E.g., 04/24/2024
E.g., 04/24/2024
North America

North America

United States
Canada
Mexico

North America is a dynamic migration region, with the United States home to more immigrants than any other country in the world, the Mexico-U.S. corridor the globe's top migration corridor, and Canada a leading destination for migrants. Research collected here focuses on everything from visa policy and border management to immigrant integration, national identity, the demographics of immigrants in the region and their educational and workforce outcomes, and ways to more effectively use migration policy as a lever for national and regional competitiveness.

Graphic image of man's hand touching screen with word skills
Commentaries

Canada's New Tech Talent Strategy Takes Aim at High-Skilled Immigrants in the United States

Canada’s Tech Talent Strategy is highly unusual for its explicit targeting of visa holders in another country. Opening a dedicated stream specifically for high-skilled immigrants in the United States who hold an H-1B visa is the latest salvo in a growing global competition for talent—one in which some countries are racing ahead of the United States in terms of policy dynamism, as this commentary explores.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other leaders at the 2022 Summit of the Americas
Commentaries

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

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

Recent Activity

EventPH 2014.02.27 A Treacherous Journey Child Migrants Navigating the U.S. Immigration System
Multimedia
February 27, 2014
A Treacherous Journey: Child Migrants Navigating the U.S. Immigration System
EventPH 2014.02.19 A Transatlantic Conversation Managing Migration in the Era of Mobility2
Multimedia
February 19, 2014
A Transatlantic Conversation: Managing Migration in the Era of Mobility
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Articles
February 13, 2014
Republican Congressional Leaders Shelve Immigration Reform for 2014
By Muzaffar Chishti and Faye Hipsman
EventPH 2014.2.14 Managing Borders in North America Charting the Future
Multimedia
February 7, 2014
Managing Borders in North America: Charting the Future
EVENT PH 2014.02.05 Thinking Regionally to Compete Globally A presentation in Guatemala on the Regional Migration Study Group
Multimedia
February 5, 2014
Thinking Regionally to Compete Globally- A presentation in Guatemala on the Regional Migration Study Group
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Articles
February 3, 2014
Refugees and Asylees in the United States
By Lara Burt and Jeanne Batalova
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Articles
January 9, 2014
U.S. Immigration Reform Didn't Happen in 2013; Will 2014 Be the Year?
By Muzaffar Chishti and Faye Hipsman
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Reports
January 2014
Securing Borders: The Intended, Unintended, and Perverse Consequences
By  Randall Hansen and Demetrios G. Papademetriou

Pages

senate chamber
Policy Beat
May 15, 2007
After Long Negotiations, Senate Takes Up Immigration Reform Again
MPI's Dawn Konet and Julia Gelatt report on the beginning of new Senate debates on immigration and the events leading up to this debate; a breakdown in negotiations over a U.S.-Canada program for land-border crossers; TPS extensions; and more.
Feature
May 3, 2007
After-School Institutions in Chinese and Korean Immigrant Communities: A Model for Others?

In the United States, the academic success of children of Chinese and Korean immigrants usually is attributed to either their culture or the U.S. immigration system, which favors skilled migrants. Min Zhou and Susan S. Kim of the University of California, Los Angeles compare the after-school institutions in these communities to explain the effect of ethnicity on educational outcomes.

Feature
April 26, 2007
Secondary Migration: Who Re-Migrates and Why These Migrants Matter

Relatively little is known about migration that involves more than one destination. Ayumi Takenaka of Bryn Mawr College examines the available data to assess who re-migrates to the United States.

Policy Beat
April 16, 2007
Congress and White House Release Competing Proposals for Immigration Reform

MPI's Dawn Konet and Julia Gelatt report on the Strive Act and a White House plan for immigration reform, the delay in implementing Real ID requirements, the Child Citizen Protection Act, and more.

Spotlight
March 22, 2007
Spotlight on Immigration Enforcement in the United States in 2005

In 2005, U.S. immigration officials detained nearly a quarter of a million individuals. MPI's Dawn Konet and Jeanne Batalova look at the most recent data on apprehensions, detentions, and removals.

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Recent Activity

Articles
August 15, 2019

Inmigrantes centroamericanos en los Estados Unidos

Si bien se ha prestado mucha atención a los centroamericanos recién llegados a la frontera entre los Estados Unidos y México, casi la mitad de los aproximadamente 3.5 millones que vivían en los Estados Unidos en 2017 llegaron antes de 2000. Aproximadamente un tercio son ciudadanos estadounidenses y tienden a participar en la fuerza laboral con más frecuencia que otros extranjeros y estadounidenses. Descubra más en este artículo lleno de datos.

Articles
August 15, 2019

Central American Immigrants in the United States

While much attention has been paid to recent Central American arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border, nearly half of the approximately 3.5 million Central Americans resident in the United States in 2017 arrived before 2000. About one-third are naturalized U.S. citizens, and they tend to participate in the labor force at a higher rate than foreign- and U.S.-born adults. Discover more about this population in this data-rich article.

Policy Briefs
August 2019

How Does Immigration Fit into the Future of the U.S. Labor Market?

The U.S. economy is facing an uncertain future as an aging workforce, stagnating labor force participation, skill mismatches, and automation reshape the labor market. This issue brief explores these forces and the role that immigration could play in supporting future U.S. economic growth. It also examines how immigration affects workers already in the country, both native born and immigrant.

Policy Briefs
August 2019

Immigration and the U.S. Labor Market: A Look Ahead

In the coming decades, the U.S. labor market will undergo major transformation. Automation, an aging workforce, and alternative staffing practices will change how, where, and by whom work is done. This think piece, by a former chief economist for the U.S. Labor Department, explores how immigrant workers fit into this changing landscape, and what immigration and workforce policy changes could help maximize their contributions to the U.S. economy.

Commentaries
August 2019

Millions Will Feel Chilling Effects of U.S. Public-Charge Rule That Is Also Likely to Reshape Legal Immigration

The public-charge rule issued by the Trump administration in August 2019 will have profound effects on future immigration and on use of public benefits by millions of legal noncitizens and their U.S.-citizen family members. Complex standards for determining when an immigrant is likely to become a public charge could cause a significant share of the nearly 23 million noncitizens and U.S. citizens in benefits-using immigrant families to disenroll, as this commentary explains.

Policy Briefs
August 2019

Rethinking U.S. Immigration Policy: New Realities Call for New Answers

The U.S. immigration system is in desperate need of an overhaul. What has been missing is an alternate vision for a path forward that treats immigration as a strategic resource while also accounting for heightened security and rule-of-law imperatives, which together can further U.S. interests, values, and democratic principles as a society. This concept note outlines a new MPI initiative, Rethinking U.S. Immigration Policy, that seeks to fill this gap.

Reports
August 2019

From Control to Crisis: Changing Trends and Policies Reshaping U.S.-Mexico Border Enforcement

How did the U.S. border enforcement picture go in the span of two years from the lowest levels of illegal immigration since 1971 to a spiraling border security and humanitarian crisis? This report draws on enforcement and other data as well as analysis of changing migration trends and policies to tell this story. The authors outline key elements for a new strategy that can succeed over the long term.

Reports
July 2019

Equipping Immigrant Selection Systems for a Changing World of Work (Transatlantic Council Statement)

As technological developments—from automation to artificial intelligence and machine learning—reshape the world of work, governments face the challenge of updating how they attract, select, and retain economic-stream immigrants. This report, concluding a series on building migration systems for a new age of economic competitiveness, lays out the key considerations for "future-proofing" immigrant selection systems.

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