successful business ventures—is most likely to foster temporary or permanent return.
Remittances and Development: Trends, Impacts, and Policy Options --
A Review of the Literature
Report, September 2006
This report provides a comprehensive overview of the current academic and policy literature on remittances. Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias explores questions such as who sends and receives remittances, how much is remitted, methods by which remittances are sent, and what motivates migrants to send money home. She also delves into the ongoing debate on the impact of remittances on development, going beyond a discussion of economic impacts to include political and social implications. The report reviews existing policy initiatives on remittances and emphasizes the still enormous challenges in making these programs work for development.
From Zero Sum to a Win-Win Scenario:
A Literature Review on Circular Migration
Report, September 2006
This report looks at the policy implications of new research findings on the developmental impacts of circular migration. It highlights new research on how diasporas relate to their countries of origin and reviews policies intended to encourage circular migration, including temporary worker schemes, and the hotly contested issues surrounding them.
[Back to top]
Alexander T. Aleinikoff
Member, Board of Trustees
"Immigration" in The Department of Homeland Security's First Year: A Report Card
(The Century Foundation, 2004)
Citizenship Policies for an Age of Migration
Co-authored with Douglas Klusmeyer
(Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, May 2002)
Citizenship Today: Global Perspectives and Practices
Co-authored with Douglas Klusmeyer
(Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2001)
[Back to top]
Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan
The Role of Civil Society in EU Migration Policy: Perspectives on the European Union’s Engagement in its Neighborhood
By Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan
Civil society provides a crucial link between governments and the communities they represent — infusing policy processes with grassroots knowledge to which governments may not otherwise have access and lending legitimacy to government actions. But thus far, civil-society organizations have had a limited role in European policy debates. As the European Union seeks to reach out to developing regions in its “neighborhood” of nearby countries, it has emphasized the importance of involving civil society in both agenda-setting and implementation. Yet EU policymakers have not clearly articulated how this engagement might be structured. In effect, the question is not whether to engage, but how to do so.
Download Report
[Back to top]
Laura Barker
Bridging Divides: The Role of Ethnic Community-Based Organizations in Refugee Integration
Co-authored with Kathleen Newland and Hiroyuki Tanaka
Migration Policy Institute and the International Rescue Committee, June 2007
Almost 2.4 million refugees and asylees from at least 115 countries entered the United States between 1980 and 2006. Despite declines in refugee admissions, the United States continues to resettle more refugees than any other country. A new study released for World Refugee Day on June 20 examines how organizations founded by refugees are helping others who have escaped violence and persecution abroad adjust to life in the United States.
[Back to top]
Jeanne Batalova
Policy Analyst and Manager, MPI Data Hub
Relief from Deportation: Demographic Profile of the DREAMers Potentially Eligible under the Deferred Action Policy
By Jeanne Batalova and Michelle Mittelstadt
As many as 1.76 million unauthorized immigrants under age 31 who were brought to the United States as children, a population known as DREAMers, could gain a two-year reprieve from deportation, according to updated MPI estimates that reflect more detailed eligibility guidelines for the deferred action policy being implemented by the Department of Homeland Security. The Fact Sheet offers estimates on the age, educational attainment, state of residence, country and region of birth, workforce participation, and gender of prospective beneficiaries.
Download Fact Sheet | Press Release
The Educational Trajectories of English Language Learners in Texas
By Stella M. Flores, Jeanne Batalova, and Michael Fix
English Language Learner (ELL) public school students who successfully complete English as a Second Language (ESL) or bilingual education programs within three years appear to fare better in meeting basic math and reading proficiency standards than long-term ELLs, according to analysis of a unique longitudinaldataset that tracks all Texas students from first grade through high school graduation and beyond. Interestingly, Hispanic ELLs who opt out of ESL or bilingual education programs in favor of English-only courses may be particularly disadvantaged in terms of college enrollment.
Download Report | Press Release
Limited English Proficient Individuals in the United States: Number, Share, Growth, and Linguistic Diversity
By Chhandasi Pandya, Margie McHugh, and Jeanne Batalova
The number of US residents who are deemed to be Limited English Proficient (LEP) has increased substantially in recent decades, consistent with the growth of the US foreign-born population. With LEP individuals now representing 9 percent of the US population, an increasing number of states and localities must grapple with issues of communication and English language learning. This data brief offers the most up-to-date analysis on the number, share, growth, and linguistic diversity of LEP individuals in the United States from 1990 to 2010 at the national, state and metropolitan-area levels, with maps and detailed state-level data.
Download Data Brief | State-level Data on LEP Number, Share, and Growth | State-level Data on Linguistic Diversity
Up for Grabs: The Gains and Prospects of First- and Second-Generation Young Adults
By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
Youth and young adults from immigrant families represent one in four people in the United States between the ages of 16-26 and account for half of the growth of the young adult population between 1995 and 2010. This report profiles the nation’s 11.3 million first- and second-generation young adults, finding substantial generational progress in terms of high school graduation, college enrollment, and ability to earn family-sustaining wages. Second-generation Hispanic women are faring particularly well, with college enrollment rates equal to those of third-generation non-Hispanic white women. However, they are not graduating from college at the same rate or on the same timeline because of family, work, or economic reasons. The report sketches how postsecondary education, workforce development, and language training programs could better meet the needs of this population, which will assume a greater role as the US workforce ages.
Read Report | Watch Video | Listen to Podcast | View Powerpoints
DREAM vs. Reality: An Analysis of Potential DREAM Act Beneficiaries
Slightly more than 2.1 million unauthorized immigrant youth and young adults could be eligible to apply for legal status under the DREAM Act legislation pending in Congress, though perhaps fewer than 40 percent would obtain legal status because of barriers limiting their ability to take advantage of the legislation's educational and military service routes to legalization. This MPI analysis offers the most recent and detailed estimates of potential DREAM Act beneficiaries by age, education levels, gender, state of residence and likelihood of gaining legalization.
Download Report | Press Release
Migration and the Global Recession
By Michael Fix, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Jeanne Batalova, Aaron Terrazas, Serena Yi-Ying Lin, and Michelle Mittelstadt
The global financial crisis that began in September 2008 can be viewed as having a deeper and more global effect on the movement of people around the world than any other economic downturn in the post-World War II era of migration, finds a new MPI report commissioned by the BBC World Service. The report explores how the recession has affected the movement of some of the world's more than 195 million migrants and their remittances in locations around the globe. It provides data on migration, remittances, employment, and poverty rates for immigrants and the native-born alike; and examines the policy changes some countries have enacted to suppress migrant inflows, encourage departures (including through recent "pay-to-go" plans), and protect labor markets for native-born workers.
Download Report | Press Release
Uneven Progress: The Employment Pathways of Skilled Immigrants in the United States
By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix with Peter A. Creticos
More than 1.3 million college-educated immigrants in the United States are unemployed or working in unskilled jobs because they are unable to make full use of their academic and professional credentials, MPI reports in the first assessment yet of the scope of the "brain waste" problem. The report analyzes and offers possible solutions for the credentialing and language-barrier hurdles that deprive the US economy of a rich source of human capital at a time of increasing competition globally for skilled talent.
Spotlight on Temporary Admissions of Nonimmigrants to the United States
Migration Information Source, February 1, 2012
The total number of nonimmigrants admitted to the US has reached a nearly 30-year high. MPI's Jeanne Batalova outlines the definition of nonimmigrants and takes a detailed look at admissions data. Earlier versions of this Spotlight: 2009 | 2008 | 2006 | 2002
Spotlight on Green Card Holders and Legal Immigration to the United States
Migration Information Source, December 1, 2011
More than 1 million people became legal permanent residents in the United States in 2010. MPI’s Jeanne Batalova looks at data on permanent immigration to the US. Earlier versions of this Spotlight: 2009 | 2007 | 2006
Spotlight on Refugees and Asylees in the United States
Migration Information Source, August 1, 2011
In 2010, the United States granted humanitarian protection to nearly 95,000 immigrants, including some 73,000 refugees and 21,000 asylum seekers. MPI’s Jeanne Batalova takes a detailed look at refugee and asylum statistics in the United States. Earlier versions of this Spotlight: 2009 | 2007 | 2006 | 2004
Spotlight on Naturalization Trends
Migration Information Source, June 1, 2011
Nearly 620,000 immigrants received US citizenship in 2010. MPI's Jeanne Batalova takes a detailed look at the latest naturalization trends in the United States. Earlier versions of this Spotlight: 2009 | 2008 | 2006 | 2004
College-Educated Immigrants in the United States
Migration Information Source, November 1, 2008
In 2007, 15 percent of all college graduates in the US labor force were immigrants. MPI's Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix look at their demographic and socioeconomic profile. Earlier version of this Spotlight: 2005
The Recently Arrived Foreign Born in the United States
Co-authored with Aaron Matteo Terrazas
Migration Information Source, May 24, 2007
Over half of the foreign born in the United States in 2005 arrived in 1990 or later. MPI's Jeanne Batalova and Aaron Terrazas look at the countries of origin, education levels, occupations, and other characteristics of newer immigrants.
Proposed Points System and Its Likely Impact on Prospective Immigrants
Co-authored with Demetrios Papademetriou and Julia Gelatt
Backgrounder No. 4, May 2007
This MPI Backgrounder provides data on the foreign born in the United States related to the immigrant selection criteria expected to be part of the points-system proposal. These include age, educational attainment, occupation, English proficiency, and labor force participation -- factors that may be given more emphasis than extended family relationships.
Measures of Change: The Demography and Literacy of Adolescent English Learners
Co-authored with Michael Fix and Julie Murray
This new report provides a demographic profile of students in grades 6-12 who are English Language Learners (ELLs) and focuses on how these students are faring on standardized tests at the national level and in four states: California, Colorado, Illinois, and North Carolina. The authors find wide achievement gaps between ELL and other students at both national and state levels -- a finding with worrying implications for schools trying to meet requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act. Order a Copy
The “Brain Gain” Race Begins with Foreign Students
Migration Information Source, January 1, 2007
The United States has been a destination for education and research for generations of foreign students and scholars. MPI's Jeanne Batalova explores why the country has become less dominant in the global education market in recent years.
Spotlight on Foreign Students and Exchange Visitors
Migration Information Source, November 1, 2006
The United States' education system has been a major educational destination for foreign students for decades. MPI’s Jeanne Batalova describes the foreign student and exchange visitor population in the United States and highlights recent policy developments affecting them.
One in Seven Mexican Workers Are in the United States
MPI Fact Sheet No. 14, November 2006
Fourteen percent of the Mexican labor force -- or about one in seven Mexican workers -- were in the United States in 2005. Mexicans made up almost 5 percent of the US labor force and nearly a third of all foreign-born workers in the United States.
New Estimates of Unauthorized Youth Eligible for Legal Status under the DREAM Act
Backgrounder by Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
October 2006
The DREAM Act, incorporated into the current Senate bill, would immediately make about 360,000 young people aged 18 to 24 who have graduated from high school or obtained a GED eligible for conditional legal status. Those who qualify and then attend college or join the military within six years would become eligible for permanent legal status – an arrangement unprecedented in US history. Another approximately 715,000 unauthorized youth between ages 5 and 17 would become eligible for conditional and then permanent legal status under the proposed legislation sometime in the future, according to estimates in a new MPI Backgrounder.
Immigrants and Labor Force Trends: The Future, Past, and Present
By B. Lindsay Lowell, Julia Gelatt, and Jeanne Batalova
Task Force Insight No. 17, July 2006
The authors find that immigrants have been a driving force behind labor market growth in the United States in the past three decades. If immigration remains at current levels, immigrants and their children are projected to account for all growth in the US labor force between 2010 and 2030. Immigrants are projected to represent a rising percent of the workforce at all skill levels, increasing from 29 percent of those with less than a high school education in 2000 to 34 percent in 2030, from 10 to 15 percent of workers with a high school degree, and from 14 to 18 percent of those with a college education. Many jobs that have the highest rate of growth (in percentage terms) will require a college education, such as computer software engineers, physical therapists, and medical scientists. Meanwhile many jobs with the largest absolute (numerical) growth will require only on-the-job training and will have three times as many openings, for instance in medicine, home care and other services. Particularly as the native population ages, immigrants' education and skill levels make them good matches for these jobs.
The Impact of Immigration on Native Workers: A Fresh Look at the Evidence
Co-authored with Julie Murray and Michael Fix
Task Force Insight No. 18, July 2006
The authors carefully consider the extensive literature regarding the "competition question" of immigration's effects for natives. Contrary to much rhetoric in the current debate, the authors conclude that the question of whether increased immigration decreases native workers’ wages has yet to be resolved. They find that recent research diverges sharply on whether immigrants lower US-born workers' wages or, in fact, work in a complementary way to boost wages, particularly for high-skilled natives. Turning then to displacement, the authors note that researchers have more consistently found that there is some job displacement, or at least growing exclusion, of native workers in industries or areas with many immigrants. This trend holds for low-skilled workers and/or African-American natives. The authors write that changes in labor or capital, such as native out-migration or the entry of new industries into a region, can lessen the impacts of immigration on native wages or employment or spread the effects through a larger market.
Spotlight on Limited English Proficient Students in the United States
Migration Information Source, February 1, 2006
About five million students with limited proficiency in English were enrolled in US public schools in the 2003-2004 school year. MPI's Jeanne Batalova examines their characteristics.
The Growing Connection Between Temporary and Permanent Immigration Systems
Task Force Insight No. 14, January 2006
The distinction between temporary and permanent migration, clearly demarcated in past decades, has become increasingly blurred. A new immigrant admissions system has emerged that is neith temporary nor permanent, but rather a transitional system that allows visa holders to prove their worth to employers and the broader economy. The author also concludes that data collection must be improved so that legislators have an accurate basis for designing improved programs and policies.
Spotlight on Foreign Born in Areas Affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
Migration Information Source, October 1, 2005
According to the 2000 census, more than 150,000 foreign born lived in the counties affected by Hurricane Katrina. MPI's Jeanne Batalova takes a detailed look at the foreign-born population in the areas hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Foreign-Born Self-Employed in the United States
Co-authored with David Dixon
Migration Information Source, April 1, 2005
About one in 10 US immigrants is self-employed. MPI’s Jeanne Batalova and David Dixon explore the importance and dimensions of this phenomenon.
[Back to top]
Jeremy Banks
Behind the Naturalization Backlog
By Claire Bergeron and Jeremy Banks
Fact Sheet No. 21, February 2008
The processing time for naturalization applications has risen dramatically since mid-2007, to an 18-month average, as the federal government has struggled to cope with a surge in applications driven in part by a substantial fee increase. More than 460,000 people filed naturalization applications in July 2007 right before the fee hike took effect — fully one-third of the nearly 1.4 million applications that were filed during the entire fiscal year. This MPI fact sheet examines the causes, context, and concerns surrounding the backlog.
[Back to top]
Rocco Bellanova
Transatlantic Cooperation on Travelers’ Data Processing: From Sorting Countries to Sorting Individuals
This report, the second in a joint project of MPI and the European University Institute examining US and European immigration systems, details the post-9/11 programs and agreements implemented by US and European governments to identify terrorists and serious transnational criminals through the collection and processing of increasing quantities of traveler data. The report analyzes how governments, which once focused their screening primarily on a traveler’s nationality (“sorting countries”), increasingly are examining personal characteristics (“sorting individuals”).
Download Report
Transatlantic Information Sharing: At a Crossroads
By Hiroyuki Tanaka, Rocco Bellanova, Susan Ginsburg, and Paul De Hert
The attempted Christmas Day attack on a US airliner has refocused interest on the data collected by governments on international travelers, and how information sharing can be used to prevent terrorism and secure travel if properly shared and analyzed. In the wake of 9/11, the United States and European Union worked out agreements to expand the sharing of personal information about international travelers as a means to prevent acts of terrorism and fight international crime. However, as this report explores, negotiations on a binding US-EU agreement that will govern the sharing of personal information for law enforcement purposes – while high on the transatlantic policy agenda – face significant challenges.
Download Report | Press Release
[Back to top]
Claire Bergeron
Behind
the Naturalization Backlog
By Claire Bergeron and Jeremy Banks
Fact Sheet No. 21, February 2008
The processing time for naturalization applications has risen dramatically since
mid-2007, to an 18-month average, as the federal government has struggled to
cope with a surge in applications driven in part by a substantial fee increase.
More than 460,000 people filed naturalization applications in July 2007 right
before the fee hike took effect — fully one-third of the nearly 1.4 million
applications that were filed during the entire fiscal year. This MPI fact sheet
examines the causes, context, and concerns surrounding the backlog.
Social Security “No Match” Letters: A Primer
MPI Backgrounder No. 5, October 2007
A US District Court Judge has ruled that a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulation regarding Social Security Administration (SSA) “no match” letters cannot be implemented. This MPI Backgrounder shows that, based on 2006 information, the DHS procedures would have affected more than 1.5 million workers, with approximately 1 million concentrated in ten states.
[Back to top]
Richard Black
Pay-to-Go Schemes and Other Noncoercive Return Programs: Is Scale Possible?
By Richard Black, Michael Collyer, and Will Somerville
For decades, some immigrant-receiving countries have experimented with policies designed to encourage unauthorized immigrants to leave without the cost, legal barriers, and political obstacles that result from removals or forced returns. These initiatives – known as pay-to-go, noncoercive, voluntary, assisted voluntary, or nonforced returns — generally offer paid travel and/or a financial incentive in order to persuade target populations to cooperate with immigration authorities. The authors examine the programs’ long history of failure on the ground, but conclude that such initiatives could be an important part of the policy toolkit to reduce illegal immigration with proper experimentation and evaluation.
Download Report
[Back to top]
Kate Brick
Regularizations in the European Union: The Contentious Policy Tool
By Kate Brick
Though contentious, regularization (typically referred to in the US context as legalization) remains a frequently utilized policy tool to address the European Union’s unauthorized immigrant population. Since 1996, over 5 million people have been regularized through a variety of methods, which this Insight details. This work informed the Transatlantic Council on Migration meeting, “Restoring Trust in the Management of Migration and Borders.” The resulting Council Statement, authored by MPI President Demetrios G. Papademetriou, offers a menu of policy options and actions governments can take to build a “whole-of-system” approach to controlling illegal immigration while also creating the political space necessary for reforms of their immigration systems.
Download Report
US Immigration Policy and Mexican/Central American Migration Flows: Then and Now
By Marc R. Rosenblum and Kate Brick
Migration from Mexico and Central America’s “Northern Triangle” region (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) to the United States has increased significantly in the past four decades, from less than 1 million immigrants in the 1970s to 14 million today. Propelled by difficult economic and social conditions at home, massive opportunity differentials, and strengthening social networks, these regional migration flows have been shaped by evolving policies and practices. This report examines the push-and-pull factors of migration in the region from three major migration periods: the mostly laissez faire policies prior to the 1930s, the large-scale Bracero temporary worker program before and after World War II, and the mostly illegal system that emerged after the Bracero Program’s end in 1964.
Download Report
Mexican and Central American Immigrants in the United States
By Kate Brick, A. E. Challinor, and Marc R. Rosenblum
The Mexican and Central American immigrant population in the United States has increased by a factor of 20 since 1970 — a period during which the overall US immigrant population increased four-fold. This report examines the age, educational, and workforce characteristics of immigrants and the second generation from Mexico and Central America, finding that these immigrants are younger, more likely to be male, and more likely to be married with children than the US born or other immigrant groups. A high proportion are unauthorized, with key implications for their economic and social status and the overall immigration debate.
Download Report
[Back to top]
Suzette Brooks Masters
Putting Data to Work for Immigrants and Communities: Tools for the Washington DC Metro Area and Beyond
Co-authored with Kimberly A. Hamilton and Jill Wilson
March 2004
Information about immigrants--where they are from, where they live, and how they fare--has never been more important, or plentiful. At the same time, community organizations are working to respond to changing regional dynamics, often with limited resources. This report argues that it is vitally important for organizations to integrate fact-based knowledge of immigration into their day-to-day operations. The publication provides, in an easy to use fashion, the major data sources, training providers, data-related publications, and other useful contacts in metro DC area government, Census Bureau satellites, and universities that can be helpful to organizations working with immigrants or anyone interested in US immigration data. While the report focuses on the DC metropolitan region, the resource guide is relevant for all. The publication comes with a pullout wall chart with condensed guidelines for finding data and training.
[Back to top]
Randy Capps
Young Children of Black Immigrants in America: Changing Flows, Changing Faces
Edited by Randy Capps and Michael Fix
The US child population is rapidly changing and diversifying, in large part because of immigration. Today, nearly one in four US children under age 18 is the child of an immigrant. While research has focused on the largest of these groups, far less academic attention has been paid to the changing Black child population, with the children of Black immigrants representing an increasing share of the US Black child population. This interdisciplinary volume, with chapters by leading researchers, examines the health, well-being, school readiness, and academic achievement of children in Black immigrant families, most with parents from Africa and the Caribbean. The volume explores the migration and settlement experiences of Black immigrants to the United States, focusing on contextual factors such as family circumstances, parenting behaviors, social supports, and school climate that influence outcomes during early childhood and the elementary and middle-school years. Its findings hold important policy implications for education, health care, child care, early childhood development, immigrant integration, and refugee assistance.
Purchase a Copy
Profile of Immigrants in Napa County
This report offers a comprehensive profile of immigration to Napa County, examining the important role that immigrant workers play in the Napa Valley’s wine-related sectors and their fiscal contributions and costs. The authors examine demographic changes in Napa County, tracing immigrants’ origins, economic well-being, education, residence and home ownership, tax payments and public expenditures, and more.
Download Report | Executive Summary
Diverse Streams: African Migration to the United States
By Randy Capps, Kristen McCabe, and Michael Fix
Black African immigrants represent one of the fastest-growing segments of the US immigrant population, increasing by about 200 percent during the 1980s and 1990s and by 100 percent during the 2000s. This report finds African immigrants generally fare well on integration indicators, with college completion rates that greatly exceed those for most other immigrant groups and US natives. Despite higher levels of human capital, high employment rates, and strong English skills, African immigrants’ earnings lag those of the native born.
Download Report | Press Release | Research Project
Delegation and Divergence: A Study of 287(g) State and Local Immigration Enforcement
By Randy Capps, Marc R. Rosenblum, Cristina Rodríguez, and Muzaffar Chishti
The section 287(g) program, which delegates federal immigration enforcement powers to state and local officers, is not targeted primarily at serious offenders. Despite public statements by Obama administration officials that the program is primarily aimed at identifying and removing “dangerous criminals,” MPI researchers found that about half of 287(g) activity involves noncitizens arrested for misdemeanors or traffic offenses. Formal program changes unveiled by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2009 have not substantially changed program priorities, operations, outcomes, or community impacts, the report concludes, offering findings that also have implications for the Secure Communities program.
Earned Legalization: Effects of Proposed Requirements on Unauthorized Men, Women, and Children
By Marc R. Rosenblum, Randy Capps, and Serena Yi-Ying Lin
Requirements for earned legalization (such as English proficiency, employment, continuous presence, and monetary fines) could have different effects on the ability of unauthorized men, women, and children to gain legal status. This Policy Brief examines requirements proposed in the five major legalization bills proposed by Congress since 2006. Analysis shows that language requirements, depending on how they are structured, could exclude the largest number of unauthorized immigrants, with between 3.3 million and 5.8 million unauthorized adults unable to pass the English language tests contemplated by two recent bills. Employment rules would exclude the next-largest share of unauthorized immigrants and would fall especially hard on women, who are less likely than unauthorized men to be in the workforce; followed by continuous presence requirements, which would exclude many children, who are likely to have lived in the country for less time than unauthorized adults.
Download Report
Still an Hourglass? Immigrant Workers in Middle-Skilled Jobs
By Randy Capps, Michael Fix, and Serena Yi-Ying Lin
It has been conventional wisdom that the immigrant workforce is shaped like an hourglass — wide at the top and the bottom but narrow in the middle. In reality, immigrants are more evenly dispersed across the skills spectrum than has been widely recognized. Using an innovative new method of analysis, the authors found that the fastest growth in immigrant employment since 2000 has occurred in middle-skilled jobs. The study, which examines employment in the US workforce and in four key sectors (IT, health care, construction, and hospitality), finds that employment growth for immigrants far outpaced native growth rates between 1990 and 2006 in the total economy and the four industries surveyed.
Report in Brief | Full Report | Press Release | Listen/Download Event Audio
A Program in Flux: New Priorities and Implementation Challenges for 287(g)
By Cristina Rodríguez, Muzaffar Chishti, Randy Capps, and Laura St. John
State and local enforcement of federal immigration laws has generated considerable controversy in public policy circles in recent years, particularly with respect to the Section 287(g) program. The Obama administration is reforming the program, with a new standardized memorandum of agreement (MOA) that will govern all future Section 287(g) collaborations. In this report, the authors find that some aspects of the new standardized agreement may address criticisms of the program, while others could complicate implementation. The report also sets forth a research agenda for determining whether the 287(g) program generates greater benefits than costs and is worth maintaining.
