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

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Multimedia
May 23, 2012
The Role of National Governments in Promoting Immigrant Integration
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Articles
May 16, 2012
Long-Term Impact of the Supreme Court Ruling on Key Provision of Arizona's SB 1070 May Hinge on Political Calculus
By Muzaffar Chishti, Faye Hipsman, Claire Bergeron
Articles
May 9, 2012
Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States and Europe: The Use of Legalization/Regularization as a Policy Tool
By Donald Kerwin, Kate Brick, Rebecca Kilberg
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Multimedia
May 8, 2012
Federal Update: A Conversation on Language Access with the U.S. Department of Justice
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Reports
May 2012
Profile of Immigrants in Napa County
By  Randy Capps, Kristen McCabe and Michael Fix
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Reports
May 2012
The Relationship Between Immigration and Nativism in Europe and North America
By  Cas Mudde
Articles
April 26, 2012
The 2012 Mexican Presidential Election and Mexican Immigrants of Voting Age in the United States
By David Gutierrez, Jeanne Batalova, Aaron Terrazas
10 year anniversary
Multimedia
April 19, 2012
MPI's 10th Anniversary Celebration

Pages

Policy Beat
March 1, 2005
Presidential Budget, State of the Union Address Immigration Issues
MPI's Jennifer Yau and Betsy Cooper report on the immigration provisions in the President's budget proposal, the State of the Union address, and more.
Feature
March 1, 2005
Biometrics, Migrants, and Human Rights

Rebekah Alys Lowri Thomas of the Global Commission on International Migration examines how the use of biometrics at borders may violate migrants' privacy rights.

Spotlight
February 1, 2005
Characteristics of the European Born in the United States in 2000

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. MPI's David Dixon examines the social and economic profiles of the foreign born from Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Europe.

Policy Beat
February 1, 2005
Supreme Court Addresses Deportation Cases, DHS Undergoes Leadership and Oversight Changes
MPI’s Jennifer Yau and Betsy Cooper report on Supreme Court rulings, DHS leadership and oversight, and immigrant workers.
Spotlight
February 1, 2005
College-Educated Foreign Born in the U.S. Labor Force in 2000

The importance of knowledge, skills, and technologies in post-industrial economies has beckoned well-educated migrants to the United States. MPI's Jeanne Batalova takes a detailed look at the foreign born with a bachelor's degree or higher.

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Recent Activity

Reports
April 2015

Immigrant and Refugee Workers in the Early Childhood Field: Taking a Closer Look

With the young child population in the United States rapidly becoming more diverse, the cultural and linguistic competencies of the early childhood education and care workforce (ECEC) are more important than ever. This report aims to fill gaps in knowledge of immigrants and refugees in the ECEC workforce and provides recommendations for strengthening workforce quality to better serve all children.
Articles
April 23, 2015

Recent Court Decisions Put a Sharp Spotlight on U.S. H-2B Temporary Worker Visa Program

The H-2B visa allows U.S. employers to bring in foreign workers to temporarily fill low-skill nonagricultural jobs across a wide range of states and industries. A series of recent legal challenges has exposed the presence of fraud and abuse, while stripping the program of its regulations and raising uncertainty about its future. This Policy Beat examines the implications in the debate surrounding temporary worker programs.
Video, Audio
April 17, 2015

The New National Integration Plan: Making the Most of a Historic Opportunity

A discussion with the Director of The White House Domestic Policy Council on the content of the new National Integration Plan delivered to the President by the recently created White House Task Force on New Americans, along with the plan for implementation.

Reports
April 2015

Unaccompanied Child Migration to the United States: The Tension between Protection and Prevention

Policymakers, the public, and the media were seemingly caught off-guard in spring 2014 when a surge of child migrants from Central America reached the U.S.-Mexico border in unprecedented numbers. Yet the uptick began in 2011. This report examines the causes of this surge and recommends policy solutions to advance both critical protection and enforcement goals in situations of complex, mixed flows.

Articles
April 7, 2015

Cuban Immigrants in the United States

Cuban immigrants are afforded a special place in U.S. immigration law, with most able to gain permanent residency after one year in the country. Following a history of surges in maritime migration, more than 1.1 million Cuban immigrants resided in the United States in 2013, accounting for about 3 percent of the total foreign-born population. This article explores key characteristics of Cubans in the United States, including educational attainment, income, and more.

Video, Audio, Webinars
March 31, 2015

Child and Family Migration to the United States: Continuing Flows and Evolving Responses

A webinar examining the shifting pattern of Central American child and family migration between 2011 and 2014 and expectations for 2015, the policy challenges presented by the rising inflow, and how states, localities, the U.S. government, and other countries in the region are responding to this recent trend.

Video, Audio, Webinars
March 18, 2015

Cross-Cutting Needs and Opportunities: Language Access, Funding, Multi-Level Partnerships, and Planning for the Long Term

Part of a series exploring issues likely to be addressed by the new National Integration Plan, this webinar, with perspectives from the cities of New York and Seattle and others examines possible recommendations on federal coordination of local government immigrant integration initiatives, including language access. 

Articles
March 20, 2015

Immigrant Women in the United States in 2013

Immigrant women constitute a varied and dynamic population in the United States with 51 percent or 21.2 million of the country's total foreign-born population. Examining key gender-based socioeconomic indicators from origin and fertility to educational attainment and immigration status, this Spotlight raises implications for sending and receiving countries, with respect to labor opportunities, family structure, gender roles, and more.

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