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

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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

Policy Briefs
December 2022

Four Strategies to Improve Community Services for Unaccompanied Children in the United States

For unaccompanied children leaving federal custody to live with parents or other sponsors, the transition into U.S. communities can be a difficult one. And although a patchwork of services exist to help these children and to address medical, mental health, and other needs, their capacity varies widely by location. This issue brief explores promising practices for improving these critical forms of support.  

Expert Q&A, Audio
December 8, 2022

The “Great Replacement” Theory and the Often-Toxic Stew of Immigration and Nationalism

Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan and researcher Justin Gest discuss the confluence of polarization, nationalism, and immigration, as well as how increasingly diverse societies come up with a new definition of "we".

Articles
December 7, 2022

Indian Immigrants in the United States

Significant immigration from India to the United States began only after 1965, when the United States dropped national-origin quotas that favored Europeans. Today, Indians make up the nation's second largest foreign-born group. On average, they tend to be very well educated: 80 percent have a college degree and nearly half hold a graduate or professional degree. This article offers a useful sociodemographic profile of the Indian population.

Articles
November 30, 2022

After a Slump, Legal Immigration to the United States Is Returning to Pre-Pandemic Levels

Legal immigration to the United States fell to its lowest level in years during the COVID-19 pandemic, but preliminary data suggest it is returning to previous levels, belying predictions that the public-health crisis had allowed the Trump administration to make lasting, deep cuts. Yet the patterns have changed and persistent case processing backlogs could spell long-term problems, as this article explores.

Fact Sheets
November 2022

A Profile of Low-Income Immigrants in the United States

Immigrants in the United States experience strong economic mobility overall. But for some, limited educational attainment and English proficiency, and the challenges of restarting life in a new country, can result in low incomes and economic hardship. This fact sheet looks at the origins, states of residence, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, and employment of low-income immigrants.

Commentaries
November 2022

Apprenticeship Programs Are a Promising Solution to Bring More Multilingual Workers into Early Childhood Field

Shortages of workers continue to plague early childhood education and care (ECEC) systems across the United States. With the field already struggling to effectively serve young children in families that speak languages other than English, apprenticeship programs offer a promising solution to bring more—and more multilingual—workers into early childhood careers.

Articles
October 27, 2022

Amid Record Venezuelan Arrivals, Biden Administration Embraces Border Expulsions Policy

The Biden administration’s policy to expel some Venezuelan border arrivals to Mexico marks a significant reversal. For the first time, the U.S. government is invoking the controversial Title 42 expulsions policy not on public-health grounds but as an explicit immigration enforcement measure. The expulsions are being paired with a new humanitarian parole program for up to 24,000 Venezuelans. This article assesses the policy and the uneven treatment of humanitarian migrants by nationality.

Reports
October 2022

Rebooting the Asylum System? The Role of Digital Tools in International Protection

There has been a flurry of digital activity in the asylum field since the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily halted protection operations, and it has led officials to rethink how everything from registration to case adjudication happens. But what does this increasing use of technology mean for the people and processes involved? This report explores this question, as well as the challenges of balancing technology’s potential benefits with measures to mitigate its risks.

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