Download Report
Immigrants and Health Care Reform: What's Really at Stake?
By Randy Capps, Marc R. Rosenblum, and Michael Fix
Health care reform proposals under consideration in Congress that would exclude many legal immigrants from core benefits and impose new verification requirements would have important spillover consequences for taxpayers and other health care consumers. In a new report, MPI's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy offers the first-ever estimates of the size of uninsured immigrant populations in major immigrant-destination states, the number of immigrant workers covered by employer-provided plans, and the share of immigrants employed by small firms likely to be exempted from employer coverage mandates. The report, based on MPI analysis of Census Bureau data, also examines health coverage for immigrants by legal status, age, and poverty levels.
Download Report | Press Release
Mandatory Verification in the States: A Policy Research Agenda
By Michael Fix, Doris Meissner, Randy Capps, Elizabeth Dennison, and Roberto Suro
In this report, prepared for US Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Office of Policy and Strategy, the authors examine the concept of mandatory employment verification, the devolution of immigration enforcement to state governments in recent years, and the E-Verify system. They sketch a research agenda comprised of employer surveys, case studies, polling, and data analysis to determine employer compliance, population movement, changes in public attitudes, and other issues surrounding mandatory employment verification.
Download Report
Taking Limited English Proficient Adults into Account in the Federal Adult Education Funding Formula
By Randy Capps, Michael Fix, Margie McHugh, and Serena Yi-Ying Lin
This new report by MPI's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy examines the funding formula used to distribute Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Title II federal funds for adult education, literacy, and English as a Second Language instruction. Though all adults with limited English proficiency (LEP) are eligible for WIA Title II programs, the authors report that the formula used to distribute $554 million to the states in fiscal 2009 excludes 11.2 million LEP adults with at least a high school education. With WIA up for reauthorization, the authors suggest there is an opportunity for policymakers to revisit the funding formula and related issues.
Download report
Trends in the Low-Wage Immigrant Workforce
By Randy Capps, Karina Fortuny, and Michael Fix
Urban Institute, March 2007
In 2005, immigrants overall represented more than a fifth of low-wage workers and almost half of workers without a high school education. This report describes recent trends in the immigrant labor force and their implications for the US economy.
Civic Contributions: Taxes Paid by Immigrants in the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Area
Co-authored with Randolph Capps and Everett Henderson, The Urban Institute, and Jeffrey S. Passel, Pew Hispanic Center
Report, Urban Institute, June 2006
The Washington, DC, metropolitan area is home to over 1 million immigrants, who composed one-fifth of the area’s total population in 2004. A new Urban Institute study find that the most educated foreign-born immigrants actually pay more in taxes than natives and the lower skilled contribute, too.
The New Demography of America's Schools
By Randolph Capps, Michael Fix, Julie Murray, Jason Ost, Jeffrey S. Passel, and Shinta Hirontoro
Urban Institute, September 2005
[Back to top]
A. E. Challinor
Mexican and Central American Immigrants in the United States
By Kate Brick, A. E. Challinor, and Marc R. Rosenblum
The Mexican and Central American immigrant population in the United States has increased by a factor of 20 since 1970 — a period during which the overall US immigrant population increased four-fold. This report examines the age, educational, and workforce characteristics of immigrants and the second generation from Mexico and Central America, finding that these immigrants are younger, more likely to be male, and more likely to be married with children than the US born or other immigrant groups. A high proportion are unauthorized, with key implications for their economic and social status and the overall immigration debate.
Download Report
[Back to top]
Muzaffar A. Chishti
Director, MPI's Office at NYU School of Law
Immigration Enforcement in the United States: The Rise of a Formidable Machinery
By Doris Meissner, Donald M. Kerwin, Muzaffar Chishti, and Claire Bergeron
The US government spends more on federal immigration enforcement than on all other principal federal criminal law enforcement agencies combined, and has allocated nearly $187 billion for immigration enforcement since 1986. Deportations have reached record highs, border apprehensions 40-year lows, and more noncitizens than ever before are in immigration detention. The report traces the evolution of the immigration enforcement system, particularly in the post-9/11 era, in terms of budgets, personnel, enforcement actions, and technology – analyzing how individual programs and policies have resulted in a complex, interconnected, cross-agency system.
Download Report | Press Release | Report-in-Brief
Through the Prism of National Security: Major Immigration Policy and Program Changes in the Decade since 9/11
By Michelle Mittelstadt, Burke Speaker, Doris Meissner, and Muzaffar Chishti
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 prompted the profound realignment of the US immigration system, with national security and enforcement the dominant lens through which programs and budgets have been shaped over the past decade. The post-9/11 era has witnessed the largest government reorganization since World War II; increased information sharing and data collection across international, federal, state, and local law enforcement and intelligence agencies; the broad use of nationality-based screening and enforcement initiatives; the expansion of immigrant detention policies; and exponential increases in funding for homeland security-related immigration programs. This Fact Sheet details the policy, programmatic, budget, and manpower changes that have happened in the immigration arena as an outgrowth of the 9/11 attacks.
Download Fact Sheet | Press Release | Listen to Podcast
Delegation and Divergence: A Study of 287(g) State and Local Immigration Enforcement
By Randy Capps, Marc R. Rosenblum, Cristina Rodríguez, and Muzaffar Chishti
The section 287(g) program, which delegates federal immigration enforcement powers to state and local officers, is not targeted primarily at serious offenders. Despite public statements by Obama administration officials that the program is primarily aimed at identifying and removing “dangerous criminals,” MPI researchers found that about half of 287(g) activity involves noncitizens arrested for misdemeanors or traffic offenses. Formal program changes unveiled by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2009 have not substantially changed program priorities, operations, outcomes, or community impacts, the report concludes, offering findings that also have implications for the Secure Communities program.
A Program in Flux: New Priorities and Implementation Challenges for 287(g)
By Cristina Rodríguez, Muzaffar Chishti, Randy Capps, and Laura St. John
State and local enforcement of federal immigration laws has generated considerable controversy in public policy circles in recent years, particularly with respect to the Section 287(g) program. The Obama administration is reforming the program, with a new standardized memorandum of agreement (MOA) that will govern all future Section 287(g) collaborations. In this report, the authors find that some aspects of the new standardized agreement may address criticisms of the program, while others could complicate implementation. The report also sets forth a research agenda for determining whether the 287(g) program generates greater benefits than costs and is worth maintaining.
Download Report
Testing
the Limits: A Framework for Assessing the Legality of State and
Local Immigration Measures
By Cristina Rodríguez, Muzaffar Chishti, and Kimberly Nortman
Report, December 2007
In 2007 alone, the 50 state legislatures have considered over 1,000 pieces of
legislation regulating immigrants and immigration. This paper provides a framework
for assessing the legal validity of five of the most common or high-profile measures
that address unauthorized immigration specifically.
The Phenomenal Rise in Remittances to India: A Closer Look
Policy Brief, May 2007
India’s remittances have skyrocketed in the past 10 years, jumping from $2.1 billion in FY1990-1991 to $24.1 billion in FY2005-2006. India captures 10 percent of global remittances, making it the single largest recipient in the world. Muzaffar Chishti examines the factors behind this surge, from economic reforms to migrants’ shift to higher-skilled jobs. He finds that while remittances exceed total government expenditures in health and education, the Indian government has not instituted any policies specifically aimed at increasing remittance flows. Looking forward, the most significant factor in remittance and investment flows may ultimately be how Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)
perceive the Indian economy, and the challenge for the government
will be leveraging inflows of NRI capital for broader socioeconomic
development.
America's Challenge: Domestic Security, Civil Liberties, and National Unity After September 11
Co-authored with Doris Meissner, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Jay Peterzell, Michael J. Wishnie, and Stephen W. Yale-Loehr
June 2003
MPI’s report draws on extensive interviews with policymakers and community leaders across the United States, and on comprehensive information assembled about the 'secret' detentions after the terrorist attacks. It presents detailed recommendations on how to incorporate immigration law and policy into national strategies that confront the threat of terrorism, uphold the rule of law, and preserve the cohesion that is one of the country’s strongest security assets.
Immigration and Security Post-Sept. 11
Migration Information Source, August 2002
Supreme Court Brief - Amici Curiae
Co-authored with David Schulz, Jeffrey Drichta, David Dovdavany, and Michael J. Wishnie
Hoffman Plastic Board Compounds v. National Labor Relations Board
December 10, 2001
(Read a Summary of the Brief)
[Back to top]
Gayle Christensen
Language Policies and Practices for Helping Immigrants and Second-Generation Students Succeed
By Gayle Christensen, Urban Institute, and Petra Stanat, Free University of Berlin
Transatlantic Task Force on Immigration and Integration Report, September 2007
Drs. Christensen and Stanat draw on the results of a unique survey of school language policies and practices to close the achievement gap in 14 immigrant-receiving countries. The authors find that countries where immigrant and second-generation students succeed tend to have long-standing language support programs, for both primary and secondary students, with clearly defined goals and standards. The authors highlight Sweden; Victoria, Australia; and British Columbia, Canada, as places with smaller achievement gaps between native-born and immigrant students. These programs’ common strategies include centrally developed curricula, high program standards, time-intensive programs, support in both primary and secondary school, second-language teachers who have received specialized training, and cooperation between language and other teachers.
[Back to top]
Elizabeth Collett
Emerging Transatlantic Security Dilemmas in Border Management
By Elizabeth Collett
The sheer volume of global travel, which has risen exponentially since the 1960s, puts border management systems under constant pressure. Beyond that growth, border management systems have had to contend with additional risks associated with these movements. Mass-casualty terrorist attacks, rising illegal immigration, and human trafficking have exposed weaknesses in states’ ability to manage their borders effectively. This policy memo examines the infrastructure and policy developments – and challenges – that have occurred in recent years on both sides of the Atlantic, discussing the differing nature and prioritization of those policy challenges.
Download Memo
A New Architecture for Border Management
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Elizabeth Collett
This report commissioned to inform the work of MPI’s Transatlantic Council on Migration for its meeting on “Restoring Trust in the Management of Migration and Borders” examines the emergence of a new border architecture resulting from the explosion in global travel and the dawning of the age of risk. This new border architecture must respond effectively to the seemingly competing demands of facilitating mobility while better managing the risks associated with cross-border travel (e.g. terrorism, the entry of unwanted migrants, and organized crime). The report examines the information-sharing agreements, technology innovations, and multilateral partnerships that have emerged as key components of the new architecture for border management, and discusses challenges and considerations for the future.
Download Report
Immigrant Integration in a Time of Austerity
By Elizabeth Collett
With austerity at the forefront of European government policy debates and rising debt levels sure to catalyze additional difficult public spending decisions, immigrant integration programs have been an early place for budget cuts in some countries. In this report, MPI European Policy Fellow Elizabeth Collett offers fresh analysis of how immigrant integration programs are faring in a number of EU countries: the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. While the economic and political climate offer some explanation for governments’ response, the report details how those factors alone are insufficient to explain countries’ differing approaches to immigrant integration programs.
Download Report | Press Release | Listen to Event Audio
Soft, Scarce, and Super Skills: Sourcing the Next Generation of Migrant Workers in Europe
Elizabeth Collett and Fabian Zuleeg examine how the selection criteria that developed-country immigration systems widely use (particularly points systems and occupational "shortage lists") fail to capture three important skill groups: soft, scarce, and super. In this paper, the authors discuss key policy recommendations to improve governments' skilled-immigrant recruitment strategies.
Download report
Michael Collyer
Pay-to-Go Schemes and Other Noncoercive Return Programs: Is Scale Possible?
By Richard Black, Michael Collyer, and Will Somerville
For decades, some immigrant-receiving countries have experimented with policies designed to encourage unauthorized immigrants to leave without the cost, legal barriers, and political obstacles that result from removals or forced returns. These initiatives – known as pay-to-go, noncoercive, voluntary, assisted voluntary, or nonforced returns — generally offer paid travel and/or a financial incentive in order to persuade target populations to cooperate with immigration authorities. The authors examine the programs’ long history of failure on the ground, but conclude that such initiatives could be an important part of the policy toolkit to reduce illegal immigration with proper experimentation and evaluation.
Download Report
[Back to top]
Betsy Cooper
The New "Boat People": Ensuring Safety and Determining Status
By Joanne van Selm and Betsy Cooper
Report, January 2006
This report aims to foster dialogue among international stakeholders and policymakers about current policy responses to migration by sea. A forum of renowned experts and government representatives from across the globe convened at MPI to discuss the implications of historical and current trends in interdiction and rescue, from Haiti to Australia to Europe, as well as what approaches might be effective for the future.
Leaving Too Much to Chance: A Roundtable on Immigrant Integration Policy
By Michael Fix, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, and Betsy Cooper
November 2005
Fifty of the nation's leading experts gathered at MPI to discuss three critical areas of integration policy: PreK - 12 education; work and work supports for immigrant families; and civic engagement and citizenship, with the aim of identifying major policy changes and opportunities and to begin mapping an agenda for policy change regarding immigrant integration.
Lessons From The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
Co-authored with Kevin O'Neil
Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future Policy Brief No. 3 August 2005
Secure Borders, Open Doors: Visa Procedures in the Post-September 11 Era
By Stephen Yale-Loehr, Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Betsy Cooper
September 2005
The US visa policy program has become a key tool in promoting national security, but vulnerabilities remain and government agencies must work together to ensure that security measures do not compromise U.S. economic competitiveness and foreign policy goals, find the authors of MPI's report.
Full Report | Executive Summary | Press Release
United States-Canada-Mexico Trade and Migration Fact Sheet
Co-authored with Megan Davy
October 2005
Fact Sheet | Press Release
[Back to top]
Maurice Crul
The Second Generation in Europe: Education and the Transition to the Labor Market
In this report, authors Maurice Crul and Jens Schneider examine the findings of The Integration of the European Second Generation (TIES) survey with respect to educational and labor market outcomes for second-generation Turks across 13 cities in seven European countries. Among the survey’s findings: There is a direct relationship between the educational attainment of children of immigrants and the years they are able to spend with peers who have native-born parents.
Pathways to Success for the Children of Immigrants
By Maurice Crul, University of Amsterdam
Transatlantic Task Force on Immigration and Integration Report, September 2007
Dr. Crul looks at how the children of Turkish immigrants, the largest immigrant group in Europe, are faring across the continent. He finds disparities across countries in the age at which children start school, the number who drop out of secondary school, and the number of youth who are unemployed. He notes that, because immigrant students tend to start school at a linguistic and cultural disadvantage, compelling them to choose either an academic or vocational education “track” too early may relegate them to a less enriching education. Dr. Crul suggests a range of policy tools to avoid this outcome, such as establishing strong apprenticeship programs and allowing vocational students to switch back to academic schools if they show the potential to succeed.
[Back to top]
Paul De Hert
Transatlantic Cooperation on Travelers’ Data Processing: From Sorting Countries to Sorting Individuals
This report, the second in a joint project of MPI and the European University Institute examining US and European immigration systems, details the post-9/11 programs and agreements implemented by US and European governments to identify terrorists and serious transnational criminals through the collection and processing of increasing quantities of traveler data. The report analyzes how governments, which once focused their screening primarily on a traveler’s nationality (“sorting countries”), increasingly are examining personal characteristics (“sorting individuals”).
Download Report
Transatlantic Information Sharing: At a Crossroads
By Hiroyuki Tanaka, Rocco Bellanova, Susan Ginsburg, and Paul De Hert
The attempted Christmas Day attack on a US airliner has refocused interest on the data collected by governments on international travelers, and how information sharing can be used to prevent terrorism and secure travel if properly shared and analyzed. In the wake of 9/11, the United States and European Union worked out agreements to expand the sharing of personal information about international travelers as a means to prevent acts of terrorism and fight international crime. However, as this report explores, negotiations on a binding US-EU agreement that will govern the sharing of personal information for law enforcement purposes – while high on the transatlantic policy agenda – face significant challenges.
Download Report | Press Release
[Back to top
David Dixon
America's Emigrants: US Retirement to Mexico and Panama
While US policy focuses on immigration from Mexico and Latin America, a new MPI study identifies a reverse trend: increasing numbers of senior citizens from the United States moving to Mexico and Panama to retire. With the US Census estimating that the population over 65 in the United States will double by the year 2030, understanding new and growing trends in international retirement migration will become increasingly important as baby boomers age.
Detailed Characteristics of the South American Born in the United States
Co-authored with Julia Gelatt
Migration Information Source, May 1, 2006
The majority of South American born counted in the 2000 census were from Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
Characteristics of the Asian Born in the United States
Migration Information Source, March 1, 2006
The Asian born accounted for more than a quarter of the total US foreign-born population in 2000. David Dixon looks at the social and economic profiles of the foreign born from Eastern, Southeastern South Central and Western Asia.
Characteristics of the African Born in the United States
Migration Information Source, January 1, 2006
David Dixon looks at the social and economic profiles of the foreign born from Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Africa.
"Zieht es die Besten fort? Ausmaß und Formen der Abwanderung deutscher Hochqualifizierter in die USA," [The Best Ones Leave? Emigration of the Highly Skilled from Germany to the US]
co-authored with Claudia Diehl, German Federal Institute for Population Research
Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie 57, 2005, S. 714-734. [German]
Spotlight on Naturalization Trends
Migration Information Source, November 1, 2005
Over 500,000 immigrants received US citizenship in 2004. MPI's Aaron Erlich and David Dixon take a detailed look at the latest naturalization trends in the United States.
Spotlight on US Immigration Enforcement
Migration Information Source, September 1, 2005
Of the 186,151 individuals formally removed in 2003, 40 percent entered without authorization. MPI's David Dixon briefly explains the US approach to immigration enforcement and looks at apprehension, detention, and removal statistics.
New Research Challenges Notion of German "Brain Drain"
Co-authored with Claudia Diehl, German Federal Institute for Population Research
Migration Information Source, August 1, 2005
For years, Germany has been concerned about losing its top minds to the United States. While highly skilled individuals are leaving for the US, most of the increase is accounted for by temporary migrants.
Foreign-Born Self-Employed in the United States
Migration Information Source, April 1, 2005
About one in 10 US immigrants is self-employed. MPI’s Jeanne Batalova and David Dixon explore the importance and dimensions of this phenomenon.
Characteristics of the European Born in the United States
Migration Information Source, February 1, 2005
The European born are more likely to be proficient in English, work in higher-level occupations, and have higher earnings than the overall foreign-born population. David Dixon examines the social and economic profiles of the foreign born from Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Europe.
[Back to top]
David Dovdavany
Supreme Court Brief - Amici Curiae
Co-authored with Muzaffar Chishti, Jeffrey Drichta, David Dovdavany, Michael J. Wishnie
Hoffman Plastic Board Compounds v. National Labor Relations Board
December 10, 2001
(Read a Summary of the Brief)
[Back to top]
Jeffrey Drichta
Supreme Court Brief - Amici Curiae
Co-authored with David Schulz, David Dovdavany, Michael J. Wishnie and Muzaffar Chishti
Hoffman Plastic Board Compounds v. National Labor Relations Board
December 10, 2001
(Read a Summary of the Brief)
[Back to top]
Jamie Durana
Hometown Associations: An Untapped Resource for Immigrant Integration?
By Will Somerville, Jamie Durana, and Aaron Matteo Terrazas
Hometown associations, the organizations that immigrants create for social, economic development, and political empowerment purposes, play an important – and underexamined – role in immigrant integration. Though policymakers focus chiefly on the associations’ development potential, this MPI Insight recommends cooperative interventions to strengthen their immigrant integration capacity.
[Back to top]
Leise Egesberg
Study on the Transfer of Protection Status in the EU
By Nina M. Lassen with Leise Egesberg, Joanne van Selm with Eleni Tsolakis, and Jeroen Doomernik
June 25, 2004
[Back to top]
Michael Fix
Senior Vice President and Director of Studies and Co-Director, National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy
Young Children of Black Immigrants in America: Changing Flows, Changing Faces
Edited by Randy Capps and Michael Fix
The US child population is rapidly changing and diversifying, in large part because of immigration. Today, nearly one in four US children under age 18 is the child of an immigrant. While research has focused on the largest of these groups, far less academic attention has been paid to the changing Black child population, with the children of Black immigrants representing an increasing share of the US Black child population. This interdisciplinary volume, with chapters by leading researchers, examines the health, well-being, school readiness, and academic achievement of children in Black immigrant families, most with parents from Africa and the Caribbean. The volume explores the migration and settlement experiences of Black immigrants to the United States, focusing on contextual factors such as family circumstances, parenting behaviors, social supports, and school climate that influence outcomes during early childhood and the elementary and middle-school years. Its findings hold important policy implications for education, health care, child care, early childhood development, immigrant integration, and refugee assistance.
Purchase a Copy
Profile of Immigrants in Napa County
This report offers a comprehensive profile of immigration to Napa County, examining the important role that immigrant workers play in the Napa Valley’s wine-related sectors and their fiscal contributions and costs. The authors examine demographic changes in Napa County, tracing immigrants’ origins, economic well-being, education, residence and home ownership, tax payments and public expenditures, and more.
Download Report | Executive Summary
Diverse Streams: African Migration to the United States
By Randy Capps, Kristen McCabe, and Michael Fix
Black African immigrants represent one of the fastest-growing segments of the US immigrant population, increasing by about 200 percent during the 1980s and 1990s and by 100 percent during the 2000s. This report finds African immigrants generally fare well on integration indicators, with college completion rates that greatly exceed those for most other immigrant groups and US natives. Despite higher levels of human capital, high employment rates, and strong English skills, African immigrants’ earnings lag those of the native born.
Download Report | Press Release | Research Project
The Educational Trajectories of English Language Learners in Texas
By Stella M. Flores, Jeanne Batalova, and Michael Fix
English Language Learner (ELL) public school students who successfully complete English as a Second Language (ESL) or bilingual education programs within three years appear to fare better in meeting basic math and reading proficiency standards than long-term ELLs, according to analysis of a unique longitudinaldataset that tracks all Texas students from first grade through high school graduation and beyond. Interestingly, Hispanic ELLs who opt out of ESL or bilingual education programs in favor of English-only courses may be particularly disadvantaged in terms of college enrollment.
Download Report | Press Release
Up for Grabs: The Gains and Prospects of First- and Second-Generation Young Adults
By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
Youth and young adults from immigrant families represent one in four people in the United States between the ages of 16-26 and account for half of the growth of the young adult population between 1995 and 2010. This report profiles the nation’s 11.3 million first- and second-generation young adults, finding substantial generational progress in terms of high school graduation, college enrollment, and ability to earn family-sustaining wages. Second-generation Hispanic women are faring particularly well, with college enrollment rates equal to those of third-generation non-Hispanic white women. However, they are not graduating from college at the same rate or on the same timeline because of family, work, or economic reasons. The report sketches how postsecondary education, workforce development, and language training programs could better meet the needs of this population, which will assume a greater role as the US workforce ages.
Read Report | Watch Video | Listen to Podcast | View Powerpoints
Still an Hourglass? Immigrant Workers in Middle-Skilled Jobs
By Randy Capps, Michael Fix, and Serena Yi-Ying Lin
It has been conventional wisdom that the immigrant workforce is shaped like an hourglass — wide at the top and the bottom but narrow in the middle. In reality, immigrants are more evenly dispersed across the skills spectrum than has been widely recognized. Using an innovative new method of analysis, the authors found that the fastest growth in immigrant employment since 2000 has occurred in middle-skilled jobs. The study, which examines employment in the US workforce and in four key sectors (IT, health care, construction, and hospitality), finds that employment growth for immigrants far outpaced native growth rates between 1990 and 2006 in the total economy and the four industries surveyed.
Report in Brief | Full Report | Press Release | Listen/Download Event Audio
The Demographic Impacts of Repealing Birthright Citizenship
By Jennifer Van Hook with Michael Fix
Repeal of birthright citizenship for the US-born children of unauthorized immigrants would expand the unauthorized population by at least 5 million over the next four decades. Employing standard demographic techniques, this analysis suggests that there would be 4.7 million unauthorized immigrants as of 2050 who had been born in the United States — 1 million of them with US-born mother and father — if birthright citizenship were denied to children born to parents who are both unauthorized immigrants. While some policymakers are discussing changes to birthright citizenship as a means to reduce illegal immigration, the report makes clear such a move could in fact significantly increase the size of the unauthorized population.
The Binational Option: Meeting the Instructional Needs of Limited English Proficient Students
By Aaron Terrazas and Michael Fix
With 1 in 10 children in US schools having limited English proficiency, school districts across the country face challenges in meeting the students' educational needs and finding enough qualified bilingual and English as a Second Language educators. This report identifies international teacher exchanges as an innovative, near-term strategy for school administrators to respond to immediate teaching needs, particularly in subject areas where knowledge of a foreign language is necessary. In conjunction with efforts to recruit local teachers, foreign teachers can help alleviate endemic shortages — particularly in districts that face rapid, unexpected, or short-term changes in the student population.
