E.g., 04/16/2024
E.g., 04/16/2024
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

2013inauguration KarenAxelrad Flickr
Articles
July 29, 2015
Americans Abroad: A Disillusioned Diaspora?
By Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels
FilipinoHeritageNight MarianneMasculino Flickr
Articles
July 21, 2015
Filipino Immigrants in the United States
By Keith McNamara and Jeanne Batalova
SecureCommunities CASA Flickr
Commentaries
July 2015
Federal-Local Cooperation on Immigration Enforcement Frayed; Chance for Improvement Exists
By  Marc R. Rosenblum
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Reports
July 2015
Understanding the Potential Impact of Executive Action on Immigration Enforcement
By  Marc R. Rosenblum
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Articles
July 8, 2015
The Limited English Proficient Population in the United States in 2013
By Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova
RefugeeIntegration ViktoriyaAleksandrov WorldReliefSpokane
Multimedia
June 26, 2015
Resettling Increasingly Diverse Refugee Populations in the United States: Integration Challenges and Successes
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Articles
June 25, 2015
Quick Resolution of Challenge over Obama Administration Deportation Relief Programs Is Ever Less Likely
By Muzaffar Chishti, Faye Hipsman, and Sarah Pierce
Refugee Integration Cover
Reports
June 2015
The Integration Outcomes of U.S. Refugees: Successes and Challenges
By  Randy Capps, Kathleen Newland, Susan Fratzke, Susanna Groves, Michael Fix, Margie McHugh and Gregory Auclair

Pages

Feature
May 21, 2009
Uncovering the Emigration Policies of the Catholic Church in Mexico

In the 1920s, the Catholic Church in Mexico feared that mass emigration north caused the breakup of families and religious conversions. David Fitzgerald of the University of California, San Diego looks at how Church policy eventually became a voice for migrants' rights and how these policies have affected Mexican migration flows and Mexican government policies.

Policy Beat
May 15, 2009
Supreme Court Rules against Charging Unauthorized Immigrants with "Aggravated Identity Theft"

MPI's Muzaffar Chishti and Claire Bergeron report on a recent Supreme Court decision, hearings on comprehensive immigration reform, new worksite enforcement operation guidelines, and more.

Spotlight
May 13, 2009
Older Immigrants in the United States in 2007

The 4.5 million older immigrants residing in the United States in 2007 accounted for 12 percent of all senior citizens age 65 and older. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines the socioeconomic characteristics, where they live, their health and disability status, and their sources of income.

Feature
April 30, 2009
The Basics of E-Verify, the U.S. Employer Verification System

Just a fraction of all U.S. employers use E-Verify, a federal system that checks potential employees' immigration status and their eligibility to work. MPI's Marc Rosenblum explores E-Verify's history, how it works, and the arguments for and against making it mandatory.

Spotlight
April 15, 2009
Middle-Class Immigrant Households in the United States in 2007

The middle class has received considerable attention during the current economic crisis. About 15 million people resided in middle-class immigrant households in 2007, and three-quarters of all children in such households were native-born U.S. citizens. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines where the heads of middle-class immigrant households are from, when they arrived in the United States, their occupations, and other characteristics.

Pages

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Recent Activity

Articles
July 29, 2015

Americans Abroad: A Disillusioned Diaspora?

While many countries are increasing engagement with their diasporas, U.S. policy has chiefly focused on U.S.-based diasporas from other countries, despite its own estimated overseas population of 7.6 million. This feature explores results from a survey of more than 1,400 U.S. citizens and 140 former citizens living abroad, many of whom are critical of limited U.S. government engagement with them even as restrictive financial reporting regulations have been imposed.
Articles
July 21, 2015

Filipino Immigrants in the United States

With more than 1.8 million immigrants living in the United States, the Philippines was the fourth largest country of origin in 2013. Filipino immigrants stand out from other top immigrant groups with their unique historical experience as former nationals due to U.S. annexation of the Philippines in 1899, close historic ties to the U.S. military, and prevalence in health-care professions.

Commentaries
July 2015

Federal-Local Cooperation on Immigration Enforcement Frayed; Chance for Improvement Exists

Long-simmering tensions over federal-local cooperation in immigration enforcement were exposed in the days after the shooting death of a young woman in San Francisco by an unauthorized immigrant who had been deported five times from the United States. This commentary explores the rift over Secure Communities, with more than 360 jurisdictions limiting their cooperation, and the possibility of a reset in federal-local relations.
Reports
July 2015

Understanding the Potential Impact of Executive Action on Immigration Enforcement

This report analyzes how many unauthorized immigrants fall within Department of Homeland Security priority enforcement categories unveiled in November 2014 and how implementation of these priorities could affect the number of deportations from within the United States. The report also examines the replacement of the controversial Secure Communities with a new Priority Enforcement Program, and what PEP could mean for immigration enforcement.

Articles
July 8, 2015

The Limited English Proficient Population in the United States in 2013

In 2013, more than 25 million people in the United States reported limited English proficiency (LEP), an 80 percent increase since 1990. The LEP population, the majority of which is immigrant, is generally less educated and more likely to live in poverty than the English-proficient population. This Spotlight explores key indicators of the LEP population, both U.S. and foreign born, including geographic distribution, language diversity, and employment.

Video, Audio
June 26, 2015

Resettling Increasingly Diverse Refugee Populations in the United States: Integration Challenges and Successes

A discussion of the findings of a new MPI report examining refugee characteristics at arrival for the ten largest national-origin groups resettled between 2002-2013, as well as their integration outcomes with respect to employment and incomes, English proficiency and education levels, and public benefit use.

Articles
June 25, 2015

Quick Resolution of Challenge over Obama Administration Deportation Relief Programs Is Ever Less Likely

As legal challenges continue to impede President Obama's deferred action programs to protect millions of unauthorized immigrants from deportation, it is becoming increasingly clear that the window of opportunity for implementation before the 2016 election is growing ever narrower. Even as advocates continue mobilizing immigrants to apply, attention is shifting to other new policies announced by the president last November.
Reports
June 2015

The Integration Outcomes of U.S. Refugees: Successes and Challenges

Using previously non-public refugee admissions data from the State Department, this analysis finds that even as refugees come to the United States from increasingly diverse origins and linguistic backgrounds, some arriving with very low native-language literacy and education, most integrate successfully over time. The report examines refugees' employment, English proficiency, educational attainment, income and poverty status, and public benefits usage.

Pages