E.g., 04/23/2024
E.g., 04/23/2024
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.

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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

Reports
November 2015
Transatlantic Symposium Report: Improving Instruction for Immigrant and Refugee Students in Secondary Schools
By  Margie McHugh and Julie Sugarman
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Multimedia
October 29, 2015
12th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference
Multimedia
October 27, 2015
Young Refugee Children: Their Schooling Experiences in the United States and in Countries of First Asylum
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Articles
October 28, 2015
Refugees and Asylees in the United States
By Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova
Reports
October 2015
The Educational Experiences of Refugee Children in Countries of First Asylum
By  Sarah Dryden-Peterson
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Multimedia
October 22, 2015
Serving Newcomer Immigrant and Refugee Students in Secondary Schools: Comparing U.S. and European Practices
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Fact Sheets
October 2015
Ten Facts About U.S. Refugee Resettlement
By  Randy Capps and Michael Fix
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Reports
October 2015
The Academic Engagement of Newly Arriving Somali Bantu Students in a U.S. Elementary School
By  Dina Birman and Nellie Tran

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Policy Beat
March 15, 2010
Increasing Evidence That Recession Has Caused Number of Unauthorized Immigrants in U.S. to Drop

MPI's Muzaffar Chishti and Claire Bergeron report on the decreasing size of the unauthorized immigrant population, a ruling against immigration provisions in an Oklahoma law, the rise in detained immigrants with criminal convictions, and more.

Profile
February 25, 2010
Mexico: A Crucial Crossroads

The recent recession has affected Mexicans in the United States, new flows northward, and remittances to Mexico. Francisco Alba of El Colegio de México examines the latest trends as well as Mexican government policies toward the diaspora, Mexico's role as a transit country, and immigrants and refugee and asylees in Mexico.

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Spotlight
February 22, 2010
Mexican Immigrants in the United States

Mexican immigrants have claimed the top spot among all immigrant groups in the United States since the 1980 census. In 2008, the country's 11.4 million Mexican immigrants accounted for 30.1 percent of all U.S. immigrants and 10 percent of all Mexicans. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines their socioeconomic characteristics, where they live, and the size of the Mexican-born unauthorized population.

Policy Beat
February 16, 2010
Haiti Tragedy Raises Important Immigration Issues for the United States

MPI's Muzaffar Chishti and Claire Bergeron report on immigration measures for Haitian nationals, the new Supreme Court decision on motions to reopen deportation cases, delays in the implementation of the Secure Border Initiative, and more.

Profile
January 20, 2010
Immigration and the United States: Recession Affects Flows, Prospects for Reform

Immigration to the United States continued steadily from the 1970s until the recent recession, which also diminished a sense of urgency to enact immigration reform legislation. MPI's Kristen McCabe and Doris Meissner provide a comprehensive look at major legislation and events affecting U.S. immigration, the size and attributes of the immigrant population, and policy changes under the Obama administration.

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Recent Activity

Video
March 14, 2013

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

Testimony of Demetrios G. Papademetriou, MPI President, before the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives.
Books
March, 2013

Immigrants in a Changing Labor Market: Responding to Economic Needs

This volume, which brings together research by leading economists and labor market specialists, examines the role immigrants play in the U.S. workforce, how they fare in good and bad economic times, and the effects they have on native-born workers and the labor sectors in which they are engaged. The book traces the powerful economic forces at play in today’s globalized world and includes policy prescriptions for making the American immigration system more responsive to labor market needs.

Policy Briefs
March 2013

Going to the Back of the Line: A Primer on Lines, Visa Categories, and Wait Times

This brief demystifies the technical meaning of going to the “back of the line”—a phrase adopted by lawmakers to convey the intent to grant legal status to unauthorized immigrants only after existing backlogs have been cleared—by explaining what “the line” refers to, who is in it, and what it means to be at the back of it.
Reports
March 2013

Unauthorized Immigrant Parents and Their Children's Development

This report examines how a parent’s unauthorized status affects child development. Based on a review of existing research that increasingly points to negative developmental consequences of parental unauthorized status across all stages of childhood, the authors explore possible options for policies and programs that could mitigate these risks, and propose ways to achieve this goal within the framework of proposed comprehensive immigration reform.

Fact Sheets
March 2013

Key Immigration Laws and Policy Developments Since 1986

A timeline of key immigration laws and policy developments between 1986 and 2013.

Fact Sheets
March 2013

Major U.S. Immigration Laws, 1790 - Present

A timeline of all major U.S. immigration laws from 1790 - 2013.

Articles
February 28, 2013

Mexican Immigrants in the United States

Over the past five decades, Mexicans have constituted the single largest group of immigrants to the United States originating from Latin America. In 2011, 11.7 million Mexican immigrants resided in the United States, representing 29 percent of the U.S. immigrant population and close to 4 percent of the overall U.S. population. This article examines the latest data on Mexican immigrants in the United States, including population size, geographic distribution, admission categories, and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.

Articles
February 13, 2013

Immigration Reform Returns to Center Stage of U.S. Politics

Immigration reform is squarely back on the agenda in Washington, with the unveiling of plans for major reform of the U.S. immigration system by the White House and a bipartisan group of senators known as the Gang of Eight. This article explores the policy and political aspects of this fast-moving debate, examines an uptick in apprehensions of illegal crossers, and more.

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