Immigrants and Health Care Reform: What's Really at Stake?
By Randy Capps, Marc R. Rosenblum, and Michael Fix
Health care reform proposals under consideration in Congress that would exclude many legal immigrants from core benefits and impose new verification requirements would have important spillover consequences for taxpayers and other health care consumers. In a new report, MPI's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy offers the first-ever estimates of the size of uninsured immigrant populations in major immigrant-destination states, the number of immigrant workers covered by employer-provided plans, and the share of immigrants employed by small firms likely to be exempted from employer coverage mandates. The report, based on MPI analysis of Census Bureau data, also examines health coverage for immigrants by legal status, age, and poverty levels.
Migration and the Global Recession
By Michael Fix, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Jeanne Batalova, Aaron Terrazas, Serena Yi-Ying Lin, and Michelle Mittelstadt
The global financial crisis that began in September 2008 can be viewed as having a deeper and more global effect on the movement of people around the world than any other economic downturn in the post-World War II era of migration, finds a new MPI report commissioned by the BBC World Service. The report explores how the recession has affected the movement of some of the world's more than 195 million migrants and their remittances in locations around the globe. It provides data on migration, remittances, employment, and poverty rates for immigrants and the native-born alike; and examines the policy changes some countries have enacted to suppress migrant inflows, encourage departures (including through recent "pay-to-go" plans), and protect labor markets for native-born workers.
Education, Diversity, and the Second Generation: A Discussion Guide
The discussion guide, written by Michael Fix and Margie McHugh, Co-Directors of MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, offers a brief demographic and statistical profile of the immigrant student population in the United States, with comparison points drawn to Germany where the data permit. The guide sketches broad policy implications of the demographic data and offers up for discussion a set of policy and practice issues in two areas: early childhood care and education, and secondary instruction of first- and second-generation students, with a focus on those whose proficiency in English or German lags.
Taking Limited English Proficient Adults into Account in the Federal Adult Education Funding Formula
By Randy Capps, Michael Fix, Margie McHugh, and Serena Yi-Ying Lin
This new report by MPI's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy examines the funding formula used to distribute Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Title II federal funds for adult education, literacy, and English as a Second Language instruction. Though all adults with limited English proficiency (LEP) are eligible for WIA Title II programs, the authors report that the formula used to distribute $554 million to the states in fiscal 2009 excludes 11.2 million LEP adults with at least a high school education. With WIA up for reauthorization, the authors suggest there is an opportunity for policymakers to revisit the funding formula and related issues.
Download report
Mandatory Verification in the States: A Policy Research Agenda
By Michael Fix, Doris Meissner, Randy Capps, Elizabeth Dennison, and Roberto Suro
In this report, prepared for US Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Office of Policy and Strategy, the authors examine the concept of mandatory employment verification, the devolution of immigration enforcement to state governments in recent years, and the E-Verify system. They sketch a research agenda comprised of employer surveys, case studies, polling, and data analysis to determine employer compliance, population movement, changes in public attitudes, and other issues surrounding mandatory employment verification.
Download Report
Uneven Progress: The Employment Pathways of Skilled Immigrants in the United States
By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix with Peter A. Creticos
More than 1.3 million college-educated immigrants in the United States are unemployed or working in unskilled jobs because they are unable to make full use of their academic and professional credentials, MPI reports in the first assessment yet of the scope of the "brain waste" problem. The report analyzes and offers possible solutions for the credentialing and language-barrier hurdles that deprive the US economy of a rich source of human capital at a time of increasing competition globally for skilled talent.
Gambling on the Future: Managing the Education Challenges of Rapid Growth in Nevada
By Aaron Terrazas and Michael Fix
Nevada, the fastest growing state in the United States, is experiencing a population boom – driven in part by immigration – that has key implications for its school system and labor market. Immigrants represent one in five Nevada residents and their children account for one in three Nevadans under age 18. Yet even as schools have experienced a surge in enrollment, federal and state investments in the state's failing education system haven't kept pace.
Download
Report | Press Release
Los
Angeles on the Leading Edge: Immigrant Integration Indicators
and Their Policy Implications
By Michael Fix, Margie McHugh, Aaron Matteo Terrazas, and Laureen Laglagaron
April 2008
As Los Angeles makes the transition from being a city of immigrants to one dominated
by their US-born children, it can serve as a policy laboratory for other cities
facing the need to better integrate immigrants into US classrooms, workplaces,
and civic life. MPI’s report details the imperative for integration policies
that will benefit immigrants and the broader US society alike.
Download
Report | Press
Release
A Profile of Immigrants in Arkansas
Co-authored with Randolph Capps, Everett Henderson, John D. Kasarda, James H. Johnson, Jr., Stephen J. Appold, Derrek L. Croney, and Donald J. Hernandez
Report, Urban Institute, April 2007
Arkansas, which had the 4th fastest growing immigrant population and fastest growing Latino population of any state between 2000 and 2005, is the subject of this series of reports. Volume 1 provides detailed demographic information about the foreign-born in Arkansas and compares immigrants to natives on a wide variety of quality-of-life measures. It profiles immigrants' countries of birth, legal status, educational attainment, poverty, homeownership, employment, and the primary industries in which they are employed. Volume 2 assesses immigrants' impacts on the Arkansas economy, in terms of consumer spending, tax contributions, fiscal costs, and the savings that businesses and consumers realize by using immigrant labor. An executive summary is also listed below.
Measures of Change: The Demography and Literacy of Adolescent English Learners
Co-authored with Jeanne Batalova and Julie Murray
Report, March 2007
This new report provides a demographic profile of students in grades 6-12 who are English Language Learners (ELLs) and focuses on how these students are faring on standardized tests at the national level and in four states: California, Colorado, Illinois, and North Carolina. The authors find wide achievement gaps between ELL and other students at both national and state levels -- a finding with worrying implications for schools trying to meet requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act.
Press Release | Download the Report | Purchase a Copy
Adult English Language Instruction in the United States: Determining Need and Investing Wisely
Trends in the Low-Wage Immigrant Workforce
Co-authored with Randolph Capps and Karina Fortuny
Report, Urban Institute, March 2007
In 2005, immigrants overall represented more than a fifth of low-wage workers and almost half of workers without a high school education. This report describes recent trends in the immigrant labor force and their implications for the US economy.
Securing the Future: US Immigrant Integration Policy, A Reader
Editor
Book, February 2007
This volume sketches the contours of a national integration policy and includes a discussion of key integration issues raised by the current debate around immigration reform, including impact aid to state and local governments and financing health care for legalizing immigrants.
New Estimates of Unauthorized Youth Eligible for Legal Status under the DREAM Act
Backgrounder by Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
October 2006
The DREAM Act, incorporated into the current Senate bill, would immediately make about 360,000 young people aged 18 to 24 who have graduated from high school or obtained a GED eligible for conditional legal status. Those who qualify and then attend college or join the military within six years would become eligible for permanent legal status – an arrangement unprecedented in US history. Another approximately 715,000 unauthorized youth between ages 5 and 17 would become eligible for conditional and then permanent legal status under the proposed legislation sometime in the future, according to estimates in a new MPI Backgrounder.
Immigration and America's Future: A New Chapter
Final report of the Independent Task Force co-chaired by Spencer Abraham and Lee H. Hamilton
The bipartisan group of public policy experts, immigration stakeholders, and elected officials undertook careful analysis of the economic, social, and demographic factors driving today’s large-scale immigration.
The Task Force has concluded that immigration is essential to US national interests and will become even more so in the years ahead. However, the system is outdated, overly complex, and inflexible; it no longer serves the nation’s needs. The Task Force recommends that the United States fundamentally rethink its policies and overhaul how it manages immigration to better harness the benefits and minimize the disadvantages of immigration.
The Contributions of High-Skilled Immigrants
Co-authored with Neeraj Kaushal
Task Force Insight No. 16, July 2006
The authors find that while immigrants are one in eight US residents, they make up one in every five doctors in the country, one in five computer specialists, and one in six persons in engineering or science occupations. In 2000, the foreign born constituted approximately 17 percent of the work force with a BA in science and engineering occupations, 29 percent of those with a master’s degree, and 39 percent of those with a doctoral degree. Since 1990, more than half the US Nobel laureates in sciences were foreign born and about 37 percent were educated abroad. However, global competition for students and high-skilled workers is on the rise and could erode US dominance in higher education and shrink the pool of high-skilled workers available for US jobs.
The Impact of Immigration on Native Workers: A Fresh Look at the Evidence
Co-authored with Julie Murray and Jeanne Batalova
Task Force Insight No. 18, July 2006
The authors carefully consider the extensive literature regarding the "competition question" of immigration's effects for natives. Contrary to much rhetoric in the current debate, the authors conclude that the question of whether increased immigration decreases native workers’ wages has yet to be resolved. They find that recent research diverges sharply on whether immigrants lower US-born workers' wages or, in fact, work in a complementary way to boost wages, particularly for high-skilled natives. Turning then to displacement, the authors note that researchers have more consistently found that there is some job displacement, or at least growing exclusion, of native workers in industries or areas with many immigrants. This trend holds for low-skilled workers and/or African-American natives. The authors write that changes in labor or capital, such as native out-migration or the entry of new industries into a region, can lessen the impacts of immigration on native wages or employment or spread the effects through a larger market.
Civic Contributions: Taxes Paid by Immigrants in the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Area
Co-authored with Randolph Capps and Everett Henderson, The Urban Institute, and Jeffrey S. Passel, Pew Hispanic Center
Report, Urban Institute, June 2006
The Washington, DC, metropolitan area is home to over 1 million immigrants, who composed one-fifth of the area’s total population in 2004. A new Urban Institute study find that the most educated foreign-born immigrants actually pay more in taxes than natives and the lower skilled contribute, too.
Leaving Too Much to Chance: A Roundtable on Immigrant Integration Policy
By Michael Fix, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, and Betsy Cooper
November 2005
Fifty of the nation's leading experts gathered at MPI to discuss three critical areas of integration policy: PreK - 12 education; work and work supports for immigrant families; and civic engagement and citizenship, with the aim of identifying major policy changes and opportunities and to begin mapping an agenda for policy change regarding immigrant integration.
The New Demography of America's Schools
Co-authored with Randolph Capps, Julie Murray, Jason Ost, Jeffrey S. Passel, and Shinta Hirontoro
Report, Urban Institute, September 2005
Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future: The Roadmap
Co-authored with Doris Meissner and Demetrios G. Papademetriou
Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future Policy Brief No. 1
June 2005
The Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future will focus on key policy questions in areas where today's US immigration policy and practices are faltering. These include: upholding the rule of law; developing policies that meet immigration and national security needs; managing immigration in ways that increase the nation's economic competitiveness; and promoting the economic and social integration of newcomers.
[Back to top]
Sarah Flamm
The Economic Value of Citizenship for Immigrants in the United States
By Madeleine Sumption and Sarah Flamm
Beyond imparting political and social rights, naturalization appears to confer economic gains for immigrants in the United States, with a wage premium of at least 5 percent – even after accounting for the fact that naturalized immigrants have higher levels of education, better language skills, and more work experience in the United States than noncitizens. More than 8 million legal immigrants in the United States are eligible to apply for citizenship but have not done so. Naturalization rates in the United States are lower than most other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, the report notes.
Download Report | Press Release
[Back to top]
Peter Galbraith
Refugees from War in Iraq: What happened in 1991 and what may happen in 2003
Policy Brief No. 2, February 2003
PDF Version
[Back to top]
Julia Gelatt
How
Changes to Family Immigration Could Affect Source Countries'
Sending Patterns
By Julia Gelatt
Fact Sheet No. 18, June 2007
The proposed Senate bill would substantially revise the family-based permanent
immigration system. This Fact Sheet shows that, under the bill's points system,
the share of visas going to employment-based immigrants would increase from less
than one-fifth currently to about two-fifths.
Actual Immigration to the United States:
The Real Numbers
Fact Sheet No. 16, May 2007
While official figures show annual permanent immigration to the United States averaging about 1 million people a year, actual annual immigration to the United States is about 1.8 million people. True numbers of people who enter the United States each year and ultimately remain permanently include not only those coming through official permanent immigration channels, but also those entering through certain temporary immigration streams, and those entering or remaining in the United States without authorization.
Proposed Points System and Its Likely Impact on Prospective Immigrants
Co-authored with Demetrios Papademetriou, Jeanne Batalova
Backgrounder No. 4, May 2007
This MPI Backgrounder provides data on the foreign born in the United States related to the immigrant selection criteria expected to be part of the points-system proposal. These include age, educational attainment, occupation, English proficiency, and labor force participation -- factors that may be given more emphasis than extended family relationships.
Immigration Fee Increases in Context
Co-authored with Margie McHugh
Fact Sheet No. 15, February 2007
US Citizenship Immigration Services has announced plans for an 80 percent increase in naturalization application fees. The fact sheet details the increased fees' implications for US immigrants and provides background on USCIS' call for higher fees.
Legal Immigration to the United States Increased Substantially in FY 2005
Co-authored with Deborah Meyers
October 2006
In Fiscal Year 2005, the most recent year for which data are available: Lawful permanent immigration grew by 17 percent and naturalizations increased by almost 13 percent from FY 2004. The number of people who adjusted their status to lawful permanent residence increased 26 percent, explaining much of the overall growth. Refugee admissions rose slightly from FY 2004, but remained below pre-9/11 levels. The level of temporary visitors rebounded to near pre-9/11 levels.
Immigrants and Labor Force Trends: The Future, Past, and Present
Co-authored with B. Lindsay Lowell and Jeanne Batalova
Task Force Insight No. 17, July 2006
The authors find that immigrants have been a driving force behind labor market growth in the United States in the past three decades. If immigration remains at current levels, immigrants and their children are projected to account for all growth in the US labor force between 2010 and 2030. Immigrants are projected to represent a rising percent of the workforce at all skill levels, increasing from 29 percent of those with less than a high school education in 2000 to 34 percent in 2030, from 10 to 15 percent of workers with a high school degree, and from 14 to 18 percent of those with a college education. Many jobs that have the highest rate of growth (in percentage terms) will require a college education, such as computer software engineers, physical therapists, and medical scientists. Meanwhile many jobs with the largest absolute (numerical) growth will require only on-the-job training and will have three times as many openings, for instance in medicine, home care and other services. Particularly as the native population ages, immigrants' education and skill levels make them good matches for these jobs.
Download PDF
America's Emigrants: US Retirement to Mexico and Panama
Co-authored with David Dixon and Julie Murray
While US policy focuses on immigration from Mexico and Latin America, a new MPI study identifies a reverse trend: increasing numbers of senior citizens from the United States moving to Mexico and Panama to retire. With the US Census estimating that the population over 65 in the United States will double by the year 2030, understanding new and growing trends in international retirement migration will become increasingly important as baby boomers age.
Executive Summary | Resumen Ejecutivo (Español)
Immigration Facts: Immigration Enforcement Spending Since IRCA
Co-authored with David Dixon
Task Force Fact Sheet No. 10, November 2005
This study of appropriations finds that from 1985 to 2002, funds for border control jumped from $700 million to $2.8 billion per year; funds for detention and removal skyrocketed from $192 million to $1.6 billion, while funds for interior investigations rose from $109 million to only $458 million.
Legal Immigration to the United States Up from Last Year
Information on US immigration in FY 2004
Co-authored with Deborah Meyers
Fact Sheet No. 12, November 2005
[Back to top]
Susan Ginsburg
Securing Human Mobility in the Age of Risk: New Challenges for Travel, Migration, and Borders
This new book makes the case that the nation's post-9/11 approach to immigration and border security is off-kilter and not keeping pace with the scope and complexity of people's movement around the world, nor with expectations regarding freedom of movement. Author Susan Ginsburg, who served as senior counsel and team leader on the staff of the 9/11 Commission, proposes a new paradigm that seeks to secure mobility and promote the rule of law in global migration channels while moving away from a system that too often conflates border and immigration enforcement with counterterrorism.
Order a Copy | Press Release
Transatlantic Information Sharing: At a Crossroads
By Hiroyuki Tanaka, Rocco Bellanova, Susan Ginsburg, and Paul De Hert
The attempted Christmas Day attack on a US airliner has refocused interest on the data collected by governments on international travelers, and how information sharing can be used to prevent terrorism and secure travel if properly shared and analyzed. In the wake of 9/11, the United States and European Union worked out agreements to expand the sharing of personal information about international travelers as a means to prevent acts of terrorism and fight international crime. However, as this report explores, negotiations on a binding US-EU agreement that will govern the sharing of personal information for law enforcement purposes – while high on the transatlantic policy agenda – face significant challenges.
Download Report | Press Release
Room
for Progress: Reinventing Euro-Atlantic Borders for a New Strategic
Environment
By Deborah W. Meyers, Rey Koslowski, and Susan Ginsburg, October 2007
Ever-increasing economic and political integration of the European Union and
deeper economic and security partnerships among the United States, Canada, and
Mexico are creating new models of border management. A new MPI report describes
recently established US and EU enforcement agencies, benefits and limitations
of new information technology, and contentious developments surrounding visa-free
travel policy.
Full
Report | Press
Release
Countering Terrorist Mobility: Shaping an Operational Strategy
By Susan Ginsburg,
January 2006
Susan Ginsburg provides a blueprint for an integrated strategy to thwart terrorists by focusing on terrorist mobility. While all but the most recent government counterterrorism strategies since 9/11 omit mobility as a distinct element of terrorism requiring its own operational strategy, Ms. Ginsburg argues that terrorist mobility deserves comparable attention and resources to those devoted to terrorist finance and communications. She describes the elements of a terrorist mobility strategy that can use leads generated by terrorists’ need to travel to counter their ability to enter, live in, or move within the United States and like-minded countries.
[Back to top]
Elizabeth Grieco
Backlogs in Immigration Processing Persist
By Doris Meissner, Elizabeth Grieco and Kevin Jernegan
Fact Sheet, June 2005
Over the last fifteen years, the number of pending applications for immigration benefits in the United States has swollen by over 1,000 percent, growing from 540,688 in 1990 to a high of 6.08 million in 2003. This fact sheet provides insight into the factors that have contributed to protracted processing delays, or the backlog.
The Dominican Population in the United States: Growth and Distribution
Commissioned by Aeropuertos Dominicanos Siglo XXI (Aerodom)
Published by the Migration Policy Institute,
September 2004
This study summarizes the size and growth of the Dominican population in the United States and discusses some of the unique characteristics of this community. Author Elizabeth Grieco finds that between 1990 and 2000, the Dominican population grew by 89 percent. In the year 2000, the Dominican population was 1 million, approximately two-thirds of whom are foreign-born. Immigration has been -- and will continue to be in the near future -- the driving force of growth for the Dominican population in the United States.
Health Insurance Coverage of the Foreign Born in the United States: Numbers and Trends
By Elizabeth Grieco
Fact Sheet No. 8, June 2004
Of the 33.5 million foreign born in the United States, one in three have no health insurance coverage. However, the longer immigrants reside in the United States, the more likely they are to hold health insurance, with data indicating that the percent uninsured drops dramatically as the time of residence increases. This fact sheet contains information on health insurance coverage of the foreign born and natives in United States.
Immigrants and U.S. Labor Unions: An MPI Fact Sheet
By Elizabeth Grieco
Fact Sheet No. 7, May 2004
The number of immigrant workers in labor unions grew by 24 percent between 1996 and 2003, a year in which one out of every ten immigrant wage and salary workers in the United States was a labor union member. This fact sheet contains information about the increase of immigrants in the U.S. work force, and the participation in labor unions of both native and foreign-born workers.
"Realizing the Potential of Migrant 'Earn, Learn, and Return' Strategies: Does Policy Matter?"
By Kimberly Hamilton and Elizabeth Grieco
Commitment to Development Index
Center for Global Development, February 2004 What Kind of Work Do Immigrants Do? Occupation and Industry of Foreign-Born Workers in the United States
By Elizabeth Grieco
Fact Sheet No. 5, January 2004
Foreign-born workers are employed in a broad range of occupations, with 23 percent in managerial and professional occupations, 21 percent in technical, sales, and administrative support occupations, 21 percent in service occupations, 18 percent working as operators, fabricators, and laborers, and 4 percent in farming, forestry, and fishing occupations. This fact sheet contains information on the occupation and industry of foreign-born workers in the United States.
The Foreign Born in the US Labor Force: Numbers and Trends
By Elizabeth Grieco
Fact Sheet No. 4, January 2004
The foreign-born make up 14 percent of the total civilian labor force in the United States, and the majority of foreign-born workers in the United States are non-citizens. This fact sheet contains information on the immigrants in the US work force.
The Foreign Born from the Philippines in the United States
Migration Information Source, November 1, 2003
Data Manager Elizabeth Grieco provides an overview of the second-largest immigrant group in the United States.
Unauthorized Immigration to the United States
By Elizabeth Grieco
Fact Sheet No. 2, October 2003
The Foreign Born from Mexico in the United States
Migration Information Source, October 1, 2003
US Immigration Since September 11, 2001
By Elizabeth Grieco, Deborah Meyers, and Kathleen Newland
Fact Sheet No. 1, September 2003
The Foreign Born in the Armed Forces
Migration Information Source, July 1, 2003
Data Manager Elizabeth Grieco takes a closer look at the foreign-born members of the United States armed forces.
The Federated States of Micronesia: The "Push" to Migrate
Migration Information Source, July 2003
Waves of emigrants from the Federated States of Micronesia are building new lives abroad, according to MPI Data Manager Elizabeth Grieco.
Iraqi Immigrants in the United States
Migration Information Source, April 1, 2003
With the war in Iraq intensifying, the media has focused on the Iraqi foreign born in the United States. To ensure the accuracy of public debate, MPI Data Manager Elizabeth Grieco uses US Census Bureau statistics to describe the size of the Iraqi immigrant population.
Sex Ratios of the Foreign Born in the United States
Migration Information Source, March 1, 2003
Data Manager Elizabeth Grieco examines the ratio of men to women among various foreign born groups in the United States.
Census 2010 and the Foreign Born: Averting the Data Crisis
Policy Brief No 1., February 2003
PDF Version
Foreign-Born Hispanics in the United States
Migration Information Source, February 1, 2003
Data Manager Elizabeth Grieco examines the size and distribution of the foreign-born Hispanic population throughout the United States.
Hispanos nacidos en el extranjero que viven en los Estados Unidos
Migration Information Source, February 1, 2003
La Gerente de Datos Elizabeth Grieco considera el tamaño y la distribución de la población hispana extranjera en los EEUU.
English Abilities of the US Foreign-Born Population
Migration Information Source, January 1, 2003
Defining 'Foreign Born' and 'Foreigner' in International Migration Statistics
Migration Information Source, July 2002
Spotlight on Immigrant Women
Migration Information Source, May 2002
[Back to top]
Susan Gzesh
America's Human Rights Challenge:
International Human Rights Implications of US Immigration Enforcement Actions Post-September 11
By Susan Gzesh, Senior Lecturer and Director of the Human Rights Program at the University of Chicago
In America’s Human Rights Challenge, the author examines how international human rights law can serve as a tool for the assessment of US immigration security measures and immigration enforcement practices post - 9/11.
[Back to top]
Kimberly A. Hamilton
"Realizing the Potential of Migrant 'Earn, Learn, and Return' Strategies: Does Policy Matter?"
By Kimberly Hamilton and Elizabeth Grieco
Commitment to Development Index
Center for Global Development, February 2004
Putting Data to Work for Immigrants and Communities: Tools for the Washington DC Metro Area and Beyond
Co-authored with Suzette Brooks Masters and Jill Wilson
March 2004
Information about immigrants--where they are from, where they live, and how they fare--has never been more important, or plentiful. At the same time, community organizations are working to respond to changing regional dynamics, often with limited resources. This report argues that it is vitally important for organizations to integrate fact-based knowledge of immigration into their day-to-day operations. The publication provides, in an easy to use fashion, the major data sources, training providers, data-related publications, and other useful contacts in metro DC area government, Census Bureau satellites, and universities that can be helpful to organizations working with immigrants or anyone interested in US immigration data. While the report focuses on the DC metropolitan region, the resource guide is relevant for all. The publication comes with a pullout wall chart with condensed guidelines for finding data and training.
Migration and Development: Blind Faith and Hard-to-Find Facts
Migration Information Source, November 1, 2003
Kim Hamilton, Managing Editor of The Source, outlines a research agenda for migration and development.
Italy's Southern Exposure
Migration Information Source, May 2002
[Back to top]
Gordon H. Hanson
The Economics and Policy of Illegal Immigration in the United States
By Gordon H. Hanson
Illegal immigration's overall impact on the US economy is negligible, despite clear benefits for employers and unauthorized immigrants and slightly depressed wages for low-skilled native workers, according to this report by University of California, San Diego Professor of Economics Gordon Hanson for MPI's Labor Markets Initiative. The largest economic gains from illegal immigration flow to unauthorized workers, who see very substantial income hikes after migrating, Hanson says, suggesting that policy changes could increase the positive contribution that low-skilled workers make to the US economy by converting illegal flows to legal ones.
