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.
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.
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.
The U.S. humanitarian protection system, known for its long history of assisting those in need, has come under incredible pressure in recent years. The asylum adjudications system, which is under-resourced, is struggling to keep up with record asylum seeker arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border. This report examines the state of the asylum system, including changes under the Biden administration and potential lessons for other countries.
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.
Immigrants from Asia accounted for about 28 percent of the total U.S. foreign-born population in 2009. MPI's Jeanne Batalova examines the social and economic profiles of the foreign born from this region.
MPI's Muzaffar Chishti and Claire Bergeron report on the termination of the NSEERS program, legal challenges to the new Utah laws, the continued controversy surrounding Secure Communities, and more.
The terms "Hispanic" and "Latino" were originally created for administrative purposes by the U.S. government, but have since come to define a population of 50.5 million people who trace their origins to 20 different countries. Rubén Rumbaut examines the origin and administrative use of the Hispanic-Latino category, and the effect it has had on the identities of people placed into it.
MPI's Muzaffar Chishti and Claire Bergeron report on the 9th Circuit Court ruling on SB 1070, current trends in immigration legislation at the state level, President Obama's recent comments on executive action and immigration reform, and more.
Immigrants from the Caribbean accounted for about 9 percent of the total U.S. foreign-born population in 2009. MPI's Kristen McCabe examines the social and economic profiles of the foreign born from this region.
Although the number of U.S. residents who speak a language other than English has grown in recent decades, the share of those who are Limited English Proficient (LEP) has fallen: 40 percent in 2015, compared to 44 percent in 1980—even as immigration rose rapidly. This article examines growing linguistic diversity in the country and sketches a profile of the LEP population, including size, location, and socioeconomic characteristics.
Resettled African refugee women may experience particularly acute complications during pregnancy, birth, and the child's early infancy. Yet health care-providers and policymakers may not be aware of the particular challenges that these women and their children face. This report, examining women giving birth in Utah over a seven-year period, compares perinatal complications of the African born and a segment of the U.S. born.
Over the past decade, state and local policymakers have increasingly stepped into the void left by Washington over legislative reform of the immigration system and have enacted their own policies, particularly in regard to illegal immigration. This article explores this trend of increased activism and examines whether restrictive state immigration laws have had an effect on the size of immigrant populations at the state level.
Refugee children are vulnerable to health and nutrition risks that can have long-term consequences for their development and well-being. This report examines the prevalence of malnutrition—from stunting and wasting to overweight and obesity—among refugee children from birth to age 10, using data from an overseas medical screening exam before they were resettled in Washington State between 2012 and 2014.
In the wake of a hurricane that has once again devastated Haiti, the United States quickly reversed its toughened policy toward the thousands of Haitian nationals arriving at the California-Mexico border without prior authorization. This Policy Beat examines the shifts in U.S. admission and deportation policy toward Haitian migrants since the 2010 earthquake, and other national and state developments on immigration.
Somali and Bhutanese refugees are two of the largest groups recently resettled in the United States and Canada. This report examines factors that might promote or undermine the mental health and overall well-being of children of these refugees, with regard to factors such as past exposure to trauma, parental mental health, educational attainment, social support, and discrimination.
A discussion featuring data on immigration trends and the agricultural workforce, and some of the adjustments that farm employers are making, including increased mechanization, improved wages and benefits, and the increased use of the H-2A program. University of California-Davis’s Phil Martin, along with researchers from the the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Labor, present their findings on the foreign agricultural workforce in the United States, which is followed by comments from the President of Farmworker Justice on some of the policy implications.
The immigrant population in the Kansas City region has grown rapidly over the past 25 years, contributing to overall population growth in the area. This fact sheet describes immigrants in the metro area, examining their origins, industries of employment, income and poverty levels, English proficiency, educational attainment, and more.