United States

Historically a nation of immigrants, the United States is home to nearly 45 million immigrants, who represent 13.7 percent of the total population and play a key role in the economic, civic, and cultural life of the country. The research collected here covers many facets of immigration to the United States, by the numbers and how immigrants fare in the country's classrooms and workplaces, the policies and regulations that shape the admission of new immigrants, the enforcement programs and polices in place at U.S. borders and within the interior, and integration policies and efforts taking place in local communities, in states, and at the federal level.

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Reports

How Immigrants and Their U.S.-Born Children Fit into the Future U.S. Labor Market

The level of education and training expected of workers in the United States has increased considerably in recent decades, and this trend looks set to continue. This report explores the forces driving this change and how the education levels of immigrant-origin and other workers compare to those likely to be needed in the future U.S. workforce, overall and in key occupational groups.

A naturalization ceremony at the White House.

Articles

Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

Immigration touches on many facets of life in the United States. Get the facts with this useful resource, which compiles in one place answers to some of the most often-asked questions about immigration and immigrants in the United States now and historically. This article contains essential data on the immigrant population, immigration levels, trends in immigration enforcement, and much more.

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Policy Briefs

A New Way Forward for Employment-Based Immigration: The Bridge Visa

U.S. employment-based visa policies, last updated in 1990, are not aligned with the country’s current and future labor market needs. This policy brief outlines MPI’s proposal for a new visa pathway that could help the United States better leverage immigration to meet its labor market needs, boost protections for both U.S.- and foreign-born workers, and flexibly adapt to future economic and demographic changes.

President Joe Biden signs an executive order.

Articles

Biden at the Three-Year Mark: The Most Active Immigration Presidency Yet Is Mired in Border Crisis Narrative

In three years, President Joe Biden has surpassed the number of immigration-focused executive actions taken by the Trump administration throughout its entire four-year term, making his the most active U.S. presidency ever on immigration. Yet the Biden administration has been repeatedly accused of inaction at the U.S.-Mexico border, where record levels of migrant encounters have occurred. This article reviews the Biden track record on immigration.

Recent Activity

Articles October 11, 2023 Vietnamese Immigrants in the United States By Jeanne Batalova	Policy Briefs October 2023 Leveraging Data to Ensure Equitable and Effective Adult Skills Programming for Immigrants By Jacob Hofstetter and Margie McHugh
Policy Briefs October 2023 Shared Gains: Immigrant-Origin Students in U.S. Colleges By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix	Multimedia September 26, 2023 The Power of Refugee Sponsorship: A Sponsor’s Story
Articles September 27, 2023 New York and Other U.S. Cities Struggle with High Costs of Migrant Arrivals By Muzaffar Chishti, Julia Gelatt, and Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh	Articles September 21, 2023 Inmigrantes cubanos en los Estados Unidos By Jiaxin Wei y Jeanne Batalova
Commentaries September 2023 A Shrinking Number of DACA Participants Face Yet Another Adverse Court Ruling By Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and Julia Gelatt	Commentaries September 2023 A Turning Point for the Unauthorized Immigrant Population in the United States By Jennifer Van Hook, Julia Gelatt and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto

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Policy Briefs October 2022 Overlooked but Essential: Language Access in Early Childhood Programs By Maki Park, Jacob Hofstetter and Ivana Tú Nhi Giang	Policy Briefs October 2022 Diverging Pathways: Immigrants’ Legal Status and Access to Postsecondary Credentials By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
Reports July 2022 The Missing Link: Connecting Eligible Asylees and Asylum Seekers with Benefits and Services By Essey Workie, Lillie Hinkle and Stephanie Heredia	Reports July 2022 Changing the Playbook: Immigrants and the COVID-19 Response in Two U.S. Communities By Randy Capps and Michael Fix
Policy Briefs June 2022 Immigrant Children’s Medicaid and CHIP Access and Participation: A Data Profile By Valerie Lacarte	Reports June 2022 The COVID-19 Catalyst: Learning from Pandemic-Driven Innovations in Immigrant Integration Policy By Jasmijn Slootjes
Reports June 2022 The Future of Remote Work: Digital Nomads and the Implications for Immigration Systems By Kate Hooper and Meghan Benton	Reports June 2022 COVID-19’s Effects on U.S. Immigration and Immigrant Communities, Two Years On By Julia Gelatt and Muzaffar Chishti

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People carry a giant Colombian flag at a parade in Washington, DC.

Spotlight

July 11, 2023

Colombian Immigrants in the United States

Colombians comprise the largest group of South American immigrants in the United States. More than half live in Florida, New York, or New Jersey. Compared to the overall immigrant population, Colombians are disproportionately likely to be naturalized U.S. citizens and to have obtained a green card through family pathways.

Varias personas portan una bandera gigante de Colombia en un desfile en Washington, DC.

Spotlight

July 11, 2023

Inmigrantes colombianos en los Estados Unidos

Cerca de 855,000 inmigrantes colombianos residían en los Estados Unidos, lo que representa alrededor del 2 por ciento de los 45.3 millones de inmigrantes estadounidenses en general y el grupo más numeroso procedente de Sudamérica. Casi uno de cada cuatro inmigrantes de Sudamérica en los Estados Unidos procedía de Colombia.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at a conference in Tampa.

Policy Beat

June 28, 2023

Activism on Immigration by U.S. States Is Back, with New Tactics and Different Targets

Renewed U.S. state activism on immigration has echoes of the early 2010s, when Arizona’s SB 1070 defined a Republican-led push to increase enforcement that was ultimately muted by the courts and public backlash. Newer strategies rely on a novel array of tactics including migrant busing, litigation, and lawmaking. States are also moving in opposite directions, with some expanding rights for unauthorized immigrants, as this article details.