Download Report | Press Release
Lesleyanne Hawthorne
The Growing Global Demand for Students as Skilled Migrants
International student education is a large, growing, and lucrative industry in many developed countries. Students not only help to maintain domestic institutions' competitiveness, they also represent a valuable pool of skilled immigrants for governments wishing to recruit "tried and tested" individuals into their labor forces. As Lesleyanne Hawthorne details in this paper, it is not surprising, therefore, that Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries are innovating widely with policies to attract and retain international students.
Download report
Maia Jachimowicz
Immigrants and Homeownership in Urban America: An Examination of Nativity, Socio-economic Status and Place
Co-authored with Brian Ray and Demetrios Papademetriou
April 2004
This study focuses on the top 100 U.S. metropolitan areas where immigrants live. The authors find key factors that influence homeownership among immigrants include availability of affordable housing, length of residence in the country, and English proficiency. While noting that immigrants are far from a homogenous group, the authors identify strategies that may increase immigrants' chances for homeownership.
"From Homeland to a Home: Immigrants and Homeownership in Urban America"
Fannie Mae Paper, March 2004
English | En Español
Observations on Regularization and the Labor Market Performance of Unauthorized and Regularized Immigrants
Co-authored with Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Kevin O'Neil
Prepared for the European Commission, DG Employment and Social Affairs
July 2004
U.S.-Canada-Mexico Fact Sheet on Trade and Migration
Co-authored with Deborah Meyers and Rebecca Jannol
November 2003
Facts and figures on national and regional trade, border crossings, temporary and permanent migration, and demographics.
Foreign Students and Exchange Visitors
Migration Information Source, September 1, 2003
Maia Jachimowicz looks at the large population of foreign students and educational exchange visitors in the United States and outlines recent policy developments affecting them.
Argentina's Economic Woes Spur Emigration
Migration Information Source, July 1, 2003
MPI's Maia Jachimowicz maps out the challenges ahead for Argentina, which is witnessing an outflow of people amidst continuing economic hardships.
Executive Summary, Women Immigrants in the United States
Co-authored with Deborah Meyers
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, March 2003
[Back to top]
Tamar Jacoby
An Idea Whose Time Has Finally Come? The Case for Employment Verification
By Tamar Jacoby, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute
Task Force Policy Brief No. 9, November 2005
Although the Immigration Reform and Control Act made it a crime to hire unauthorized immigrants, it failed to give employers the tools they need to determine who is authorized to work and who isn't -- a reliable, automated employment verification system. The author suggests that what is needed is a process not unlike credit-card verification that allows employers to swipe a card at the point of hire and receive a response in real time from the Social Security Administration.
[Back to top]
Rebecca Jannol
U.S.-Canada-Mexico Fact Sheet on Trade and Migration
Co-authored with Deborah Meyers and Maia Jachimowicz
Facts and figures on national and regional trade, border crossings, temporary and permanent migration, and demographics.
November 2003
[Back to top]
Kevin Jernegan
Eligible to Work: Experiments in Verifying Work Authorization
Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future Insight No. 8, November 2005
Documentation Provisions of the Real ID Act
Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future Backgrounder, November 2005
Backlogs in Immigration Processing Persist
Fact Sheet, June 2005
Over the last fifteen years, the number of pending applications for immigration benefits in the United States has swollen by over 1,000 percent, growing from 540,688 in 1990 to a high of 6.08 million in 2003. This fact sheet provides insight into the factors that have contributed to protracted processing delays, or the backlog.
[Back to top]
Tomás R. Jiménez
Immigrants in the United States: How Well Are They Integrating into Society?
By Tomás R. Jiménez
Even though immigration is intertwined with the history of the United States, fears about immigrants' ability to integrate remain an area of concern. Yet an examination of immigrants’ integration across five major indicators – language proficiency, socioeconomic attainment, political participation, residential locale, and social interaction with host communities – shows they are integrating reasonably well. Remarkably, the process has unfolded almost entirely without policy intervention. The author examines the laissez faire policy approach to integration, raising concerns about how the state of public education and size of the US unauthorized population may remain powerful barriers to immigrants' full social, economic, and political integration.
Download Report | European Integration Challenges Report
[Back to top]
Donald Kerwin
Immigration Enforcement in the United States: The Rise of a Formidable Machinery
By Doris Meissner, Donald M. Kerwin, Muzaffar Chishti, and Claire Bergeron
The US government spends more on federal immigration enforcement than on all other principal federal criminal law enforcement agencies combined, and has allocated nearly $187 billion for immigration enforcement since 1986. Deportations have reached record highs, border apprehensions 40-year lows, and more noncitizens than ever before are in immigration detention. The report traces the evolution of the immigration enforcement system, particularly in the post-9/11 era, in terms of budgets, personnel, enforcement actions, and technology – analyzing how individual programs and policies have resulted in a complex, interconnected, cross-agency system.
Download Report | Press Release | Report-in-Brief
The Faltering US Refugee Protection System: Legal and Policy Responses to Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Others in Need of Protection
By Donald M. Kerwin
While generous in many respects, the US refugee protection system has become less robust over the last two decades amid heightened security reviews, inadequate coordination between government and NGOs, and unresolved policy tensions between the goals of protecting the most vulnerable and of refugee integration. This report examines US legal and policy responses to those seeking protection in the United States and addresses the barriers, gaps, and opportunities that exist in the refugee protection regime.
Download Report | European Asylum Report
Executive Action on Immigration: Six Ways to Make the System Work Better
By Donald M. Kerwin, Doris Meissner, Margie McHugh
While sweeping reform to fix a US immigration system widely acknowledged as broken has taken a backseat politically, opportunities exist within the executive branch to improve the ways in which the nation’s existing immigration laws and policies are administered. Among the report’s recommendations: establishing uniform enforcement priorities and defining what constitutes effective border control, strengthening immigrant integration policy creation and implementation, allowing applicants for immigrant visas to file in the United States, and making use of prosecutorial discretion in removal proceeding filings.
Download Report | Press Release
More than IRCA: US Legalization Programs and the Current Policy Debate
By Donald M. Kerwin
Legalization is a policy option that has been used with some regularity by governments in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere. Notwithstanding the commonly held perception that the United States has had only one legalization – in 1986 – legalization has been an enduring and necessary feature of US immigration law and policy since the 1920s. This Policy Brief, the second in a series on how to shape and administer an effective legalization program, provides an historical overview of US legalization programs, statistics, a primer on the different types of programs, and discussion of the current debate.
Download Report
Structuring and Implementing an Immigrant Legalization Program: Registration as the First Step
By Donald M. Kerwin and Laureen Laglagaron
While comprehensive immigration reform may have moved to the back burner, Congress and the administration eventually are likely to revisit legalization as a serious policy option. This report, the first in a series on how to shape and administer an effective legalization program, argues that a registration process that rapidly identifies, screens, and processes potential applicants should be an essential first step to any legalization. The Policy Brief proposes intensive applicant screening and documentation requirements, describes the application process, and addresses the role of community-based organizations and other stakeholders in helping administer a successful program.
Immigrant Detention: Can ICE Meet its Legal Imperatives and Case Management Responsibilities?
By Donald Kerwin and Serena Yi-Ying Lin
As US Immigration and Customs Enforcement launches an initiative to move from a criminal incarceration model to a civil detention system, this report explores whether the agency is capable of meeting legal and case management responsibilities in light of its use of information systems that may not be collecting all the data necessary for compliance with legal, detention management and humanitarian standards. The report analyzes select data for all 32,000 detainees held in ICE custody on one night in January 2009 and examines the sufficiency of the agency's database and case tracking system. The authors provide a roadmap for meeting the data needs essential for the new detention initiative to succeed.
Download Report | Press Release
DHS and Immigration: Taking Stock and Correcting Course
By Doris Meissner and Donald Kerwin
Nearly six years after the federal immigration bureaucracy was dismantled and rebuilt to meet the heightened security imperatives of the post-9/11 era, the arrival of new executive branch leadership offers the singular opportunity to take stock and provide a clear-eyed assessment of the performance of the three immigration agencies within the Department of Homeland Security. In a new report, MPI offers policy recommendations for US Customs and Border Protection, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and US Citizenship and Immigration Services, as well as overall DHS immigration policy direction and coordination, that could be accomplished by the new administration without need for legislation.
Download Report | Press Release
Revisiting the Need for Appointed Counsel
Insight No. 4, May 2005
Author Donald Kerwin makes the case that increasing legal representation for indigent immigrants in removal proceedings ensures that these critical decisions are based on legal standards rather than income. The report finds striking discrepancies in outcomes between those with counsel and those who must represent themselves. Based on these findings, Mr. Kerwin recommends several ways to expand or increase legal representation, benefiting immigrants and promoting more efficient proceedings and correct legal determinations for the government.
[Back to top]
Douglas Klusmeyer
Citizenship Policies for an Age of Migration
Co-authored with Alexander T. Aleinikoff
(Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, May 2002)
Citizenship Today: Global Perspectives and Practices
Co-authored with Alexander T. Aleinikoff
(Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2001)
[Back to top]
Dawn Konet
Document
Security Provisions: What's in the Cards?
By Dawn Konet
Fact Sheet No. 17, June 2007
This Fact Sheet provides a chart of the security features -- from
photos and fingerprints to holograms and lamination -- of documents
issued by government agencies and used by US residents to work,
travel and verify their identities. Notably, there have been no
significant security changes to the Social Security card, one of
the most commonly used to show work eligibility.
[Back to top]
Rey Koslowski
The Evolution of Border Controls as a Mechanism to Prevent Illegal Immigration
By Rey Koslowski
This paper, the first in a joint project of the Migration Policy Institute and European University Institute examining US and European immigration systems, analyzes how the challenges in achieving effective US border control have increased dramatically within recent decades and particularly since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The author examines the programmatic and funding responses US policymakers have put in place — including the Secure Border Initiative, the Visa Waiver Program, US-VISIT, and registered-traveler programs — and traces their evolution and effectiveness.
Download Report
Room for Progress: Reinventing Euro-Atlantic Borders for a New Strategic
Environment
By Deborah W. Meyers, Rey Koslowski, and Susan Ginsburg, October 2007
Ever-increasing economic and political integration of the European Union
and deeper economic and security partnerships among the United States, Canada,
and Mexico are creating new models of border management. A new MPI report
describes recently established US and EU enforcement agencies, benefits and
limitations of new information technology, and contentious developments surrounding
visa-free travel policy.
Full
Report | Press Release
Real Challenges for Virtual Borders: The Implementation of US-VISIT
By Rey Koslowski, Associate Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University-Newark
June 2005
This report finds that while the US-VISIT program may deter terrorists from attempting to enter the United States through legal channels, it alone probably will not catch them. The entry-exit tracking system for foreign nationals traveling to the United States was initially designed as an immigration enforcement tool and then recast into a counterterrorism role after September 11. However, the program will need a clearer mandate and serious investments of political and economic capital to provide more than an illusion of national security.
[Back to top]
Laureen Laglagaron
Structuring and Implementing an Immigrant Legalization Program: Registration as the First Step
By Donald M. Kerwin and Laureen Laglagaron
While comprehensive immigration reform may have moved to the back burner, Congress and the administration eventually are likely to revisit legalization as a serious policy option. This report, the first in a series on how to shape and administer an effective legalization program, argues that a registration process that rapidly identifies, screens, and processes potential applicants should be an essential first step to any legalization. The Policy Brief proposes intensive applicant screening and documentation requirements, describes the application process, and addresses the role of community-based organizations and other stakeholders in helping administer a successful program.
Protection through Integration: The Mexican Government's Efforts to Aid Migrants in the United States
By Laureen Laglagaron
Immigrant integration remains largely an afterthought in US immigration policy discussions and the country's integration policies remain chronically underfunded and limited in scope. Local and informal actors such as families and community-based organizations have historically taken on this responsibility. However, as this report explores, new partners are emerging. Mexico's efforts to help its migrants succeed in the United States offer a new example of an immigrant-sending country looking to improve its emigrants' lives and connect with its diaspora. The report examines the evolution of Mexico's approach to its migrants and details the activities of Mexico's Institute of Mexicans Abroad (IME) in a first-ever attempt to map the expanding range of IME educational, health care, financial, and civic engagement programs.
Download Report | Press Release | Listen/Download Event Audio
The Redesigned Citizenship Test: High Stakes
By Laureen Laglagaron and Bhavna Devani
MPI Backgrounder No. 6, September 2008
More than a decade in the making, the redesigned citizenship test required for use after October 1, 2008 is supposed to provide a more meaningful opportunity for applicants to demonstrate knowledge about US history and civics, and allow the government more standardized test administration. This MPI Backgrounder details the redesign process, examines whether the government met its goals, and provides policy recommendations.
Backgrounder | Press Release
Los
Angeles on the Leading Edge: Immigrant Integration Indicators
and Their Policy Implications
By Michael Fix, Margie McHugh, Aaron Matteo Terrazas, and Laureen Laglagaron
April 2008
As Los Angeles makes the transition from being a city of immigrants to one dominated
by their US-born children, it can serve as a policy laboratory for other cities
facing the need to better integrate immigrants into US classrooms, workplaces,
and civic life. MPI’s report details the imperative for integration policies
that will benefit immigrants and the broader US society alike.
Download
Report | Press
Release
[Back to top]
Nina Lassen
Study on the Transfer of Protection Status in the EU
By Nina M. Lassen with Leise Egesberg, Joanne van Selm with Eleni Tsolakis, and Jeroen Doomernik
June 25, 2004
[Back to top]
Paul Leseman
Early Education for Immigrant Children
By Paul Leseman, Utrecht University
Report of the Transatlantic Task Force on Immigration and Integration, September 2007
Dr. Leseman looks at factors that create educational disadvantages among children of immigrants, including socioeconomic and psychological risks and lack of cognitive stimulation at home. He finds that while early education can improve the educational and socioeconomic position of low-income and minority communities, the program’s design is fundamental to its success. He recommends that policymakers focus on providing center-based care, with programs grounded in teaching children the host language and with strong outreach to minorities that includes additional help for parents. He also recommends that governments directly subsidize early-education programs rather than providing parents with vouchers, which can be confusing and are underused.
[Back to top]
Serena Yi-Ying Lin
Earned Legalization: Effects of Proposed Requirements on Unauthorized Men, Women, and Children
By Marc R. Rosenblum, Randy Capps, and Serena Yi-Ying Lin
Requirements for earned legalization (such as English proficiency, employment, continuous presence, and monetary fines) could have different effects on the ability of unauthorized men, women, and children to gain legal status. This Policy Brief examines requirements proposed in the five major legalization bills proposed by Congress since 2006. Analysis shows that language requirements, depending on how they are structured, could exclude the largest number of unauthorized immigrants, with between 3.3 million and 5.8 million unauthorized adults unable to pass the English language tests contemplated by two recent bills. Employment rules would exclude the next-largest share of unauthorized immigrants and would fall especially hard on women, who are less likely than unauthorized men to be in the workforce; followed by continuous presence requirements, which would exclude many children, who are likely to have lived in the country for less time than unauthorized adults.
Download Report
Still an Hourglass? Immigrant Workers in Middle-Skilled Jobs
By Randy Capps, Michael Fix, and Serena Yi Ying-Lin
It has been conventional wisdom that the immigrant workforce is shaped like an hourglass — wide at the top and the bottom but narrow in the middle. In reality, immigrants are more evenly dispersed across the skills spectrum than has been widely recognized. Using an innovative new method of analysis, the authors found that the fastest growth in immigrant employment since 2000 has occurred in middle-skilled jobs. The study, which examines employment in the US workforce and in four key sectors (IT, health care, construction, and hospitality), finds that employment growth for immigrants far outpaced native growth rates between 1990 and 2006 in the total economy and the four industries surveyed.
Report in Brief | Full Report | Press Release | Listen/Download Event Audio
Immigrant Detention: Can ICE Meet its Legal Imperatives and Case Management Responsibilities?
By Donald Kerwin and Serena Yi-Ying Lin
As US Immigration and Customs Enforcement launches an initiative to move from a criminal incarceration model to a civil detention system, this report explores whether the agency is capable of meeting legal and case management responsibilities in light of its use of information systems that may not be collecting all the data necessary for compliance with legal, detention management and humanitarian standards. The report analyzes select data for all 32,000 detainees held in ICE custody on one night in January 2009 and examines the sufficiency of the agency's database and case tracking system. The authors provide a roadmap for meeting the data needs essential for the new detention initiative to succeed.
Download Report | Press Release
Migration and the Global Recession
By Michael Fix, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Jeanne Batalova, Aaron Terrazas, Serena Yi-Ying Lin, and Michelle Mittelstadt
The global financial crisis that began in September 2008 can be viewed as having a deeper and more global effect on the movement of people around the world than any other economic downturn in the post-World War II era of migration, finds a new MPI report commissioned by the BBC World Service. The report explores how the recession has affected the movement of some of the world's more than 195 million migrants and their remittances in locations around the globe. It provides data on migration, remittances, employment, and poverty rates for immigrants and the native-born alike; and examines the policy changes some countries have enacted to suppress migrant inflows, encourage departures (including through recent "pay-to-go" plans), and protect labor markets for native-born workers.
Download Report | Press Release
Taking Limited English Proficient Adults into Account in the Federal Adult Education Funding Formula
By Randy Capps, Michael Fix, Margie McHugh, and Serena Yi-Ying Lin
This new report by MPI's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy examines the funding formula used to distribute Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Title II federal funds for adult education, literacy, and English as a Second Language instruction. Though all adults with limited English proficiency (LEP) are eligible for WIA Title II programs, the authors report that the formula used to distribute $554 million to the states in fiscal 2009 excludes 11.2 million LEP adults with at least a high school education. With WIA up for reauthorization, the authors suggest there is an opportunity for policymakers to revisit the funding formula and related issues.
Download report
[Back to top]
David Martin
Nonresident Fellow and the Warner-Booker Distinguished Professor of International Law at the University of Virginia
Twilight Statuses: A Closer Examination of the Unauthorized Population
Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future Policy Brief No. 2, June 2005
Approximately 1 - 1.5 million people hold current or eventual claims to legal status recognized by U.S. law because they are caught in processing or admissions quota backlogs or have been granted temporary protected status (TPS). This "twilight status" of partial but not full lawful residence "sends mixed signals that undermine both the enforcement goals and the services or benefits goals of the immigration system," according to report author David A. Martin. He suggests policy changes that speed processing of legal status claims for certain family members of lawful residents and create incentives for those with TPS to return when their temporary status expires.
The United States Refugee Admissions Program: Reforms for a New Era of Refugee Resettlement
Summer 2005
In this study commissioned by the US State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, David Martin presents a comprehensive picture of the selection and admissions processes for refugees resettling in the United States. The book is a valuable resource for resettlement agencies, advocacy groups, state refugee coordinators, and others who need a thorough understanding of the way resettlement works. The report also examines the flaws in resettlement practices and offers a detailed set of recommendations to improve the program.
Executive Summary | Order a Copy
Immigrant Policy and the Homeland Security Act Reorganization
Insight No. 1, April 2003
PDF Version
[Back to top]
Susan Martin
US Employment-Based Admissions: Permanent and Temporary
By Susan Martin, Institute for the Study of International Migration, Georgetown University
Task Force Policy Brief No. 15, January 2006
The pros and cons of existing temporary worker programs in the United States include giving employers a chance to test employees for their contributions to society and the economy, but in some cases, making temporary workers vulnerable to exploitation because they are dependent on specific employers or jobs for their legal status.
[Back to top]
Kristen McCabe
Profile of Immigrants in Napa County
By Randy Capps, Kristen McCabe, and Michael Fix
This report offers a comprehensive profile of immigration to Napa County, examining the important role that immigrant workers play in the Napa Valley’s wine-related sectors and their fiscal contributions and costs. The authors examine demographic changes in Napa County, tracing immigrants’ origins, economic well-being, education, residence and home ownership, tax payments and public expenditures, and more.
Download Report | Executive Summary
Diverse Streams: African Migration to the United States
By Randy Capps, Kristen McCabe, and Michael Fix
Black African immigrants represent one of the fastest-growing segments of the US immigrant population, increasing by about 200 percent during the 1980s and 1990s and by 100 percent during the 2000s. This report finds African immigrants generally fare well on integration indicators, with college completion rates that greatly exceed those for most other immigrant groups and US natives. Despite higher levels of human capital, high employment rates, and strong English skills, African immigrants’ earnings lag those of the native born.
Download Report | Press Release | Research Project
[Back to top]
Margie McHugh
Co-Director, National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy
Limited English Proficient Individuals in the United States: Number, Share, Growth, and Linguistic Diversity
By Chhandasi Pandya, Margie McHugh, and Jeanne Batalova
The number of US residents who are deemed to be Limited English Proficient (LEP) has increased substantially in recent decades, consistent with the growth of the US foreign-born population. With LEP individuals now representing 9 percent of the US population, an increasing number of states and localities must grapple with issues of communication and English language learning. This data brief offers the most up-to-date analysis on the number, share, growth, and linguistic diversity of LEP individuals in the United States from 1990 to 2010 at the national, state and metropolitan-area levels, with maps and detailed state-level data.
Download Data Brief | State-level Data on LEP Number, Share, and Growth | State-level Data on Linguistic Diversity
Executive Action on Immigration: Six Ways to Make the System Work Better
By Donald M. Kerwin, Doris Meissner, Margie McHugh
While sweeping reform to fix a US immigration system widely acknowledged as broken has taken a backseat politically, opportunities exist within the executive branch to improve the ways in which the nation’s existing immigration laws and policies are administered. Among the report’s recommendations: establishing uniform enforcement priorities and defining what constitutes effective border control, strengthening immigrant integration policy creation and implementation, allowing applicants for immigrant visas to file in the United States, and making use of prosecutorial discretion in removal proceeding filings.
Download Report | Press Release
DREAM vs. Reality: An Analysis of Potential DREAM Act Beneficiaries
Slightly more than 2.1 million unauthorized immigrant youth and young adults could be eligible to apply for legal status under the DREAM Act legislation pending in Congress, though perhaps fewer than 40 percent would obtain legal status because of barriers limiting their ability to take advantage of the legislation's educational and military service routes to legalization. This MPI analysis offers the most recent and detailed estimates of potential DREAM Act beneficiaries by age, education levels, gender, state of residence and likelihood of gaining legalization.
Download Report | Press Release
Education, Diversity, and the Second Generation: A Discussion Guide
The discussion guide, written by Michael Fix and Margie McHugh, Co-Directors of MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, offers a brief demographic and statistical profile of the immigrant student population in the United States, with comparison points drawn to Germany where the data permit. The guide sketches broad policy implications of the demographic data and offers up for discussion a set of policy and practice issues in two areas: early childhood care and education, and secondary instruction of first- and second-generation students, with a focus on those whose proficiency in English or German lags.
Taking Limited English Proficient Adults into Account in the Federal Adult Education Funding Formula
By Randy Capps, Michael Fix, Margie McHugh, and Serena Yi-Ying Lin
This new report by MPI's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy examines the funding formula used to distribute Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Title II federal funds for adult education, literacy, and English as a Second Language instruction. Though all adults with limited English proficiency (LEP) are eligible for WIA Title II programs, the authors report that the formula used to distribute $554 million to the states in fiscal 2009 excludes 11.2 million LEP adults with at least a high school education. With WIA up for reauthorization, the authors suggest there is an opportunity for policymakers to revisit the funding formula and related issues.
Download report
Los
Angeles on the Leading Edge: Immigrant Integration Indicators
and Their Policy Implications
By Michael Fix, Margie McHugh, Aaron Matteo Terrazas, and Laureen Laglagaron
April 2008
As Los Angeles makes the transition from being a city of immigrants to one dominated
by their US-born children, it can serve as a policy laboratory for other cities
facing the need to better integrate immigrants into US classrooms, workplaces,
and civic life. MPI’s report details the imperative for integration policies
that will benefit immigrants and the broader US society alike.
Download
Report | Press
Release
Immigration Fee Increases in Context
By Julia Gelatt and Margie McHugh
Fact Sheet No. 15, February 2007
US Citizenship Immigration Services has announced plans for an 80 percent increase in naturalization application fees. The fact sheet details the increased fees' implications for US immigrants and provides background on USCIS' call for higher fees.
Adult English Language Instruction in the United States: Determining Need and Investing Wisely
[Back to top]
Doris Meissner
Senior Fellow and Director, US Immigration Policy Program
Immigration Enforcement in the United States: The Rise of a Formidable Machinery
By Doris Meissner, Donald M. Kerwin, Muzaffar Chishti, and Claire Bergeron
The US government spends more on federal immigration enforcement than on all other principal federal criminal law enforcement agencies combined, and has allocated nearly $187 billion for immigration enforcement since 1986. Deportations have reached record highs, border apprehensions 40-year lows, and more noncitizens than ever before are in immigration detention. The report traces the evolution of the immigration enforcement system, particularly in the post-9/11 era, in terms of budgets, personnel, enforcement actions, and technology – analyzing how individual programs and policies have resulted in a complex, interconnected, cross-agency system.
Download Report | Press Release | Report-in-Brief
Through the Prism of National Security: Major Immigration Policy and Program Changes in the Decade since 9/11
By Michelle Mittelstadt, Burke Speaker, Doris Meissner, and Muzaffar Chishti
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 prompted the profound realignment of the US immigration system, with national security and enforcement the dominant lens through which programs and budgets have been shaped over the past decade. The post-9/11 era has witnessed the largest government reorganization since World War II; increased information sharing and data collection across international, federal, state, and local law enforcement and intelligence agencies; the broad use of nationality-based screening and enforcement initiatives; the expansion of immigrant detention policies; and exponential increases in funding for homeland security-related immigration programs. This Fact Sheet details the policy, programmatic, budget, and manpower changes that have happened in the immigration arena as an outgrowth of the 9/11 attacks.
Download Fact Sheet | Press Release | Listen to Podcast
Executive Action on Immigration: Six Ways to Make the System Work Better
By Donald M. Kerwin, Doris Meissner, Margie McHugh
While sweeping reform to fix a US immigration system widely acknowledged as broken has taken a backseat politically, opportunities exist within the executive branch to improve the ways in which the nation’s existing immigration laws and policies are administered. Among the report’s recommendations: establishing uniform enforcement priorities and defining what constitutes effective border control, strengthening immigrant integration policy creation and implementation, allowing applicants for immigrant visas to file in the United States, and making use of prosecutorial discretion in removal proceeding filings.
Download Report | Press Release
Aligning Temporary Immigration Visas with US Labor Market Needs: The Case for Provisional Visas
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Doris Meissner, Marc R. Rosenblum, and Madeleine Sumption
Reform of a rigid employment-based visa system that is out of sync with the needs of employers, the US economy, US society, and immigrants alike must be part of effective comprehensive immigration reform legislation. In this report, MPI recommends creation of a new stream of visas known as provisional visas, which would bridge temporary and permanent admissions to the United States for work purposes in a predictable and transparent way. The authors make the case that the concept hits the sweet spot in balancing the two main goals of labor market immigration policy: It supports economic growth and competitiveness while protecting the wages and interests of US workers; and it facilitates the social and economic integration of immigrants.
Download Report | Press Release
The Next Generation of E-Verify: Getting Employment Verification Right
By Doris Meissner and Marc R. Rosenblum
Effective employment verification must be the linchpin of comprehensive immigration reform legislation if new policies are to succeed in preventing future illegal immigration. While E-Verify, the government's voluntary electronic verification program, has been greatly improved, it most crucially still cannot detect identity fraud and requires further enhancement. This report examines the strengths and weaknesses of the current system and outlines recommendations to get to a stronger next-generation E-Verify, including by testing alternatives such as secure documents, PIN pre-verification, and biometric scanning.
Download Report | Press Release | Video of briefing
Harnessing the Advantages of Immigration for a 21st-Century Economy
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Doris Meissner, Marc R. Rosenblum, and Madeleine Sumption
The US immigration system neither meets labor market needs efficiently nor minds the interests of US workers with particular success, and has yet to devise a way that uses immigration to promote US economic growth and competitiveness well. This paper proposes an institutional solution to address this systemic failure: Creating a permanent and independent body, situated within the executive branch, that is charged with recommending adjustments to immigration laws to the president and Congress: the Standing Commission on Labor Markets, Economic Competitiveness, and Immigration. The bipartisan panel would provide timely, evidence-based, and impartial analysis and recommendations to the president and Congress regarding employment-based immigration.
Download Report | Press Release
Mandatory Verification in the States: A Policy Research Agenda
By Michael Fix, Doris Meissner, Randy Capps, Elizabeth Dennison, and Roberto Suro
In this report, prepared for US Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Office of Policy and Strategy, the authors examine the concept of mandatory employment verification, the devolution of immigration enforcement to state governments in recent years, and the E-Verify system. They sketch a research agenda comprised of employer surveys, case studies, polling, and data analysis to determine employer compliance, population movement, changes in public attitudes, and other issues surrounding mandatory employment verification.
Download Report
DHS and Immigration: Taking Stock and Correcting Course
By Doris Meissner and Donald Kerwin
Nearly six years after the federal immigration bureaucracy was dismantled and rebuilt to meet the heightened security imperatives of the post-9/11 era, the arrival of new executive branch leadership offers the singular opportunity to take stock and provide a clear-eyed assessment of the performance of the three immigration agencies within the Department of Homeland Security. In a new report, MPI offers policy recommendations for US Customs and Border Protection, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and US Citizenship and Immigration Services, as well as overall DHS immigration policy direction and coordination, that could be accomplished by the new administration without need for legislation.
Download Report | Press Release
Social
Security “No Match” Letters: A Primer
MPI Backgrounder No. 5, October 2007
A US District Court Judge has ruled that a new Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) regulation regarding Social Security Administration (SSA) “no match” letters
cannot be implemented. This MPI Backgrounder shows that, based on 2006 information,
the DHS procedures would have affected more than 1.5 million workers, with approximately
1 million concentrated in ten states.
Immigration and America's Future: A New Chapter
Final report of the Independent Task Force co-chaired by Spencer Abraham and Lee H. Hamilton
The bipartisan group of public policy experts, immigration stakeholders, and
elected officials undertook careful analysis of the economic, social, and demographic
factors driving today’s large-scale immigration. The Task Force has concluded that immigration is essential to US national interests and will become even more so in the years ahead. However, the system is outdated, overly complex, and inflexible; it no longer serves the nation’s
needs. The Task Force recommends that the United States fundamentally rethink
its policies and overhaul how it manages immigration to better harness the
benefits and minimize the disadvantages of immigration.
Backlogs in Immigration Processing Persist
By Doris Meissner, Elizabeth Grieco and Kevin Jernegan
Fact Sheet, June 2005
Over the last fifteen years, the number of pending applications for immigration benefits in the United States has swollen by over 1,000 percent, growing from 540,688 in 1990 to a high of 6.08 million in 2003. This fact sheet provides insight into the factors that have contributed to protracted processing delays, or the backlog.
America's Challenge: Domestic Security, Civil Liberties, and National Unity after September 11
Co-authored with Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Jay Peterzell, Muzaffar Chishti, Michael J. Wishnie and Stephen W. Yale-Loehr
Report, June 2003
MPI’s report draws on extensive interviews with policymakers and community leaders across the United States, and on comprehensive information assembled about the 'secret' detentions after the terrorist attacks. It presents detailed recommendations on how to incorporate immigration law and policy into national strategies that confront the threat of terrorism, uphold the rule of law, and preserve the cohesion that is one of the country’s strongest security assets.
[Back to top]
Deborah W. Meyers
Senior Policy Analyst
Room
for Progress: Reinventing Euro-Atlantic Borders for a New Strategic
Environment
By Deborah W. Meyers, Rey Koslowski, and Susan Ginsburg, October 2007
Ever-increasing economic and political integration of the European Union and
deeper economic and security partnerships among the United States, Canada, and
Mexico are creating new models of border management. A new MPI report describes
recently established US and EU enforcement agencies, benefits and limitations
of new information technology, and contentious developments surrounding visa-free
travel policy.
Full
Report | Press
Release
Legal Immigration to the United States Increased Substantially in FY 2005
Co-authored with Julia Gelatt
October 2006
In Fiscal Year 2005, the most recent year for which data are available: Lawful permanent immigration grew by 17 percent and naturalizations increased by almost 13 percent from FY 2004. The number of people who adjusted their status to lawful permanent residence increased 26 percent, explaining much of the overall growth. Refugee admissions rose slightly from FY 2004, but remained below pre-9/11 levels. The level of temporary visitors rebounded to near pre-9/11 levels.
Immigration and America's Future: A New Chapter
Final report of the Independent Task Force co-chaired by Spencer Abraham and Lee H. Hamilton
The bipartisan group of public policy experts, immigration stakeholders,
and elected officials undertook careful analysis of the economic,
social, and demographic factors driving today’s large-scale immigration. The Task Force has concluded that immigration is essential to US national interests and will become even more so in the years ahead. However, the system is outdated, overly complex, and inflexible; it no longer serves the nation’s
needs. The Task Force recommends that the United States fundamentally
rethink its policies and overhaul how it manages immigration to
better harness the benefits and minimize the disadvantages of immigration.
Temporary Worker Programs: A Patchwork Policy Response
By Deborah W. Meyers
Task Force Insight No. 12, January 2006
In fiscal year 2004, the volume of admissions to the United States for temporary workers, trainees, and their dependants reached nearly 1.5 million people. Within these employment-based visa categories, temporary workers have dramatic variations of stay that range from three months to ten years, and many are transitioning to the permanent system.
Legal Immigration to the United States Up from Last Year
By Julia Gelatt and Deborah Meyers
Fact Sheet No. 12, November 2005
US Border Enforcement: From Horseback to High-Tech
Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future Insight No. 7, November 2005
United States-Canada-Mexico Trade and Migration
Co-authored with Megan Davy
Fact Sheet, October 2005
Fact Sheet | Press Release
One Face at the Border: Behind the Slogan
By Deborah Meyers, MPI Policy Analyst
June 2005
Author Deborah Meyers finds that in less than two years, the Department of Homeland Security’s ambitious One Face at the Border initiative has made strides toward creating a unified agency to inspect people and goods at U.S. air, land and sea ports. However, the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) must still address significant weaknesses that could undermine border security if they are not confronted squarely and soon.
Full Report | Press Release | Event
Legal Immigration to US Still Declining
By Deborah Meyers
Fact Sheet No. 9, October 2004
International Agreements of the Social Security Administration
Fact Sheet No. 6, January 2004
Part of MPI's Immigration Fact Sheet series on current issues, this release includes information on what a Social Security "totalization" agreement between the United States and Mexico means, how many Mexicans would be eligible, how much it would cost, and who can earn benefits.
US Immigration Since September 11, 2001
By Elizabeth Grieco, Deborah Meyers, and Kathleen Newland
Fact Sheet No. 1, September 2003
Security at US Borders: A Move Away from Unilateralism?
Migration Information Source, August 1, 2003
MPI Policy Analyst Deborah Waller Meyers examines the Smart Border agreements signed by the US with Canada and Mexico in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Does 'Smarter' Lead to Safer? An Assessment of the Border Accords with Canada and Mexico
Insight No. 2, June 2003
PDF Version
Executive Summary, Women Immigrants in the United States
Co-authored with Maia Jachimowicz
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, March 2003
U.S.-Canada-Mexico Fact Sheet on Trade and Migration
Co-authored with Rebecca Jannol and Maia Jachimowicz
November 2003
Facts and figures on national and regional trade, border crossings, temporary and permanent migration, and demographics.
The US-Mexico Immigration Relationship: Operating in a New Context
Co-authored with Demetrios Papademetriou
Foreign Affairs en Español, Spring 2002
(Read in Spanish)
Reconcilable Differences? An Evaluation of Current INS Restructuring Proposals
Co-authored with Demetrios Papademetriou
Policy Brief No. 1, June 2002
Caught in the Middle: Border Communities in an Era of Globalization
Co-edited with Demetrios Papademetriou
October 2001
[Back to top]
Michelle Mittelstadt
Relief from Deportation: Demographic Profile of the DREAMers Potentially Eligible under the Deferred Action Policy
By Jeanne Batalova and Michelle Mittelstadt
As many as 1.76 million unauthorized immigrants under age 31 who were brought to the United States as children, a population known as DREAMers, could gain a two-year reprieve from deportation, according to updated MPI estimates that reflect more detailed eligibility guidelines for the deferred action policy being implemented by the Department of Homeland Security. The Fact Sheet offers estimates on the age, educational attainment, state of residence, country and region of birth, workforce participation, and gender of prospective beneficiaries.
Download Fact Sheet | Press Release
Through the Prism of National Security: Major Immigration Policy and Program Changes in the Decade since 9/11
By Michelle Mittelstadt, Burke Speaker, Doris Meissner, and Muzaffar Chishti
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 prompted the profound realignment of the US immigration system, with national security and enforcement the dominant lens through which programs and budgets have been shaped over the past decade. The post-9/11 era has witnessed the largest government reorganization since World War II; increased information sharing and data collection across international, federal, state, and local law enforcement and intelligence agencies; the broad use of nationality-based screening and enforcement initiatives; the expansion of immigrant detention policies; and exponential increases in funding for homeland security-related immigration programs. This Fact Sheet details the policy, programmatic, budget, and manpower changes that have happened in the immigration arena as an outgrowth of the 9/11 attacks.
Download Fact Sheet | Press Release | Listen to Podcast
Migration and the Global Recession
By Michael Fix, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Jeanne Batalova, Aaron Terrazas, Serena Yi-Ying Lin, and Michelle Mittelstadt
The global financial crisis that began in September 2008 can be viewed as having a deeper and more global effect on the movement of people around the world than any other economic downturn in the post-World War II era of migration, finds a new MPI report commissioned by the BBC World Service. The report explores how the recession has affected the movement of some of the world's more than 195 million migrants and their remittances in locations around the globe. It provides data on migration, remittances, employment, and poverty rates for immigrants and the native-born alike; and examines the policy changes some countries have enacted to suppress migrant inflows, encourage departures (including through recent "pay-to-go" plans), and protect labor markets for native-born workers.
Download Report | Press Release
New Data Guide On Finding, Using the Most Accurate, Recent Immigration Data Resources
The Immigration: Data Matters guide shows where to locate some of the most credible, up-to-date US and global immigration-related data compiled by government and non-governmental sources. The online guide, also available in hard copy, includes clickable links to resources that offer immigrant population estimates; the size of the unauthorized immigrant population; English proficiency rates; the share of immigrants in the workforce; education, health, and income and poverty statistics relating to immigrants; and other data.
Download Report | Press Release
Christal Morehouse
Irregular Migration in Europe
By Christal Morehouse and Michael Blomfield
While irregular migration frequently makes headlines and policymakers are under increasing pressure to reduce illegal immigration, the estimated population of unauthorized immigrants in EU-15 countries has declined on average for almost a decade since 2002. European governments are collaborating extensively on the management of their external borders, as this report details, discussing the detected and estimated scope of irregular migration in the European Union. This work informed the Transatlantic Council on Migration meeting, “Restoring Trust in the Management of Migration and Borders.” The resulting Council Statement, authored by MPI President Demetrios G. Papademetriou, offers a menu of policy options and actions governments can take to build a “whole-of-system” approach to controlling illegal immigration while also creating the political space necessary for reforms of their immigration systems.
Download Report
MPI Staff
U.S. Immigration Since September 11, 2001
September 9, 2003
While the level of overall immigration to the United States has remained remarkably steady since September 11, 2001, the number of temporary visas has dropped by 15 percent and refugee admissions have plummeted to a 25-year low, according to analysts at the Migration Policy Institute. Here is data on immigrants to the United States and analysis of what these figures mean in terms of U.S. policy.
Immigration and National Security Post-Sept. 11: Updated Chronology (Through May 1, 2003)
Migration Information Source, May 1, 2003
This updated timeline of key developments since September 11 tracks the latest connections between immigration and national security.
Data Sources on the Foreign Born and International Migration at the US Census Bureau
Migration Information Source, January 1, 2003
This article maps out the key features of three of the primary US Census Bureau data resources used to research immigration: the census itself, the American Community Survey, and the Current Population Survey.
Forced Migration Review, September 11: Has Anything Changed? (PDF)
Co-editors
June 2002
MPI Background Paper on Immigration and National Security
Recommendations released on September 28, 2001
Immigrants, Their Families, and Their Communities in the Aftermath of Welfare Reform
Audrey Singer, Editor
Research Perspectives on Migration
Migration Policy Institute and Urban Institute
Spring 2001
[Back to top]
Kara Murphy
France's New Law:
Control Immigration Flows, Court the Highly Skilled
By Kara Murphy
Backgrounder, November 2006
[Back to top]
Julie Murray
Measures of Change: The Demography and Literacy of Adolescent English Learners
Co-authored with Michael Fix and Julie Murray
Report, March 2007
This new report provides a demographic profile of students in grades 6-12 who are English Language Learners (ELLs) and focuses on how these students are faring on standardized tests at the national level and in four states: California, Colorado, Illinois, and North Carolina. The authors find wide achievement gaps between ELL and other students at both national and state levels -- a finding with worrying implications for schools trying to meet requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act.
America's Emigrants: US Retirement to Mexico and Panama
While US policy focuses on immigration from Mexico and Latin America, a new MPI study identifies a reverse trend: increasing numbers of senior citizens from the United States moving to Mexico and Panama to retire. With the US Census estimating that the population over 65 in the United States will double by the year 2030, understanding new and growing trends in international retirement migration will become increasingly important as baby boomers age.
The Impact of Immigration on Native Workers: A Fresh Look at the Evidence
Co-authored with Julie Murray and Michael Fix
Task Force Insight No. 18, July 2006
The authors carefully consider the extensive literature regarding the "competition question" of immigration's effects for natives. Contrary to much rhetoric in the current debate, the authors conclude that the question of whether increased immigration decreases native workers’ wages has yet to be resolved. They find that recent research diverges sharply on whether immigrants lower US-born workers' wages or, in fact, work in a complementary way to boost wages, particularly for high-skilled natives. Turning then to displacement, the authors note that researchers have more consistently found that there is some job displacement, or at least growing exclusion, of native workers in industries or areas with many immigrants. This trend holds for low-skilled workers and/or African-American natives. The authors write that changes in labor or capital, such as native out-migration or the entry of new industries into a region, can lessen the impacts of immigration on native wages or employment or spread the effects through a larger market.
[Back to top]
Kathleen Newland
Director, Migrants, Migration and Refugees and Refugee Policy Programs
Engaging the Asian Diaspora
By Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias and Kathleen Newland
This brief explores how governments in Asia are facilitating diaspora contributions, including creation of conducive legal frameworks and diaspora-centered institutions to initiation of programs that specifically target diasporas as development actors. The authors detail a number of legislative proposals geared at diasporas, including flexible citizenship laws and visa arrangements, political and property rights, and reduced income tax rates.
Download Brief
Developing a Road Map for Engaging Diasporas in Development
By Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias and Kathleen Newland
Governments at both ends of the migration cycle increasingly are seeking ways to magnify the human capital and financial resources that emigrants and their descendants contribute to development in their countries of origin. This user-friendly handbook offers a strategic road map for governments in both origin and destination countries to build a constructive relationship with diasporas. The guide, a project of MPI and the International Organization for Migration, offers practical advice to policymakers and practitioners and details the wide range of institutions that governments worldwide have established to work with diasporas.
Learn More About Handbook | Press Release
Migration and Development Policy: What Have We Learned?
By Kathleen Newland
Migration and development have become a pressing policy priority on the global agenda over the past decade, and a number of revisions to conventional thinking on the subject have gained traction and yielded innovative — albeit in many cases yet unproven — policies and programs. This brief identifies critical lessons from the past decade of policy experimentation and offers some recommendations for policy moving forward.
Download Brief
Climate Change and Migration Dynamics
By Kathleen Newland
Climate change is a new driver of human migration, and is expected by many to dwarf all other factors in its impact. But while there is growing concern about climate change, far less agreement exists about what kinds of effects will be felt where, by whom, and precisely when. Human displacement is a result of a complex mix of factors, and some of the more commonly repeated predictions of the numbers of people who will be displaced by climate change are not informed by a full understanding of the dynamics of migration. This report analyzes the salient mechanisms of displacement: sea level rise, higher temperatures, disruption of water cycles, and increasing severity of storms. It also examines the ensuing migration responses and proposes recommendations to offset the severity of displacement.
Download Report
Voice After Exit: Diaspora Advocacy
By Kathleen Newland
Today’s diaspora organizations, communities, and individuals increasingly seek to influence government, media, private sectors, and other prominent groups in their countries of origin and of settlement – but despite their growing voice, success requires smart policy. This report, the sixth in our series on diaspora engagement, provides an overview of diaspora advocacy by looking at five issues: who participates in diaspora advocacy, who or what are the “targets” in these efforts, what means are used to advance these causes, what are the issues on which they focus, and the effectiveness of the efforts.
Download Report
Mobilizing Diaspora Entrepreneurship for Development
By Kathleen Newland and Hiroyuki Tanaka
Diasporas are in a unique position to have a positive effect on the economy of their countries of origin – the key is for those countries to seize the opportunities. This report, the fifth in a series examining the role of diasporas in development policy, documents how diaspora entrepreneurs often are motivated to contribute to job creation and economic growth in their native lands. But, as the report outlines, many developing countries have met only limited success in attracting diaspora investors and entrepreneurs. The study offers some key findings and policy options.
Download Report
Heritage Tourism and Nostalgia Trade: A Diaspora Niche in the Development Landscape
By Kathleen Newland and Carylanna Taylor
Diasporas can play an important role in promoting trade and tourism in their countries of origin, particularly since it is difficult to introduce and establish unfamiliar goods and new tourist destinations in the international market. This report, the fourth in a series examining the role of diasporas in development policy, examines how nostalgia trade and heritage tourism can involve diaspora populations in transactions that ease the integration of their homeland economies into an increasingly connected global economy, while also helping diasporas to maintain their ties to their countries of origin or ancestry.
Learning
by Doing: Experiences of Circular Migration
By Kathleen Newland, Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias, and Aaron Terrazas
Increasingly, policymakers are considering whether circular migration could improve
the likelihood that global mobility gains will be shared by migrant-origin and
destination countries alike — as well as by migrants themselves. This MPI
Insight examines the record of circular migration, both where it has arisen naturally
and where governments have taken action to encourage it.
The
Iraqi Refugee Crisis: The Need for Action
Co-authored with Kelly O'Donnell
Report, January 2008
As border restrictions both within and outside Iraq tighten and sectarian violence
persists, the options for Iraq's estimated 4.5 million internally and externally
displaced appear bleak. MPI's report on the Iraqi refugee crisis examines the
situation in Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon, as well as the response of the
United States and select EU Member States.
Bridging Divides: The Role of Ethnic Community-Based Organizations in Refugee Integration
By Kathleen Newland, Hiroyuki Tanaka, and Laura Barker
Migration Policy Institute and the International Rescue Committee, June 2007
Almost 2.4 million refugees and asylees from at least 115 countries entered the United States between 1980 and 2006. Despite declines in refugee admissions, the United States continues to resettle more refugees than any other country. A new study released for World Refugee Day on June 20 examines how organizations founded by refugees are helping others who have escaped violence and persecution abroad adjust to life in the United States.
Circular Migration and Development: Trends, Policy Routes, and Ways Forward
Co-authored with Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias
Policy Brief, April 2007
Circular migration, the temporary or permanent return of migrants to
their countries of origin, is seen as offering benefits to countries
of migrant origin, to destination countries, and to migrants themselves.
The most common policy route to encourage circulation has been to ensure
that migrants maintain ties with their countries of origin, by providing
financial incentives to return or by enforcing strict measures to prevent
their remaining permanently in destination countries. Experience from
many countries shows that this conventional set of policies has not,
and in all probability will not, work on its own. Effective circular
migration arrangements call for policies that strengthen ties to countries
of both origin and destination. An environment that helps migrants to
reach their goals—as manifested for instance by accumulated savings, newly acquired skills, and successful business ventures—is
most likely to foster temporary or permanent return.
Beyond Remittances: The Role of Diaspora in Poverty Reduction in Their Countries of Origin
Co-authored with Erin Patrick
Published by the Department for International Development (UK), July 2004
This paper examines the role of diaspora in poverty reduction through four main areas of focus: policy and practice toward diaspora by countries of origin; diaspora economic, social and political engagement in countries of origin; donor engagement with diaspora; and recommendations to maximize the contribution of diaspora to development and poverty reduction. The report includes case studies of China, India, the Philippines, Mexico, Eritrea, and Taiwan, which are used to illustrate six contrasting patterns.
US Immigration Since September 11, 2001
By Elizabeth Grieco, Deborah Meyers, and Kathleen Newland
Fact Sheet No. 1, September 2003
No Refuge: The Challenge of Internal Displacement
Co-authored with Erin Patrick and Monette Zard
October 2003
Migration as a Factor in Development and Poverty Reduction
Migration Information Source, June 1, 2003
MPI Co-Director Kathleen Newland provides a concise overview of the impact of rich country migration policies on poor country development.
Troubled Waters: Rescue of Asylum Seekers and Refugees at Sea
Migration Information Source, January 1, 2003
Danger often awaits people who set out by boat, seeking safety from upheaval or persecution. MPI Co-Director Kathleen Newland examines how governments, the shipping industry, and international bodies have succeeded — or too frequently, failed — to cast a line to those in need.