Spotlight

June 15, 2023

Refugees and Asylees in the United States

U.S. refugee resettlement is slowly increasing after hitting a historic low, rebounding from the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce humanitarian migration as well as pandemic-era restrictions on movement and processing slowdowns. This article offers recent and historical data about refugees resettled in the United States, as well as asylum seekers and asylees.

Banderas de las naciones centroamericanas en una marcha en San Diego.

Spotlight

June 2, 2023

Inmigrantes centroamericanos en los Estados Unidos

Los centroamericanos representan menos de una décima parte de la población de inmigrantes en Estados Unidos. Pero su número se ha multiplicado por diez desde 1980. Este artículo proporciona una mirada integral a esta población.

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Changing Climate, Changing Migration episode 16 tile

Expert Q&A, Audio

February 7, 2022

A Note of Caution about Exaggerating the Climate-Migration Link

This episode of Changing Climate, Changing Migration checks in with migration scholar Hein de Haas about the predictions that vast numbers of people will be displaced by climate change and head to wealthy countries in North America and Europe—views he deems often misplaced.

Video, Audio

January 19, 2022

Biden at One: Assessing the Administration’s Immigration Record

This MPI discussion with leading experts, advocates, and a top official from the administration examines the Biden track record on immigration and what lays ahead

Expert Q&A, Audio

November 24, 2021

Thinking Regionally to Act Locally in Immigration Policy

With migration a dynamic phenomenon in the Americas, the U.S. government increasingly is realizing that migration management should be viewed in a regional context. This requires a new set of policies and ways of engagement with countries in North and Central America, and beyond, as MPI President Andrew Selee discusses with colleague Andrea Tanco in this episode of our World of Migration podcast.

Expert Q&A, Audio

November 12, 2021

Leveraging the Benefits That Immigration Can Bring

In this World of Migration podcast episode, MPI Senior Fellow Michael Fix speaks with Senior Policy Analyst Julia Gelatt about the fiscal impacts of immigration, the importance of immigrant integration, how a greater focus on credential recognition could allow immigrants to more fully utilize the academic and professional skills they bring with them, and much more.

Video, Audio

November 9, 2021

How the Child Welfare System Can Better Respond to Needs of Children from Immigrant Families

One out of four U.S. children has an immigrant parent. On this webinar, speakers explore the intersections between the immigration and child welfare systems, along with promising state and local practices that child welfare agencies can take to improve their responsiveness to the needs of these families and promote the well-being of these children.

Recent Activity

Policy Briefs

November 2019

Health Insurance Coverage of Immigrants and Latinos in the Kansas City Metro Area

Latinos and immigrants are at least twice as likely to lack health insurance coverage as the overall population in the Kansas City metropolitan area. This gap that has significant implications for the region, as Latinos and immigrants will form an ever-growing share of the area’s labor force and tax base amid anticipated declines in the native-born, non-Latino population.

Articles

November 6, 2019

Sub-Saharan African Immigrants in the United States

The sub-Saharan African immigrant population in the United States is a small, but quickly growing, one. Between 2010 and 2018, the size of the sub-Saharan African population increased 52 percent, far outpacing the overall rise in the foreign born. Immigrants coming from the 51 sub-Saharan countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Somalia, are diverse in their origins and socioeconomic characteristics, as this Spotlight explores.

Video, Audio

October 7, 2019

16th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

With immigration a central plank of the Trump administration, the 16th annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference, held in October 2019, featured analysis by top experts regarding changing policies at the U.S.-Mexico border, narrowing of asylum, cooperation with migrant-transit countries, and actions that could reduce legal immigration, including revisions to the public-charge rule.

Articles

October 30, 2019

“Cubicle Activism”: Companies Face Growing Demands from Workers to Cut Ties with ICE and Others in Immigration Arena

From online petitions to organized walkouts, corporate America is facing increasing employee activism over its business involvement with agencies implementing the federal government's immigration policies. This "cubicle activism," seen at companies ranging from Amazon and Google to Bank of America and Wayfair, has garnered mixed success to date, forcing divestiture from private prison contractors but fewer results in other contexts, as this article explores.

Articles

October 22, 2019

As More Migrants from Africa and Asia Arrive in Latin America, Governments Seek Orderly and Controlled Pathways

Growing numbers of African and Asian migrants are moving through Latin America, many hoping to reach the United States or Canada after expensive, arduous, and often dangerous journeys that can take months or even years. As more extracontinental migrants transit through South and Central America, Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica have developed the most comprehensive policies to manage these flows, sometimes working in coordination with the U.S. government.

Articles

October 16, 2019

Changing U.S. Policy and Safe-Third Country “Loophole” Drive Irregular Migration to Canada

Nearly 50,000 asylum seekers have entered Canada irregularly via land crossing from the United States since spring 2017—contributing to a doubling in the overall number of asylum requests seen in 2016. Based on interviews with asylum claimants, this article analyzes their motivations for making the journey and the political implications of rising irregular migration to Canada.

Commentaries

October 2019

Health Insurance Test for Green-Card Applicants Could Sharply Cut Future U.S. Legal Immigration

A new Trump administration action requiring intending immigrants to prove they can purchase eligible health insurance within 30 days of arrival has the potential to block fully 65 percent of those who apply for a green card from abroad, MPI estimates.

Articles

October 3, 2019

Crisis in the Courts: Is the Backlogged U.S. Immigration Court System at Its Breaking Point?

With a backlog of more than 1 million removal cases, the U.S. immigration court system is in crisis. Pressure from external forces, internal challenges, and lagging resources for the courts at a time of massive increases in spending on immigration enforcement have contributed to the backlog. This article explores how the system got to the breaking point, and what opportunities for reform exist.

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