Introductory Article to "September 11: Has Anything Changed?"
Co-authored with Erin Patrick, Joanne van Selm, and Monette Zard
Forced Migration Review, June 2002
Refugee Protection and Assistance
Managing Global Issues: Lessons Learned
(Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2001)
A Nation Displaced: Afghanistan
Co-authored with Erin Patrick
WorldView Magazine
Fall 2001, Volume 14, Number 4
[Back to top]
Edward Newman
Refugees and Forced Displacement:
International Security, Human Vulnerability and the State
Co-edited with Joanne van Selm
[Back to top]
Gregory Noll
Rediscovering Resettlement
A Transatlantic Comparison of Refugee Protection
Co-authored with Gregor Noll
Could increasing the numbers of refugees who have access to resettlement help resolve some of the refugee protection challenges faced by the European Union and the United States?
[Back to top]
Kelly O'Donnell
The
Iraqi Refugee Crisis: The Need for Action
Co-authored with Kathleen Newland
Report, January 2008
As border restrictions both within and outside Iraq tighten and sectarian
violence persists, the options for Iraq's estimated 4.5 million internally
and externally displaced appear bleak. MPI's report on the Iraqi refugee
crisis examines the situation in Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon, as
well as the response of the United States and select EU Member States.
[Back to top]
Kevin O'Neil
Lessons From The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future Policy Brief No. 3
Co-authored with Betsy Cooper
August 2005
Efficient Practices for the Selection of Economic Migrants
Co-authored with Demetrios G. Papademetriou
Prepared for the European Commission, DG Employment and Social Affairs
July 2004
Observations on Regularization and the Labor Market Performance of Unauthorized and Regularized Immigrants
Co-authored with By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Maia Jachimowicz
Prepared for the European Commission, DG Employment and Social Affairs
July 2004
Brain Drain and Gain: The Case of Taiwan
Migration Information Source, September 1, 2003
MPI's Kevin O'Neil takes a close look at how Taiwan has reaped economic benefits from high-skilled migration.
Remittances from the United States in Context
Migration Information Source, June 1, 2003
Research Assistant Kevin O'Neil outlines key aspects of remittances from the United States
Discussion on Migration and Development: Using Remittances and Circular Migration as Drivers for Development
April 2003
Consular ID Cards: Mexico and Beyond
April 1, 2003
The Sept. 11 attacks prompted greater government scrutiny of undocumented immigrants in the United States. MPI Research Assistant Kevin O'Neil takes a look at how many Mexicans living in the US without authorization have turned to a Mexican government ID called the "matrícula consular" to better establish their identity.
[Back to top]
Pia M. Orrenius
Tied to the Business Cycle: How Immigrants Fare in Good and Bad Economic Times
By Pia M. Orrenius and Madeline Zavodny
Immigrants surpassed native-born workers in several key labor market outcomes from the mid-1990s through 2007, recording higher employment and lower jobless rates — but the trend was reversed with the onset of the current recession. The report, which analyzes employment and unemployment patterns over the past 15 years and two recessions, shows that immigrant economic outcomes began deteriorating before the current recession officially began in December 2007, tracing immigrants' declining fortunes largely to the housing bust which began in spring 2006.
[Back to top]
Chhandasi Pandya
Limited English Proficient Individuals in the United States: Number, Share, Growth, and Linguistic Diversity
By Chhandasi Pandya, Margie McHugh, and Jeanne Batalova
The number of US residents who are deemed to be Limited English Proficient (LEP) has increased substantially in recent decades, consistent with the growth of the US foreign-born population. With LEP individuals now representing 9 percent of the US population, an increasing number of states and localities must grapple with issues of communication and English language learning. This data brief offers the most up-to-date analysis on the number, share, growth, and linguistic diversity of LEP individuals in the United States from 1990 to 2010 at the national, state and metropolitan-area levels, with maps and detailed state-level data.
Download Data Brief | State-level Data on LEP Number, Share, and Growth | State-level Data on Linguistic Diversity
[Back to top]
Demetrios G. Papademetriou
President
Restoring Trust in the Management of Migration and Borders: Transatlantic Council Statement
Shared Challenges and Opportunities for EU and US Immigration Policymakers
By Philippe Fargues, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Giambattista Salinari, and Madeleine Sumption
This final report summarizes and reflects upon the key findings of the Improving EU and US Immigration Systems: Learning from Experience comparative research project undertaken by the Migration Policy Institute and the European University Institute through a grant from the European Commission. The project focused on developments in Europe and the United States in eight key areas – employment, economic growth, human rights, security, immigrant integration, demographics, development, and cooperation with immigrant-sending countries. This final report highlights the lessons to be learned from both similar and divergent experiences on either side of the Atlantic, sketching opportunities for future reform, as well as ways in which the European Union and the United States could improve their cooperative relationship.
Download Report | Project Website
Eight Policies to Boost the Economic Contribution of Employment-Based Immigration
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Madeleine Sumption
Immigration can be a powerful tool for supporting a country’s economic growth and prosperity, but its success in accomplishing that objective depends on well-designed and carefully implemented immigration policies that deliberately and strategically facilitate immigration’s economic contribution. This policy memo, drawing on experiences from Asia, Europe, North America, and the Pacific region, presents eight strategies to create effective and efficient economic-stream immigration systems.
Download Memo
Rethinking Points Systems and Employer-Selected Immigration
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Madeleine Sumption
Advanced industrialized economies typically have used one of two competing models for selecting economic-stream immigrants: Points-based or employer-led selection. Increasingly, however, they are creating hybrid selection systems, implement the best ideas from each model. The result: Selection systems that have much of the flexibility of points systems while also prioritizing employer demand.
Download Report
The Role of Immigration in Fostering Competitiveness in the United States
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Madeleine Sumption
Immigration is an indispensable piece of any strategy to boost economic growth and prosperity. The United States has a natural advantage in attracting the world’s most talented workers. But employment-based immigration makes up too small a proportion of overall US permanent immigration, and US policy is inflexible in the face of changing circumstances, including the growth of other skill-focused immigration programs across the developed world. This report examines effective strategies to ensure that immigration policy facilitates US economic growth, innovation, and competitiveness.
Download Report | European Competitiveness Report
Evolving Demographic and Human-Capital Trends in Mexico and Central America and Their Implications for Regional Migration
By Aaron Terrazas, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, and Marc R. Rosenblum
This report for the Regional Migration Study Group assesses the implications for regional migration resulting from the rapidly evolving demographic and human-capital profiles of Mexico and Central America as well as the longstanding shifts in the US economy and labor market that were accelerated by the recent economic crisis. Taken together, these changes mean that policymakers can no longer rely on the conventional wisdom about regional labor mobility that has guided their decisions in the past.
Download Report | Press Release
A New Architecture for Border Management
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Elizabeth Collett
This report commissioned to inform the work of MPI’s Transatlantic Council on Migration for its meeting on “Restoring Trust in the Management of Migration and Borders” examines the emergence of a new border architecture resulting from the explosion in global travel and the dawning of the age of risk. This new border architecture must respond effectively to the seemingly competing demands of facilitating mobility while better managing the risks associated with cross-border travel (e.g. terrorism, the entry of unwanted migrants, and organized crime). The report examines the information-sharing agreements, technology innovations, and multilateral partnerships that have emerged as key components of the new architecture for border management, and discusses challenges and considerations for the future.
Download Report
Migration and Immigrants Two Years after the Financial Collapse: Where Do We Stand?
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Madeleine Sumption, and Aaron Terrazas with Carola Burkert, Stephen Loyal, and Ruth Ferrero-Turrión
Immigrants, particularly men and youth, have been disproportionately hit by the global economic crisis that began in fall 2008 and now confront a reality of dwindling budgets for public services and immigrant integration programs, this report for BBC World Service reveals. The report, which has a particular focus on five North Atlantic countries -- Germany, Ireland, Spain, the United Kingdom and United States – finds that the unemployment gap between immigrant and native workers has widened in many places. It offers analysis of a number of trends, including the fact that some immigrant-destination countries that historically have been countries of emigration, such as Ireland, Greece, and Portugal, may be reverting to earlier trends.
Download Report | Press Release
Migration and the Global Recession
By Michael Fix, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Jeanne Batalova, Aaron Terrazas, Serena Yi-Ying Lin, and Michelle Mittelstadt
The global financial crisis that began in September 2008 can be viewed as having a deeper and more global effect on the movement of people around the world than any other economic downturn in the post-World War II era of migration, finds a new MPI report commissioned by the BBC World Service. The report explores how the recession has affected the movement of some of the world's more than 195 million migrants and their remittances in locations around the globe. It provides data on migration, remittances, employment, and poverty rates for immigrants and the native-born alike; and examines the policy changes some countries have enacted to suppress migrant inflows, encourage departures (including through recent "pay-to-go" plans), and protect labor markets for native-born workers.
Download Report | Press Release
Aligning Temporary Immigration Visas with US Labor Market Needs: The Case for Provisional Visas
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Doris Meissner, Marc R. Rosenblum, and Madeleine Sumption
Reform of a rigid employment-based visa system that is out of sync with the needs of employers, the US economy, US society, and immigrants alike must be part of effective comprehensive immigration reform legislation. In this report, MPI recommends creation of a new stream of visas known as provisional visas, which would bridge temporary and permanent admissions to the United States for work purposes in a predictable and transparent way. The authors make the case that the concept hits the sweet spot in balancing the two main goals of labor market immigration policy: It supports economic growth and competitiveness while protecting the wages and interests of US workers; and it facilitates the social and economic integration of immigrants.
Download Report | Press Release
The Social Mobility of Immigrants and Their Children
Transatlantic Council Convenor and MPI President Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Will Somerville, and Madeleine Sumption examine social mobility, which is essential to immigrant integration. First-generation immigrants in Europe and the United States typically experience downward mobility largely because of four factors: language barriers, differences in educational attainment, difficulties obtaining recognition for credentials and experience gained abroad, and problems accessing opportunities through social networks and other recruitment channels. The second generation improves substantially on its parents’ generation. This improvement is insufficient, however, to allow all groups to catch up with the children of natives. This paper examines some immigration and educational policy interventions that could improve integration.
Harnessing the Advantages of Immigration for a 21st-Century Economy
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Doris Meissner, Marc R. Rosenblum, and Madeleine Sumption
The US immigration system neither meets labor market needs efficiently nor minds the interests of US workers with particular success, and has yet to devise a way that uses immigration to promote US economic growth and competitiveness well. This paper proposes an institutional solution to address this systemic failure: Creating a permanent and independent body, situated within the executive branch, that is charged with recommending adjustments to immigration laws to the president and Congress: the Standing Commission on Labor Markets, Economic Competitiveness, and Immigration. The bipartisan panel would provide timely, evidence-based, and impartial analysis and recommendations to the president and Congress regarding employment-based immigration.
Download Report | Press Release
Migration and the Economic
Downturn: What to Expect in the European Union
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Madeleine Sumption, and Will Somerville
As unemployment rises and household budgets shrink across the European
Union, policymakers, analysts, and the public are beginning to ask what
the consequences will be with respect to immigration. The implications
of the recession should not be underestimated. The downturn is likely
to affect the kind of immigrants that arrive and leave, with implications
for labor supply in certain sectors, for integration, and for the host
communities.
Immigrants and the Current Economic Crisis
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Aaron Terrazas
As the nation sinks into a recession that may be the worst since the Great Depression, the economic crisis raises fundamental questions about future immigration flows to and from the United States and how current and prospective immigrants will fare. This report, a research product of MPI's new Labor Markets Initiative, examines how the number of immigrants has changed since the recession began; how legal and illegal immigration flows may change; and how immigrants fare in the labor market during downturns.
Talent in the 21st Century Economy
Council Convenor and MPI President Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Will Somerville, and Hiroyuki Tanaka examine how for a growing number of countries, attracting the "right" talent is at the top of the policy toolkit for increasing economic competitiveness. They outline how governments and employers view and access highly skilled talent and detail the decision-making factors weighed by highly skilled individuals as they decide where to migrate.
Download report
Hybrid Immigrant-Selection Systems: The Next Generation of Economic Migration Schemes
Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Will Somerville, Hiroyuki Tanaka
As governments think more seriously about attracting and selecting immigrants for their education, skills, and, increasingly, their ability to plug specific holes in the labor market, the authors discuss the emergence of hybrid systems that combine ideas drawn from points systems with other, more demand-driven and employer-led methods of selection.
Download report
Proposed Points System and Its Likely Impact on Prospective Immigrants
By Demetrios Papademetriou, Jeanne Batalova, and Julia Gelatt
Backgrounder No. 4, May 2007
This MPI Backgrounder provides data on the foreign born in the United States related to the immigrant selection criteria expected to be part of the points-system proposal. These include age, educational attainment, occupation, English proficiency, and labor force participation -- factors that may be given more emphasis than extended family relationships.
Europe and Its Immigrants in the 21st Century: A New Deal or a Continuing Dialogue of the Deaf?
Edited by Demetrios G. Papademetriou
MPI and the Luso-American Foundation, March 2006
In this volume, the Migration Policy Institute has gathered some of the leading European thinkers to offer insightful counsel and, wherever possible, solutions to Europe’s immigration challenges. The book’s contributors piece together the puzzle of a well-managed, comprehensive immigration regime, tackling issues ranging from immigration’s economic costs and benefits, to effective selection systems, citizenship, the welfare state, and integration policies that work.
Immigration and America's Future: A New Chapter
Final report of the Independent Task Force co-chaired by Spencer Abraham and Lee H. Hamilton
The bipartisan group of public policy experts, immigration stakeholders, and elected officials undertook careful analysis of the economic, social, and demographic factors driving today’s large-scale immigration.
The Task Force has concluded that immigration is essential to US national interests and will become even more so in the years ahead. However, the system is outdated, overly complex, and inflexible; it no longer serves the nation’s needs. The Task Force recommends that the United States fundamentally rethink its policies and overhaul how it manages immigration to better harness the benefits and minimize the disadvantages of immigration.
Leaving Too Much to Chance: A Roundtable on Immigrant Integration Policy
By Michael Fix, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, and Betsy Cooper
November 2005
Fifty of the nation's leading experts gathered at MPI to discuss three critical areas of integration policy: PreK - 12 education; work and work supports for immigrant families; and civic engagement and citizenship, with the aim of identifying major policy changes and opportunities and to begin mapping an agenda for policy change regarding immigrant integration.
Secure Borders, Open Doors: Visa Procedures in the Post-September 11 Era
Co-authored with Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Betsy Cooper
September 2005
The U.S. visa policy program has become a key tool in promoting national security, but vulnerabilities remain and government agencies must work together to ensure that security measures do not compromise U.S. economic competitiveness and foreign policy goals, find the authors of a new MPI study.
Full Report | Executive Summary | Press Release | Event
The "Regularization" Option in Managing Illegal Migration More Effectively: A Comparative Perspective
Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future Policy Brief No. 4, September 2005
Reflections on Restoring Integrity to the United States Immigration System: A Personal Vision
Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future Insight No. 5, September 2005
Efficient Practices for the Selection of Economic Migrants
Co-authored with Kevin O'Neil
Prepared for the European Commission, DG Employment and Social Affairs
July 2004
Observations on Regularization and the Labor Market Performance of Unauthorized and Regularized Immigrants
Co-authored with Kevin O'Neil and Maia Jachimowicz
Prepared for the European Commission, DG Employment and Social Affairs
July 2004
Immigrants and Homeownership in Urban America: An Examination of Nativity, Socio-economic Status and Place
Co-authored with Brian Ray and Demetrios Papademetriou
April 2004
This study focuses on the top 100 U.S. metropolitan areas where immigrants live. The authors find key factors that influence homeownership among immigrants include availability of affordable housing, length of residence in the country, and English proficiency. While noting that immigrants are far from a homogenous group, the authors identify strategies that may increase immigrants' chances for homeownership.
"From Homeland to a Home: Immigrants and Homeownership in Urban America"
Fannie Mae Paper, March 2004
English | En Español
"The Shifting Expectations of Free Trade and Migration" in NAFTA's Promise and Reality: Lessons from Mexico for the Hemisphere
A 10-year anniversary look at how economic and social forces eclipsed NAFTA's potential to curb illegal immigration, published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Policy Considerations for Immigrant Integration
Migration Information Source, October 1, 2003
Co-Director Demetri G. Papademetriou maps out the policy issues involved in balancing the interests of immigrants with those of the host society during the process of integration.
America's Challenge: Domestic Security, Civil Liberties, and National Unity after September 11
Co-authored with Doris Meissner, Jay Peterzell, Muzaffar Chishti, Michael J. Wishnie and Stephen W. Yale-Loehr
June 2003
MPI’s report draws on extensive interviews with policymakers and community leaders across the United States, and on comprehensive information about the 'secret' detentions after the terrorist attacks. It presents detailed recommendations on how to incorporate immigration law and policy into national strategies that confront the threat of terrorism, uphold the rule of law, and preserve the cohesion that is one of the country’s strongest security assets.
Arbeitsmarktsteuerung der Zuwanderung
Edited by Ullrich Heilemann and Hans Dietrich von Loeffelholz
Converging Realities of the US-Mexico Relationship
Migration Information Source, July 2002
Reconcilable Differences? An Evaluation of Current INS Restructuring Proposals
Co-authored with Deborah Meyers
Policy Brief No. 1, June 2002
An Immigration and National Security Grand Bargain with Mexico
Policy paper released on March 18, 2002
(Read the Fact Sheet)
Authority of State and Local Officers to Arrest Aliens Suspected of Civil Infractions of Federal Immigration Law
Legal Memorandum released on June 11, 2002
(Reply letter from White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales)
The US-Mexico Immigration Relationship: Operating in a New Context
Co-authored with Deborah Meyers
Foreign Affairs en Español, Spring 2002
(Read in Spanish)
Reflections on International Migration and its Future
Speech at the School of Policy Studies, Queen's University
October 25, 2001
Caught in the Middle: Border Communities in an Era of Globalization
Co-edited with Deborah Meyers
October 2001
[Back to top]
Jeffrey Passel
Unauthorized Migrants: Numbers and Characteristics
Report by Jeffrey S. Passel, prepared for the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future by the Pew Hispanic Center
Jeffrey S. Passel offers a portrait of the unauthorized population in unprecedented detail. The report shows that most of the unauthorized population lives in families, a quarter has at least some college education, and illegal workers can be found in many sectors of the US economy.
Erin Patrick
Little Protection in “Protected Villages”: IDPs in Northern Uganda
"Hot Spots" Column, May 2005
Mass Influx in South Africa?
"Hot Spots" Column, April 27, 2005
Peace in the midst of war? How the Naivasha Protocols affect Darfur
"Hot Spots" Column, February 22 , 2005
"Unlike Any Other, It Is A War on Children": Victims of the Conflict in Northern Uganda
"Hot Spots" Column, August 17, 2004
"How Many People Have to Die Before We Care?" The Role of the International Community in Darfur
By Erin Patrick
Policy Brief No. 5, July 2004
This brief provides a background to the conflict and humanitarian situation in Darfur, Sudan, and addresses the question of whether or not the situation in Darfur amounts to a genocide. It also examines the response (and lack of response) of the United Nations and the international community in general and gives detailed policy recommendations.
Beyond Remittances: The Role of Diaspora in Poverty Reduction in Their Countries of Origin
Co-authored with Kathleen Newland
Published by the Department for International Development (UK)
July 2004
This paper examines the role of diaspora in poverty reduction through four main areas of focus: policy and practice toward diaspora by countries of origin; diaspora economic, social and political engagement in countries of origin; donor engagement with diaspora; and recommendations to maximize the contribution of diaspora to development and poverty reduction. The report includes case studies of China, India, the Philippines, Mexico, Eritrea, and Taiwan, which are used to illustrate six contrasting patterns.
The World's Worst Humanitarian Crisis Continues: Ethnic Cleansing and Forced Displacement in Darfur
By Erin Patrick
" Hot Spots" Column, July 8, 2004
Forced Return to Chechnya
By Erin Patrick
"Hot Spots" Column, June 1, 2004
"The World's Worst Humanitarian Crisis": Ethnic Cleansing and Forced Displacement in Darfur
By Erin Patrick
"Hot Spots" Column, May 5, 2004
Resettlement Schemes in the European Union: New Feasibility Study
By Joanne van Selm, Tamara Woroby, Erin Patrick and Monica Matts
(European Commission, 2003)
This study addresses the question of under what conditions EU Member States may be prepared to actively engage in resettlement, and presents Member States with six models for possible involvement. The report suggests the creation of a Common European International Protection System, of which a potential European Resettlement Program, Common Asylum System and Procedure, and a program for assistance in regions of origin would be distinct elements. This study also puts forward the idea of a European Refugee Resettlement Fund, which would support the efforts of Member States engaged in resettlement and reinforce the collective and cooperative notion underlying an EU program.
No Refuge: The Challenge of Internal Displacement
Co-authored with Kathleen Newland and Monette Zard
October 2003
Reconciling Refugees Protection and Security Concerns in Wartime: The Case of Iraq"
Co-authored with Monette Zard
Policy Brief, April 2003
Reconstructing Afghanistan: Lessons for Post-War Iraq?
Migration Information Source, April 2003
Introductory Article to "September 11: Has Anything Changed?"
Co-authored with Joanne van Selm, Monette Zard and Kathleen Newland
Forced Migration Review, June 2002
A Nation Displaced: Afghanistan
Co-authored with Kathleen Newland
WorldView Magazine
Volume 14, Number 4, Fall 2001
[Back to top]
Giovanni Peri
The Impact of Immigrants in Recession and Economic Expansion
By Giovanni Peri
There is broad consensus among economists that immigration has a small but positive impact on the average income of Americans over the long term. But far less analysis has been done on the impact of immigrants on the labor market in the shorter term, particularly when viewed through the lens of the recession and its lingering labor market effects. This report finds that immigration unambiguously improves employment, productivity and income but that it also involves some short-term adjustments. These adjustments are more difficult during downturns, further underscoring the need for an immigration system that is more responsive to the economic cycle.
Download Report | Press Release | Listen/Download Event Audio
Jay Peterzell
America's Challenge: Domestic Security, Civil Liberties, and National Unity After September 11
Co-authored with Doris Meissner, Demetrios Papademetriou, Muzaffar A. Chishti, Michael J. Wishnie and Stephen W. Yale-Loehr
June 2003
MPI’s report draws on extensive interviews with policymakers and community leaders across the United States, and on comprehensive information about the 'secret' detentions after the terrorist attacks. It presents detailed recommendations on how to incorporate immigration law and policy into national strategies that confront the threat of terrorism, uphold the rule of law, and preserve the cohesion that is one of the country’s strongest security assets.
[Back to top]
Dilip Ratha
Leveraging Remittances for Development
By Dilip Ratha, The World Bank.
June 2007
In 2006, recorded remittances sent home by migrants from developing countries reached $206 billion, more than double the level in 2001. The true scale of remittances, including unrecorded flows through formal and informal channels, is believed to be even larger. Dilip Ratha looks at the growing importance of remittances and their impact on development. He lays out a four-part international remittances agenda including (a) monitoring, analysis, and projection; (b) retail payment systems; (c) financial access of individuals or households; and (d) leveraging remittances for capital market access of financial institutions or countries.
[Back to top]
Brian Ray
Building the New American Community Initiative
December 2004
A unique pilot project conducted in America's small and medium-sized cities shows that broad-based community coalitions can proactively integrate the newcomers who are increasingly transforming Main St., USA. In the first project of its kind, a consortium of leading organizations in three mid-sized metropolitan areas undertook inclusive community-building. The project's final report contains valuable findings for policymakers, funders and organizations collectively approaching the challenge of helping newcomers adapt to their new communities and local communities welcome newcomers.
Full Report | Executive Summary
Immigrants and Homeownership in Urban America: An Examination of Nativity, Socio-economic Status and Place
By Co-authored with Demetrios Papademetriou and Maia Jachimowicz
April 2004
This study focuses on the top 100 US metropolitan areas where immigrants live. The authors find key factors that influence homeownership among immigrants include availability of affordable housing, length of residence in the country, and English proficiency. While noting that immigrants are far from a homogenous group, the authors identify strategies that may increase immigrants' chances for homeownership.
"From Homeland to a Home: Immigrants and Homeownership in Urban America"
Fannie Mae Paper, March 2004
English | En Español
'Invisible' Social Groups, Identity Intersections and Counting: Challenges for Policy Making in Diverse Societies
Canadian Diversity, Vol. 3:1
The Role of Cities in Immigrant Integration
Migration Information Source, October 1, 2003
MPI Policy Analyst Brian Ray takes an in-depth look at the importance of cities in the process of immigrant integration.
Canada: Policy Legacies, New Directions, and Future Challenges
Migration Information Source, May 2002
Mexico-U.S. Migration: A Shared Responsibility
[Back to top]
Cristina Rodríguez
Delegation and Divergence: A Study of 287(g) State and Local Immigration Enforcement
By Randy Capps, Marc R. Rosenblum, Cristina Rodríguez, and Muzaffar Chishti
The section 287(g) program, which delegates federal immigration enforcement powers to state and local officers, is not targeted primarily at serious offenders. Despite public statements by Obama administration officials that the program is primarily aimed at identifying and removing “dangerous criminals,” MPI researchers found that about half of 287(g) activity involves noncitizens arrested for misdemeanors or traffic offenses. Formal program changes unveiled by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2009 have not substantially changed program priorities, operations, outcomes, or community impacts, the report concludes, offering findings that also have implications for the Secure Communities program.
A Program in Flux: New Priorities and Implementation Challenges for 287(g)
By Cristina Rodríguez, Muzaffar Chishti, Randy Capps, and Laura St. John
State and local enforcement of federal immigration laws has generated considerable controversy in public policy circles in recent years, particularly with respect to the Section 287(g) program. The Obama administration is reforming the program, with a new standardized memorandum of agreement (MOA) that will govern all future Section 287(g) collaborations. In this report, the authors find that some aspects of the new standardized agreement may address criticisms of the program, while others could complicate implementation. The report also sets forth a research agenda for determining whether the 287(g) program generates greater benefits than costs and is worth maintaining.
Download Report
Testing
the Limits: A Framework for Assessing the Legality of State and
Local Immigration Measures
By Cristina Rodríguez, Muzaffar Chishti, and Kimberly Nortman
Report, December 2007
In 2007 alone, the 50 state legislatures have considered over 1,000 pieces of
legislation regulating immigrants and immigration. This paper provides a framework
for assessing the legal validity of five of the most common or high-profile measures
that address unauthorized immigration specifically.
Marc R. Rosenblum
US Immigration Policy since 9/11: Understanding the Stalemate over Comprehensive Immigration Reform
By Marc R. Rosenblum
The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks derailed what had seemed to be a turning point in US immigration policy: A move away from the assertive enforcement policies that had held sway since the mid-1990s. But just days after the US and Mexican presidents had agreed to a framework that included a temporary worker program, legalization, and new border security measures, 9/11 dramatically reshaped the policy debate. This report reviews the history of immigration legislation since then, including new enforcement mandates enacted immediately after the attacks and the unsuccessful efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
Download Report
US Immigration Policy and Mexican/Central American Migration Flows: Then and Now
By Marc R. Rosenblum and Kate Brick
Migration from Mexico and Central America’s “Northern Triangle” region (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) to the United States has increased significantly in the past four decades, from less than 1 million immigrants in the 1970s to 14 million today. Propelled by difficult economic and social conditions at home, massive opportunity differentials, and strengthening social networks, these regional migration flows have been shaped by evolving policies and practices. This report examines the push-and-pull factors of migration in the region from three major migration periods: the mostly laissez faire policies prior to the 1930s, the large-scale Bracero temporary worker program before and after World War II, and the mostly illegal system that emerged after the Bracero Program’s end in 1964.
Download Report
Mexican and Central American Immigrants in the United States
By Kate Brick, A. E. Challinor, and Marc R. Rosenblum
The Mexican and Central American immigrant population in the United States has increased by a factor of 20 since 1970 — a period during which the overall US immigrant population increased four-fold. This report examines the age, educational, and workforce characteristics of immigrants and the second generation from Mexico and Central America, finding that these immigrants are younger, more likely to be male, and more likely to be married with children than the US born or other immigrant groups. A high proportion are unauthorized, with key implications for their economic and social status and the overall immigration debate.
Download Report
Evolving Demographic and Human-Capital Trends in Mexico and Central America and Their Implications for Regional Migration
By Aaron Terrazas, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, and Marc R. Rosenblum
This report for the Regional Migration Study Group assesses the implications for regional migration resulting from the rapidly evolving demographic and human-capital profiles of Mexico and Central America as well as the longstanding shifts in the US economy and labor market that were accelerated by the recent economic crisis. Taken together, these changes mean that policymakers can no longer rely on the conventional wisdom about regional labor mobility that has guided their decisions in the past.
Download Report | Press Release
Obstacles and Opportunities for Regional Cooperation: The US-Mexico Case
By Marc R. Rosenblum
US-Mexico relations on migration, dating back to the 1890s, have gone through several distinct phases: from an era of laissez faire policies to the Bracero Program, from a more unilateral US policy approach to Mexico’s “policy of no policy” stance, and to the current post-9/11 enforcement focus. This report traces the evolution of bilateral migration relations and offers some lessons for the US-Mexico relationship going forward. The history suggests that cooperation, while difficult, is not impossible and can offer benefits for both countries.
Download Report
E-Verify: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Proposals for Reform
By Marc R. Rosenblum
With Congress likely to consider new mandates involving E-Verify, the currently voluntary employment eligibility verification system, this Insight examines the strengths and weaknesses of E-Verify, which has grown dramatically in recent years. It also discusses proposals for reform, including adding biometric screening to the system.
Download Report
Delegation and Divergence: A Study of 287(g) State and Local Immigration Enforcement
By Randy Capps, Marc R. Rosenblum, Cristina Rodríguez, and Muzaffar Chishti
The section 287(g) program, which delegates federal immigration enforcement powers to state and local officers, is not targeted primarily at serious offenders. Despite public statements by Obama administration officials that the program is primarily aimed at identifying and removing “dangerous criminals,” MPI researchers found that about half of 287(g) activity involves noncitizens arrested for misdemeanors or traffic offenses. Formal program changes unveiled by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2009 have not substantially changed program priorities, operations, outcomes, or community impacts, the report concludes, offering findings that also have implications for the Secure Communities program.
Earned Legalization: Effects of Proposed Requirements on Unauthorized Men, Women, and Children
By Marc R. Rosenblum, Randy Capps, and Serena Yi-Ying Lin
Requirements for earned legalization (such as English proficiency, employment, continuous presence, and monetary fines) could have different effects on the ability of unauthorized men, women, and children to gain legal status. This Policy Brief examines requirements proposed in the five major legalization bills proposed by Congress since 2006. Analysis shows that language requirements, depending on how they are structured, could exclude the largest number of unauthorized immigrants, with between 3.3 million and 5.8 million unauthorized adults unable to pass the English language tests contemplated by two recent bills. Employment rules would exclude the next-largest share of unauthorized immigrants and would fall especially hard on women, who are less likely than unauthorized men to be in the workforce; followed by continuous presence requirements, which would exclude many children, who are likely to have lived in the country for less time than unauthorized adults.
Download Report
Immigrant Legalization in the United States and European Union: Policy Goals and Program Design
By Marc R. Rosenblum
Immigrant legalization, while highly controversial on both sides of the Atlantic, is a critical and widely used tool for managing illegal immigration. Lawmakers seeking to design effective legalization regimes must balance competing goals: inclusiveness versus avoidance of rewarding illegal behavior, and assuring a high rate of participation without admitting ineligible migrants or encouraging future illegal migration. This Policy Brief, the third in a series on legalization, examines the legalization debate and discusses policy parameters that characterize legalization programs, such as qualifications, requirements, benefits, and program design and implementation.
Download Report
Immigrants and Health Care Reform: What's Really at Stake?
By Randy Capps, Marc R. Rosenblum, and Michael Fix
Health care reform proposals under consideration in Congress that would exclude many legal immigrants from core benefits and impose new verification requirements would have important spillover consequences for taxpayers and other health care consumers. In a new report, MPI's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy offers the first-ever estimates of the size of uninsured immigrant populations in major immigrant-destination states, the number of immigrant workers covered by employer-provided plans, and the share of immigrants employed by small firms likely to be exempted from employer coverage mandates. The report, based on MPI analysis of Census Bureau data, also examines health coverage for immigrants by legal status, age, and poverty levels.
Download Report | Press Release
Aligning Temporary Immigration Visas with US Labor Market Needs: The Case for Provisional Visas
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Doris Meissner, Marc R. Rosenblum, and Madeleine Sumption
Reform of a rigid employment-based visa system that is out of sync with the needs of employers, the US economy, US society, and immigrants alike must be part of effective comprehensive immigration reform legislation. In this report, MPI recommends creation of a new stream of visas known as provisional visas, which would bridge temporary and permanent admissions to the United States for work purposes in a predictable and transparent way. The authors make the case that the concept hits the sweet spot in balancing the two main goals of labor market immigration policy: It supports economic growth and competitiveness while protecting the wages and interests of US workers; and it facilitates the social and economic integration of immigrants.
Download Report | Press Release
The Next Generation of E-Verify: Getting Employment Verification Right
By Doris Meissner and Marc R. Rosenblum
Effective employment verification must be the linchpin of comprehensive immigration reform legislation if new policies are to succeed in preventing future illegal immigration. While E-Verify, the government's voluntary electronic verification program, has been greatly improved, it most crucially still cannot detect identity fraud and requires further enhancement. This report examines the strengths and weaknesses of the current system and outlines recommendations to get to a stronger next-generation E-Verify, including by testing alternatives such as secure documents, PIN pre-verification, and biometric scanning.
Download Report | Press Release | Video of briefing
Harnessing the Advantages of Immigration for a 21st-Century Economy
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Doris Meissner, Marc R. Rosenblum, and Madeleine Sumption
The US immigration system neither meets labor market needs efficiently nor minds the interests of US workers with particular success, and has yet to devise a way that uses immigration to promote US economic growth and competitiveness well. This paper proposes an institutional solution to address this systemic failure: Creating a permanent and independent body, situated within the executive branch, that is charged with recommending adjustments to immigration laws to the president and Congress: the Standing Commission on Labor Markets, Economic Competitiveness, and Immigration. The bipartisan panel would provide timely, evidence-based, and impartial analysis and recommendations to the president and Congress regarding employment-based immigration.
Download Report | Press Release
"Comprehensive" Legislation vs. Fundamental Reform: The Limits of Current Immigration Proposals
By Marc Rosenblum.
Task Force Policy Brief No. 13, January 2006
The author evaluates the elements of current Administration and Congressional proposals for their potential to address the fundamental flaws characterizing the current immigration system. He finds that proposed reforms likely would fail to address the mismatch between visa supply and demand, the system's over-reliance on temporary nonimmigrant visas, inefficient immigrant labor regulations, and the challenges of responding to the roughly 11 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States.
Immigration Enforcement at the Worksite: Making it Work
By Marc C. Rosenblum
Task Force Policy Brief No. 6, November 2005
The author lays out six critical reforms necessary to construct a coherent worksite enforcement system, including limits on documents proving identity and work authorization, changes to shift the burden of applicant screening from employers to the government, and more efficient use of employment databases to target non-compliant employers.
[Back to top]
Neil Ruiz
Protecting Overseas Workers: Lessons and Cautions from the Philippines
By Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias, MPI, and Neil Ruiz, Brookings Institution
Insight, September 2007
The world’s largest migrant welfare fund, the Philippines’ Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), shows that countries of origin can institutionalize protection of migrant workers through a mechanism for repatriation, provision of insurance and loans, and education and training. However, countries of origin must overcome several limitations to fully realize these benefits. The Philippine case highlights the importance of meeting the core needs of overseas workers without overextending the government’s capacity; political, administrative, and financial transparency and accountability; and the effective use of government resources. Destination countries should also establish mechanisms to protect migrant workers and help build capacity for welfare funds and countries of origin. As temporary worker programs gain increased international attention, both the accomplishments and the limitations of the Philippines’ experience offer guidance for policymakers in other countries seeking to expand temporary migration programs.
[Back to top]
David Schulz
Supreme Court Brief - Amici Curiae
Co-authored with Jeffrey Drichta, David Dovdavany, Muzaffar A. Chishti, and Michael J. Wishnie
Hoffman Plastic Board Compounds v. National Labor Relations Board
December 10, 2001
(Read a Summary of the Brief)
[Back to top]
Audrey Singer
The World in a Zip Code: Greater Washington, D.C. as a New Region of Immigration
Co-authored with Ivan Cheung, Samantha Friedman, and Marie Price
Brookings Institution, Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy
Immigrants, Their Families, and Their Communities in the Aftermath of Welfare Reform
Co-edited with MPI Staff
Research Perspectives on Migration
Migration Policy Institute and Urban Institute
Spring 2001
[Back to top]
Will Somerville
Building a British Model of Integration in an Era of Immigration: Policy Lessons for Government
By Shamit Saggar and Will Somerville
Despite experiencing large-scale immigration flows and settlement over the past half century, the United Kingdom has not developed a formal integration program. Few public policies have specifically sought to advance immigrant integration, and the political debates surrounding immigrant integration have often been fraught and destabilizing, reflecting deep-seated ambivalence in British society about immigrants and immigration. The authors offer a menu of policy options and actions the government should consider to achieve a well-thought-out approach.
Download Report
Pay-to-Go Schemes and Other Noncoercive Return Programs: Is Scale Possible?
By Richard Black, Michael Collyer, and Will Somerville
For decades, some immigrant-receiving countries have experimented with policies designed to encourage unauthorized immigrants to leave without the cost, legal barriers, and political obstacles that result from removals or forced returns. These initiatives – known as pay-to-go, noncoercive, voluntary, assisted voluntary, or nonforced returns — generally offer paid travel and/or a financial incentive in order to persuade target populations to cooperate with immigration authorities. The authors examine the programs’ long history of failure on the ground, but conclude that such initiatives could be an important part of the policy toolkit to reduce illegal immigration with proper experimentation and evaluation.
Download Report
The UK's New Europeans: Progress and Challenges Five Years After Accession
The enlargement of the European Union has fundamentally changed migration patterns to the United Kingdom. An estimated 1.5 million workers have come to the United Kingdom from new EU Member States since May 2004, accounting for about half of all labor migration during that period. Though employment rates for these new European citizens are high, areas of concern remain because their wages are low and the workers, often despite significant education, are concentrated in unskilled labor sectors. This report, commissioned by the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission, also concludes that the influx of workers may be having a slight negative impact on the wages of the lowest-paid British workers.
Download Report | Press Release
The Social Mobility of Immigrants and Their Children
Transatlantic Council Convenor and MPI President Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Will Somerville, and Madeleine Sumption examine social mobility, which is essential to immigrant integration. First-generation immigrants in Europe and the United States typically experience downward mobility largely because of four factors: language barriers, differences in educational attainment, difficulties obtaining recognition for credentials and experience gained abroad, and problems accessing opportunities through social networks and other recruitment channels. The second generation improves substantially on its parents’ generation. This improvement is insufficient, however, to allow all groups to catch up with the children of natives. This paper examines some immigration and educational policy interventions that could improve integration.
Migration and the Economic Downturn: What to Expect in the European Union
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Madeleine Sumption, and Will Somerville
As unemployment rises and household budgets shrink across the European Union, policymakers, analysts, and the public are beginning to ask what the consequences will be with respect to immigration. The implications of the recession should not be underestimated. The downturn is likely to affect the kind of immigrants that arrive and leave, with implications for labor supply in certain sectors, for integration, and for the host communities.
Talent in the 21st Century Economy
Council Convenor and MPI President Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Will Somerville, and Hiroyuki Tanaka examine how for a growing number of countries, attracting the "right" talent is at the top of the policy toolkit for increasing economic competitiveness. They outline how governments and employers view and access highly skilled talent and detail the decision-making factors weighed by highly skilled individuals as they decide where to migrate.
Download report
Hybrid Immigrant-Selection Systems: The Next Generation of Economic Migration Schemes
Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Will Somerville, Hiroyuki Tanaka
As governments think more seriously about attracting and selecting immigrants for their education, skills, and, increasingly, their ability to plug specific holes in the labor market, the authors discuss the emergence of hybrid systems that combine ideas drawn from points systems with other, more demand-driven and employer-led methods of selection.
Download report
Hometown Associations: An Untapped Resource for Immigrant Integration?
By Will Somerville, Jamie Durana, and Aaron Matteo Terrazas
Hometown associations, the organizations that immigrants create for social, economic development, and political empowerment purposes, play an important – and underexamined – role in immigrant integration. Though policymakers focus chiefly on the associations’ development potential, this MPI Insight recommends cooperative interventions to strengthen their immigrant integration capacity.
[Back to top]
Eleanor Sohnen
Manufacturing in the United States, Mexico, and Central America: Implications for Competitiveness and Migration
By Peter A. Creticos and Eleanor Sohnen
The manufacturing sector is a significant source of employment for workers from Mexico and Central America's Northern Triangle — with an estimated 17 percent employed in manufacturing in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, and immigrants from these countries making up 8 percent of the US manufacturing workforce. This report examines how aggressive manufacturing-attraction strategies have benefited the economies of Mexico, and to a lesser extent, the Northern Triangle. Yet the achievements of the maquiladora development strategy have masked important flaws that threaten to stymie the promise of even greater economic growth. The report outlines the need for the regional workforce to gain the skills to compete with counterparts in advanced manufacturing regions such as northern Europe and Japan, as well as for credentialing standards, training systems, and outcome measures that are comparable to those in industrialized economies.
Download Report
Paying for Crime: A Review of the Relationships between Insecurity and Development in Mexico and Central America
By Eleanor Sohnen
Crime and insecurity are undermining economic and social prosperity in Mexico and Central America by diverting public and private resources away from productive uses, as well as eroding the public trust in government institutions that is critical to sustain healthy societies. This report examines the economic, social, and political costs resulting from insecurity in the region, as well as implications for the future.
Download Report
Burke Speaker
Through the Prism of National Security: Major Immigration Policy and Program Changes in the Decade since 9/11
By Michelle Mittelstadt, Burke Speaker, Doris Meissner, and Muzaffar Chishti
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 prompted the profound realignment of the US immigration system, with national security and enforcement the dominant lens through which programs and budgets have been shaped over the past decade. The post-9/11 era has witnessed the largest government reorganization since World War II; increased information sharing and data collection across international, federal, state, and local law enforcement and intelligence agencies; the broad use of nationality-based screening and enforcement initiatives; the expansion of immigrant detention policies; and exponential increases in funding for homeland security-related immigration programs. This Fact Sheet details the policy, programmatic, budget, and manpower changes that have happened in the immigration arena as an outgrowth of the 9/11 attacks.
Download Fact Sheet | Press Release | Listen to Podcast
[Back to top]
Petra Stanat
Language Policies and Practices for Helping Immigrants and Second-Generation Students Succeed
By Gayle Christensen, Urban Institute, and Petra Stanat, Free University of Berlin
Transatlantic Task Force on Immigration and Integration Report, September 2007
Drs. Christensen and Stanat draw on the results of a unique survey of school language policies and practices to close the achievement gap in 14 immigrant-receiving countries. The authors find that countries where immigrant and second-generation students succeed tend to have long-standing language support programs, for both primary and secondary students, with clearly defined goals and standards. The authors highlight Sweden; Victoria, Australia; and British Columbia, Canada, as places with smaller achievement gaps between native-born and immigrant students. These programs’ common strategies include centrally developed curricula, high program standards, time-intensive programs, support in both primary and secondary school, second-language teachers who have received specialized training, and cooperation between language and other teachers.
[Back to top]
Madeleine Sumption
The Economic Value of Citizenship for Immigrants in the United States
By Madeleine Sumption and Sarah Flamm
Beyond imparting political and social rights, naturalization appears to confer economic gains for immigrants in the United States, with a wage premium of at least 5 percent – even after accounting for the fact that naturalized immigrants have higher levels of education, better language skills, and more work experience in the United States than noncitizens. More than 8 million legal immigrants in the United States are eligible to apply for citizenship but have not done so. Naturalization rates in the United States are lower than most other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, the report notes.
Download Report | Press Release
Shared Challenges and Opportunities for EU and US Immigration Policymakers
By Philippe Fargues, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Giambattista Salinari, and Madeleine Sumption
This final report summarizes and reflects upon the key findings of the Improving EU and US Immigration Systems: Learning from Experience comparative research project undertaken by the Migration Policy Institute and the European University Institute through a grant from the European Commission. The project focused on developments in Europe and the United States in eight key areas – employment, economic growth, human rights, security, immigrant integration, demographics, development, and cooperation with immigrant-sending countries. This final report highlights the lessons to be learned from both similar and divergent experiences on either side of the Atlantic, sketching opportunities for future reform, as well as ways in which the European Union and the United States could improve their cooperative relationship.
Download Report | Project Website
Scientists, Managers, and Tourists: The Changing Shape of European Migration to the United States
By Madeleine Sumption and Xiaochu Hu
Once the dominant immigrant stream into the United States, European migration to the country has fallen sharply since World War II, a result of economic, demographic, and policy trends across the Atlantic. Today’s migration from European Union Member States is characterized by highly skilled immigrants who are more educated, earn better wages, have greater English proficiency, and are more strongly represented as scientists, professionals, and businesspeople than other immigrant groups. European migration has maintained a relatively low profile in immigration policy debates, however the Europe-favoring Visa Waiver Program has figured prominently into the immigration policy arena because of its relation to enhanced border security.
Download Report
Eight Policies to Boost the Economic Contribution of Employment-Based Immigration
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Madeleine Sumption
Immigration can be a powerful tool for supporting a country’s economic growth and prosperity, but its success in accomplishing that objective depends on well-designed and carefully implemented immigration policies that deliberately and strategically facilitate immigration’s economic contribution. This policy memo, drawing on experiences from Asia, Europe, North America, and the Pacific region, presents eight strategies to create effective and efficient economic-stream immigration systems.
Download Memo
Rethinking Points Systems and Employer-Selected Immigration
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Madeleine Sumption
Advanced industrialized economies typically have used one of two competing models for selecting economic-stream immigrants: Points-based or employer-led selection. Increasingly, however, they are creating hybrid selection systems, implement the best ideas from each model. The result: Selection systems that have much of the flexibility of points systems while also prioritizing employer demand.
Download Report
Opportunities for Transatlantic Cooperation on International Migration
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Madeleine Sumption
The transatlantic relationship is among the most significant partnerships between wealthy nations in immigration policy. While cooperation between the European Union and United States is, of course, far surpassed by the intra-EU or US-Canada relationships, the sheer size of the North Atlantic economic space and the number of workers and travelers who circulate within it make dialogue on migration both necessary and inevitable. This policy memo explores opportunities for cooperation regarding travel and border security, labor mobility, and other areas.
Download Memo
Policies to Curb Unauthorized Employment
By Madeleine Sumption
Illegal immigration is driven in large measure by illegal employment. Lower wages aren’t the only reasons why employers turn to unauthorized workers: Illegal hiring can also allow them to evade costly regulations and taxes and to have greater flexibility in working hours and employment length. This memo outlines the three major lines of attack policymakers can use to craft a coherent strategy to reduce illegal employment: Employer sanctions, realistic legal channels to admit needed workers, and domestic labor market reforms.
Download Report
The Role of Immigration in Fostering Competitiveness in the United States
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Madeleine Sumption
Immigration is an indispensable piece of any strategy to boost economic growth and prosperity. The United States has a natural advantage in attracting the world’s most talented workers. But employment-based immigration makes up too small a proportion of overall US permanent immigration, and US policy is inflexible in the face of changing circumstances, including the growth of other skill-focused immigration programs across the developed world. This report examines effective strategies to ensure that immigration policy facilitates US economic growth, innovation, and competitiveness.
Download Report | European Competitiveness Report
Migration and Immigrants Two Years after the Financial Collapse: Where Do We Stand?
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Madeleine Sumption, and Aaron Terrazas with Carola Burkert, Stephen Loyal, and Ruth Ferrero-Turrión
Immigrants, particularly men and youth, have been disproportionately hit by the global economic crisis that began in fall 2008 and now confront a reality of dwindling budgets for public services and immigrant integration programs, this report for BBC World Service reveals. The report, which has a particular focus on five North Atlantic countries -- Germany, Ireland, Spain, the United Kingdom and United States – finds that the unemployment gap between immigrant and native workers has widened in many places. It offers analysis of a number of trends, including the fact that some immigrant-destination countries that historically have been countries of emigration, such as Ireland, Greece, and Portugal, may be reverting to earlier trends.
Download Report | Press Release
The UK's New Europeans: Progress and Challenges Five Years After Accession
The enlargement of the European Union has fundamentally changed migration patterns to the United Kingdom. An estimated 1.5 million workers have come to the United Kingdom from new EU Member States since May 2004, accounting for about half of all labor migration during that period. Though employment rates for these new European citizens are high, areas of concern remain because their wages are low and the workers, often despite significant education, are concentrated in unskilled labor sectors. This report, commissioned by the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission, also concludes that the influx of workers may be having a slight negative impact on the wages of the lowest-paid British workers.
Download Report | Press Release
Aligning Temporary Immigration Visas with US Labor Market Needs: The Case for Provisional Visas
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Doris Meissner, Marc R. Rosenblum, and Madeleine Sumption
Reform of a rigid employment-based visa system that is out of sync with the needs of employers, the US economy, US society, and immigrants alike must be part of effective comprehensive immigration reform legislation. In this report, MPI recommends creation of a new stream of visas known as provisional visas, which would bridge temporary and permanent admissions to the United States for work purposes in a predictable and transparent way. The authors make the case that the concept hits the sweet spot in balancing the two main goals of labor market immigration policy: It supports economic growth and competitiveness while protecting the wages and interests of US workers; and it facilitates the social and economic integration of immigrants.
Download Report | Press Release
The Social Mobility of Immigrants and Their Children
Transatlantic Council Convenor and MPI President Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Will Somerville, and Madeleine Sumption examine social mobility, which is essential to immigrant integration. First-generation immigrants in Europe and the United States typically experience downward mobility largely because of four factors: language barriers, differences in educational attainment, difficulties obtaining recognition for credentials and experience gained abroad, and problems accessing opportunities through social networks and other recruitment channels. The second generation improves substantially on its parents’ generation. This improvement is insufficient, however, to allow all groups to catch up with the children of natives. This paper examines some immigration and educational policy interventions that could improve integration.
Harnessing the Advantages of Immigration for a 21st-Century Economy
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Doris Meissner, Marc R. Rosenblum, and Madeleine Sumption
The US immigration system neither meets labor market needs efficiently nor minds the interests of US workers with particular success, and has yet to devise a way that uses immigration to promote US economic growth and competitiveness well. This paper proposes an institutional solution to address this systemic failure: Creating a permanent and independent body, situated within the executive branch, that is charged with recommending adjustments to immigration laws to the president and Congress: the Standing Commission on Labor Markets, Economic Competitiveness, and Immigration. The bipartisan panel would provide timely, evidence-based, and impartial analysis and recommendations to the president and Congress regarding employment-based immigration.
Download Report | Press Release
Migration and the Economic Downturn: What to Expect in the European Union
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Madeleine Sumption, and Will Somerville
As unemployment rises and household budgets shrink across the European Union, policymakers, analysts, and the public are beginning to ask what the consequences will be with respect to immigration. The implications of the recession should not be underestimated. The downturn is likely to affect the kind of immigrants that arrive and leave, with implications for labor supply in certain sectors, for integration, and for the host communities.
[Back to top]
Rita Süssmuth
Managing Integration: The European Union's Responsibilities towards Immigrants
Co-edited with Werner Weidenfeld
Published by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the Migration Policy Institute, Fall 2005
Purchase a Copy
[Back to top]
Hiroyuki Tanaka
Transatlantic Information Sharing: At a Crossroads
By Hiroyuki Tanaka, Rocco Bellanova, Susan Ginsburg, and Paul De Hert
The attempted Christmas Day attack on a US airliner has refocused interest on the data collected by governments on international travelers, and how information sharing can be used to prevent terrorism and secure travel if properly shared and analyzed. In the wake of 9/11, the United States and European Union worked out agreements to expand the sharing of personal information about international travelers as a means to prevent acts of terrorism and fight international crime. However, as this report explores, negotiations on a binding US-EU agreement that will govern the sharing of personal information for law enforcement purposes – while high on the transatlantic policy agenda – face significant challenges.
Download Report | Press Release
Talent in the 21st Century Economy
Council Convenor and MPI President Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Will Somerville, and Hiroyuki Tanaka examine how for a growing number of countries, attracting the "right" talent is at the top of the policy toolkit for increasing economic competitiveness. They outline how governments and employers view and access highly skilled talent and detail the decision-making factors weighed by highly skilled individuals as they decide where to migrate.
Download report
Hybrid Immigrant-Selection Systems: The Next Generation of Economic Migration Schemes
Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Will Somerville, Hiroyuki Tanaka
As governments think more seriously about attracting and selecting immigrants for their education, skills, and, increasingly, their ability to plug specific holes in the labor market, the authors discuss the emergence of hybrid systems that combine ideas drawn from points systems with other, more demand-driven and employer-led methods of selection.
Download report
Europe’s
Disappearing Internal Borders
Fact Sheet No. 20, December 2007
The Schengen Area allows European Union citizens and third-country nationals
in 15 Schengen Member States to, in almost all cases, travel freely to another
Schengen Member State. On December 21, 2007, the Schengen Area will enlarge to
include nine of the 10 countries that entered the European Union in 2004. This
MPI fact sheet provides 10 key facts about the expanding Schengen Area.
Fact
Sheet | Press
Release
Bridging Divides: The Role of Ethnic Community-Based Organizations in Refugee Integration
By Kathleen Newland, Hiroyuki Tanaka, and Laura Barker
Migration Policy Institute and the International Rescue Committee, June 2007
Almost 2.4 million refugees and asylees from at least 115 countries entered the United States between 1980 and 2006. Despite declines in refugee admissions, the United States continues to resettle more refugees than any other country. A new study released for World Refugee Day on June 20 examines how organizations founded by refugees are helping others who have escaped violence and persecution abroad adjust to life in the United States.
Immigration and the 2007 French Elections
By Hiroyuki Tanaka
MPI Backgrounder, May 2007
This Backgrounder, released in advanced of the French presidential election, examines the French immigration system, Nicolas Sarkozy's influence on immigration legislation prior to taking office, and how his stance on immigration differed from that of Ségolène Royal.
[Back to top]
Arno Tanner
Emigration, Brain
Drain and Development: The Case of Sub-Saharan Africa
Published by East-West Books Helsinki and the Migration Policy Institute,
Fall 2005
In Emigration, Brain Drain, and Development: The Case of Sub-Saharan
Africa, Arno Tanner questions the emerging literature that stresses
the positive aspects of labor migration. He finds that while emigration
certainly cannot be stopped, and may be beneficial in some cases, unhindered
high-skilled emigration, particularly in the case of sub-Saharan Africa,
can have disastrous consequences. In examining the cases of Malawi,
Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, Dr. Tanner finds striking trends. For instance,
the outflow of physicians from Malawi may severely hurt AIDS prevention.
Furthermore, sub-Saharan Africans tend not to return; remittances are
erratic, have dwindled over time, and do not offset the costs of emigration.
Dr. Tanner recommends specific policies where carefully targeted development
measures could be used to mitigate the negative consequences of brain
drain.
[Back to top]
Aaron Matteo Terrazas
The Economic Integration of Immigrants in the United States: Long- and Short-Term Perspectives
By Aaron Terrazas
The United States has provided excellent economic opportunities for generations of immigrants, who are set to play an increasingly significant role in the US economy in coming decades as more baby boomers retire. Because many immigrants are concentrated in low-wage or low-skill jobs, the 2007-09 economic crisis accentuated their vulnerabilities in the labor market, with a risk that the crisis could prove to be a turning point in their future upward socioeconomic mobility. While historically, in the absence of government integration policies, the workplace has played a key role in immigration integration, it remains unclear if this approach will continue to ensure strong economic integration moving forward.
Download Report
Migration and Development: Policy Perspectives from the United States
By Aaron Terrazas
As migration has become an increasingly visible global phenomenon in recent decades, there has been heightened interest in the complex relationship between migration and the development prospects of migrants’ countries of origin. While individual migrants and their families tend to benefit from the decision to seek opportunities abroad, the consequences for migrant communities and countries of origin are more ambiguous. This report examines the evidence and whether there is any role for US policymakers to play.
Download Report | European Report
Evolving Demographic and Human-Capital Trends in Mexico and Central America and Their Implications for Regional Migration
By Aaron Terrazas, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, and Marc R. Rosenblum
This report for the Regional Migration Study Group assesses the implications for regional migration resulting from the rapidly evolving demographic and human-capital profiles of Mexico and Central America as well as the longstanding shifts in the US economy and labor market that were accelerated by the recent economic crisis. Taken together, these changes mean that policymakers can no longer rely on the conventional wisdom about regional labor mobility that has guided their decisions in the past.
Download Report | Press Release
Migration and Immigrants Two Years after the Financial Collapse: Where Do We Stand?
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Madeleine Sumption, and Aaron Terrazas with Carola Burkert, Stephen Loyal, and Ruth Ferrero-Turrión
Immigrants, particularly men and youth, have been disproportionately hit by the global economic crisis that began in fall 2008 and now confront a reality of dwindling budgets for public services and immigrant integration programs, this report for BBC World Service reveals. The report, which has a particular focus on five North Atlantic countries -- Germany, Ireland, Spain, the United Kingdom and United States – finds that the unemployment gap between immigrant and native workers has widened in many places. It offers analysis of a number of trends, including the fact that some immigrant-destination countries that historically have been countries of emigration, such as Ireland, Greece, and Portugal, may be reverting to earlier trends.
Download Report | Press Release
Diaspora Philanthropy: Private Giving and Public Policy
By Kathleen Newland, Aaron Terrazas, and Roberto Munster
This report, the third in a series examining the role of diasporas in development policy, analyzes the evolving role of diaspora philanthropy in countries of origin. The study examines the emergence of nongovernmental development actors and new trends in global philanthropy, such as strategic giving and use of online platforms to harness small donations. It also discusses public policies, in both donor and developing countries, that can encourage or discourage philanthropic giving.
Download Report
Connected through Service: Diaspora Volunteers and Global Development
By Aaron Terrazas
Nearly 1 million US residents spend time volunteering abroad each year, including nearly 200,000 first- and second-generation immigrants. Diasporas often have the connections, knowledge, and personal drive to volunteer outside the framework of organized volunteer programs. But many also volunteer through established programs. As skilled migration and the number of US youth with ancestors in the developing world grow over the coming years, the potential for both skilled diaspora volunteers and youth diaspora volunteers will increase. This report is the second in a series of studies examining the role of diasporas in development policy.
Download Report
Diaspora Investment in Developing and Emerging Country Capital Markets: Patterns and Prospects
By Aaron Terrazas
Financial flows from migrants and their descendants are at the heart of the relationship between migration and development. There is little doubt that remittances can have important effects on financial development. But they represent only a fraction of the potential private financial flows originating from diasporas, with substantial evidence showing that diasporas hold substantial financial assets beyond their current income — for instance, in savings and retirement accounts, in property, debt, and equity. Remittances tap the incomes of migrants, but this report argues that the greater challenge is to mobilize the wealth of diasporas. Capital markets perform precisely this function, mobilizing savings and channeling them to productive investment. This report is the first in a series of six studies on the role of diasporas in development policy.
Download Report
The Binational Option: Meeting the Instructional Needs of Limited English Proficient Students
By Aaron Terrazas and Michael Fix
With 1 in 10 children in US schools having limited English proficiency, school districts across the country face challenges in meeting the students' educational needs and finding enough qualified bilingual and English as a Second Language educators. This report identifies international teacher exchanges as an innovative, near-term strategy for school administrators to respond to immediate teaching needs, particularly in subject areas where knowledge of a foreign language is necessary. In conjunction with efforts to recruit local teachers, foreign teachers can help alleviate endemic shortages — particularly in districts that face rapid, unexpected, or short-term changes in the student population.
Migration and the Global Recession
By Michael Fix, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Jeanne Batalova, Aaron Terrazas, Serena Yi-Ying Lin, and Michelle Mittelstadt
The global financial crisis that began in September 2008 can be viewed as having a deeper and more global effect on the movement of people around the world than any other economic downturn in the post-World War II era of migration, finds a new MPI report commissioned by the BBC World Service. The report explores how the recession has affected the movement of some of the world's more than 195 million migrants and their remittances in locations around the globe. It provides data on migration, remittances, employment, and poverty rates for immigrants and the native-born alike; and examines the policy changes some countries have enacted to suppress migrant inflows, encourage departures (including through recent "pay-to-go" plans), and protect labor markets for native-born workers.
Download Report | Press Release
Immigrants and the Current Economic Crisis
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Aaron Terrazas
As the nation sinks into a recession that may be the worst since the Great Depression, the economic crisis raises fundamental questions about future immigration flows to and from the United States and how current and prospective immigrants will fare. This report, a research product of MPI's new Labor Markets Initiative, examines how the number of immigrants has changed since the recession began; how legal and illegal immigration flows may change; and how immigrants fare in the labor market during downturns.
Foreign-Born Veterans of the US Armed Forces
By Iris Ho and Aaron Terrazas
Fact Sheet No. 22, October 2008
As the United States prepares to commemorate Veterans Day, an MPI analysis finds there were about 645,000 foreign-born veterans of the US armed forces in 2007, representing nearly 3 percent of all surviving US veterans. The Fact Sheet, using data from the US Census Bureau's 2007 American Community Survey, provides a demographic portrait of the foreign-born veterans' countries of origin, states of residence, and periods of service.
Fact Sheet | Press Release
Gambling on the Future: Managing the Education Challenges of Rapid Growth in Nevada
By Aaron Terrazas and Michael Fix
Nevada, the fastest growing state in the United States, is experiencing a population boom – driven in part by immigration – that has key implications for its school system and labor market. Immigrants represent one in five Nevada residents and their children account for one in three Nevadans under age 18. Yet even as schools have experienced a surge in enrollment, federal and state investments in the state's failing education system haven't kept pace.
Download
Report | Press Release
Learning
by Doing: Experiences of Circular Migration
By Kathleen Newland, Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias, and Aaron Terrazas
Increasingly, policymakers are considering whether circular migration could improve
the likelihood that global mobility gains will be shared by migrant-origin and
destination countries alike — as well as by migrants themselves. This MPI
Insight examines the record of circular migration, both where it has arisen naturally
and where governments have taken action to encourage it.
Hometown
Associations: An Untapped Resource for Immigrant Integration?
By Will Somerville, Jamie Durana, and Aaron Matteo Terrazas
Hometown associations, the organizations that immigrants create for social, economic
development, and political empowerment purposes, play an important – and
underexamined – role in immigrant integration. Though policymakers focus
chiefly on the associations’ development potential, this MPI Insight recommends
cooperative interventions to strengthen their immigrant integration capacity.
Social Security “No Match” Letters: A Primer
MPI Backgrounder No. 5, October 2007
A US District Court Judge has ruled that a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulation regarding Social Security Administration (SSA) “no match” letters cannot be implemented. This MPI Backgrounder shows that, based on 2006 information, the DHS procedures would have affected more than 1.5 million workers, with approximately 1 million concentrated in ten states.
New
MPI Fact Sheet Provides First Look at the 2007 Slowdown in Remittances
to Mexican States
Fact Sheet No. 19, September 2007
In 2006, Mexico received an estimated $24.5 billion in remittances -- 11.3 percent
of the total $276 billion in remittances worldwide. While migrant remittances
to Mexico grew an average of 19.1 percent annually between 2003 and 2006, however,
they increased by just 0.6 percent in the first half of 2007 compared to the
first half of 2006. A new MPI fact sheet provides a first look remittances to
Mexico by state for 2003 to 2007, highlighting the states that may be most severely
affected by a slowdown in money coming in from migrants abroad in the first six
months of 2007.
English | Español | Press
Release
[Back to top]
Eleni Tsolakis
Study on the Transfer of Protection Status in the EU
By Nina M. Lassen with Leise Egesberg, Joanne van Selm with Eleni Tsolakis, and Jeroen Doomernik
June 25, 2004
The Enlargement of an 'Area of Freedom, Security and Justice': Managing Migration in a European Union of 25 Members
Co-authored with Joanne van Selm
MPI Policy Brief No. 4, May 2004
In this policy brief, the authors shed light on the newly enlarged European Union's efforts to create common immigration and asylum policies. They discuss issues including: challenges to EU citizenship presented by accession; the exclusion of eight new Member States' nationals from 14 of 15 labor market and welfare systems; the current status of policy negotiations; and opportunities and challenges for the next five years.
[Back to top]
U.S.-Mexico Migration Panel
U.S.-Mexico Migration Panel
Recommendations released February 2001
(Read the Summary)
[Back to top]
Jennifer Van Hook
Senior Policy Analyst
The Demographic Impacts of Repealing Birthright Citizenship
By Jennifer Van Hook with Michael Fix
Repeal of birthright citizenship for the US-born children of unauthorized immigrants would expand the unauthorized population by at least 5 million over the next four decades. Employing standard demographic techniques, this analysis suggests that there would be 4.7 million unauthorized immigrants as of 2050 who had been born in the United States — 1 million of them with US-born mother and father — if birthright citizenship were denied to children born to parents who are both unauthorized immigrants. While some policymakers are discussing changes to birthright citizenship as a means to reduce illegal immigration, the report makes clear such a move could in fact significantly increase the size of the unauthorized population.
Joanne van Selm
Senior Policy Analyst
The New "Boat People": Ensuring Safety and Determining Status
By Joanne van Selm and Betsy Cooper
Report, January 2006
This report aims to foster dialogue among international stakeholders and policymakers about current policy responses to migration by sea. A forum of renowned experts and government representatives from across the globe convened at MPI to discuss the implications of historical and current trends in interdiction and rescue, from Haiti to Australia to Europe, as well as what approaches might be effective for the future.
Where migration policy is made: starting to expose the labyrinth of national institutional settings for migration policy making and implementation
Global Migration Perspectives, Global Commission on International Migration
July 2005
Immigration Is Becoming a Key Issue for Europe’s Future
Cover Story, European Affairs, Summer 2005
European Refugee Policy: Is There Such a Thing?
UNHCR Working Paper No. 115, May 2005
Study on the Transfer of Protection Status in the EU
By Nina M. Lassen with Leise Egesberg, Joanne van Selm with Eleni Tsolakis, and Jeroen Doomernik
June 25, 2004 The Enlargement of an 'Area of Freedom, Security and Justice': Managing Migration in a European Union of 25 Members
Co-authored with Eleni Tsolakis
MPI Policy Brief No. 4, May 2004
In this policy brief, the authors shed light on the newly enlarged European Union's efforts to create common immigration and asylum policies. They discuss issues including: challenges to EU citizenship presented by accession; the exclusion of eight new Member States' nationals from 14 of 15 labor market and welfare systems; the current status of policy negotiations; and opportunities and challenges for the next five years.
The EU as a Global Player in the Refuge Protection Regime
From the AMID Working Paper Series 35/2004
Rediscovering Resettlement
A Transatlantic Comparison of Refugee Protection
Co-authored with Gregor Noll
Could increasing the numbers of refugees who have access to resettlement help resolve some of the refugee protection challenges faced by the European Union and the United States?
"Lessons on Resettlement from the U.S. and Canada"
Listening to the Evidence: The Future of UK Resettlement
Conference proceedings
Study of the Feasibility of Resettlement Schemes in EU States or at the EU Level
By Joanne van Selm, Tamara Woroby, Erin Patrick and Monica Matts
2003
The Strategic Use of Resettlement
Paper presented at the International Seminar “Toward more orderly and managed entry in the EU of persons in need of international protection," Rome, October 13-14, 2003
Resettlement Schemes in the European Union: New Feasibility Study
Co-authored with Tamara Woroby, Erin Patrick and Monica Matts
Refugees and Forced Displacement:
International Security, Human Vulnerability and the State
Co-edited with Edward Newman
Book Description | To Order | Book Event
"Perceptions of Afghan Refugees" in Global Responses to Terrorism: 9/11, Afghanistan and Beyond
The Netherlands: Tolerance Under Pressure
Migration Information Source, September 2003
The Netherlands is witnessing heated debate about its longstanding role as a safe haven for refugees. MPI Senior Policy Analyst Joanne van Selm examines the latest developments in this updated Country Profile.
Foreign Policy Considerations in Dealing with Afghanistan's Refugees: When Security and Protection Collide
Forced Migration Review, June 2002
Introductory Article to "September 11: Has Anything Changed?"
Co-authored with Erin Patrick, Monette Zard and Kathleen Newland
Forced Migration Review, June 2002
Immigration and Asylum or Foreign Policy: The EU's Approach to Migrants
Migration and the Externalities of European Integration
(Lexington Books, 2002)
The Protection of Refugees in the Light of the New Security Agenda (PDF)
Speech at the University of Montreal, March 20, 2002
[Back to top]
Werner Weidenfeld
Managing Integration: The European Union's Responsibilities towards Immigrants
Co-edited with Rita Süssmuth
Published by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the Migration Policy Institute, Fall 2005
Purchase a Copy
[Back to top]
Jill Wilson
Putting Data to Work for Immigrants and Communities: Tools for the Washington DC Metro Area and Beyond
Co-authored with Suzette Brooks Masters and Kimberly A. Hamilton
March 2004
Information about immigrants--where they are from, where they live, and how they fare--has never been more important, or plentiful. At the same time, community organizations are working to respond to changing regional dynamics, often with limited resources. This report argues that it is vitally important for organizations to integrate fact-based knowledge of immigration into their day-to-day operations. The publication provides, in an easy to use fashion, the major data sources, training providers, data-related publications, and other useful contacts in metro DC area government, Census Bureau satellites, and universities that can be helpful to organizations working with immigrants or anyone interested in US immigration data. While the report focuses on the DC metropolitan region, the resource guide is relevant for all. The publication comes with a pullout wall chart with condensed guidelines for finding data and training.
[Back to top]
Michael J. Wishnie
Nonresident Scholar and Professor, New York University School of Law
Collateral Damage: An Examination of ICE's Fugitive Operations Program
By Margot Mendelson, Shayna Strom, and Michael Wishnie
The federal fugitive operations program established to locate, apprehend, and remove fugitive aliens who pose a threat to the community has instead focused chiefly on arresting unauthorized immigrants without criminal convictions. In a new report, MPI finds that 73 percent of the nearly 97,000 people arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement fugitive operations teams between the program's inception in 2003 and early 2008 were unauthorized immigrants without criminal records. And arrests of fugitive aliens with criminal convictions have represented a steadily declining share of total arrests by the fugitive operations teams.
Blurring the Lines: A Profile of State and Local Police Enforcement of Immigration Law Using the National Crime Information Center Database, 2002-2004
Co-authored with Hannah Gladstein, Annie Lai, and Jennifer Wagner
December 2005
America's Challenge: Domestic Security, Civil Liberties, and National Unity After September 11
Co-authored with Doris Meissner, Demetrios Papademetriou, Jay Peterzell, Muzaffar A. Chishti and Stephen W. Yale-Loehr
June 2003
MPI’s report draws on extensive interviews with policymakers and community leaders across the United States, and on comprehensive information about the 'secret' detentions after the terrorist attacks. It presents detailed recommendations on how to incorporate immigration law and policy into national strategies that confront the threat of terrorism, uphold the rule of law, and preserve the cohesion that is one of the country’s strongest security assets.
Supreme Court Brief - Amici Curiae
Co-authored with Jeffrey Drichta, David Dovdavany, Muzaffar A. Chishti, and David Schulz
Hoffman Plastic Board Compounds v. National Labor Relations Board
December 10, 2001
(Read a Summary of the Brief)
[Back to top]
Stephen W. Yale-Loehr
Secure Borders, Open Doors: Visa Procedures in the Post-September 11 Era
Co-authored with Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Betsy Cooper
September 2005
The U.S. visa policy program has become a key tool in promoting national security, but vulnerabilities remain and government agencies must work together to ensure that security measures do not compromise U.S. economic competitiveness and foreign policy goals, find the authors of a new MPI study.
Full Report | Executive Summary | Press Release
America's Challenge: Domestic Security, Civil Liberties, and National Unity after September 11
Co-authored with Doris Meissner, Demetrios Papademetriou, Jay Peterzell, Michael J. Wishnie and Muzaffar A. Chishti
June 2003
MPI’s report draws on extensive interviews with policymakers and community leaders across the United States, and on comprehensive information about the 'secret' detentions after the terrorist attacks. It presents detailed recommendations on how to incorporate immigration law and policy into national strategies that confront the threat of terrorism, uphold the rule of law, and preserve the cohesion that is one of the country’s strongest security assets.
[Back to top]
Monette Zard
No Refuge: The Challenge of Internal Displacement
Co-authored with Kathleen Newland and Erin Patrick
October 2003
Reconciling Refugees Protection and Security Concerns in Wartime: The Case of Iraq"
Co-authored with Erin Patrick
Policy Brief, April 2003
PDF Version
Notes from the Field: MPI Expert Returns from Iraqi Border
Exclusion, Terrorism, and the Refugee Convention
Forced Migration Review, June 2002
Introductory Article to "September 11: Has Anything Changed?"
Co-authored with Joanne van Selm, Erin Patrick and Kathleen Newland
Forced Migration Review, June 2002
The Internally Displaced in Perspective
Migration Information Source, May 2002
[Back to top]
Madeline Zavodny
Tied to the Business Cycle: How Immigrants Fare in Good and Bad Economic Times
By Pia M. Orrenius and Madeline Zavodny
Immigrants surpassed native-born workers in several key labor market outcomes from the mid-1990s through 2007, recording higher employment and lower jobless rates — but the trend was reversed with the onset of the current recession. The report, which analyzes employment and unemployment patterns over the past 15 years and two recessions, shows that immigrant economic outcomes began deteriorating before the current recession officially began in December 2007, tracing immigrants' declining fortunes largely to the housing bust which began in spring 2006.
[Back to top]
|
|
 |
