Border Security

In an era when countries are increasingly exposed to the opportunities and risks associated with the rising global movement of people, policymakers are rethinking approaches to border controls and border management. These policies and programs run the gamut—from facilitating legitimate mobility of people and trade to thwarting unauthorized movements, the latter a significant preoccupation in the post-9/11 era and as publics have become ever less accepting of unauthorized immigration. The research offered here examines the management of borders, enforcement policies and initiatives, and border security technologies.

Recent Activity

Commentaries October 2023 Shifting Patterns and Policies Reshape Migration to U.S.-Mexico Border in Major Ways in 2023 By Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto	Articles October 9, 2023 Cómo el peligroso Tapón del Darién se convirtió en la encrucijada migratoria de las Américas By Caitlyn Yates y Juan Pappier
Articles September 20, 2023 How the Treacherous Darien Gap Became a Migration Crossroads of the Americas By Caitlyn Yates and Juan Pappier	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
Articles August 29, 2023 As Nauru Shows, Asylum Outsourcing Has Unexpected Impacts on Host Communities By Julia Morris	Articles August 2, 2023 In the Twilight Zone: Record Number of U.S. Immigrants Are in Limbo Statuses By Muzaffar Chishti and Kathleen Bush-Joseph
Articles July 27, 2023 Technology Can Be Transformative for Refugees, but It Can Also Hold Them Back By Amanda Alencar	Multimedia July 20, 2023 Straining under the Backlog: Fixing a U.S. Immigration Court System in Crisis

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Reports November 2021 Charting a New Regional Course of Action: The Complex Motivations and Costs of Central American Migration By Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Rossella Bottone, Jaret Waters, Sarah Williams, Ashley Louie and Yuehan Wang	Policy Briefs November 2021 Invertir en alternativas a la migración irregular desde Centroamérica: Opciones para expandir las vías de empleo en Estados Unidos By Cristobal Ramón
Policy Briefs November 2021 Investing in Alternatives to Irregular Migration from Central America: Options to Expand U.S. Employment Pathways By Cristobal Ramón	Reports October 2021 Migración africana a través del continente americano: impulsores, rutas y respuestas normativas By Caitlyn Yates and Jessica Bolter
Reports October 2021 African Migration through the Americas: Drivers, Routes, and Policy Responses By Caitlyn Yates and Jessica Bolter	Reports October 2021 Toward a Better Immigration System: Fixing Immigration Governance at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security By Doris Meissner and Ruth Ellen Wasem
Policy Briefs September 2021 Migration Management and Border Security: Lessons Learned By Alan D. Bersin	Reports August 2021 From Jailers to Case Managers: Redesigning the U.S. Immigration Detention System to Be Effective and Fair By Randy Capps and Doris Meissner

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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.

A double border wall leads to a boat launch in Yuma, Arizona.

Feature

May 31, 2023

Global Spending on Immigration Enforcement Is Higher than Ever and Rising

Budgets for border security and interior immigration enforcement have been on the rise in places including the United States and the European Union. The spending is a result of the heightened focus on securitization by the Global North and has led to a ballooning private industry. This article explains the trend.

An abandoned shoe lies in the mud along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Policy Beat

May 25, 2023

U.S. Border Asylum Policy Enters New Territory Post-Title 42

The United States entered a new era with the end of the pandemic-era Title 42 expulsions policy. The government’s hopes of maintaining order at the U.S.-Mexico border post-Title 42 may be complicated by factors including authorities’ limited capacity, ongoing litigation, and cooperation from other countries. This article reviews the Biden administration's changing border policies and possible challenges ahead.

Feature

May 18, 2023

Tense Neighbors, Algeria and Morocco Have Divergent Migration Histories

Algeria and Morocco sit along a crucial migration corridor between Africa and Europe and have often been defined by their rivalry. Although both have been reluctant to welcome large numbers of sub-Saharan African migrants, their motivations have been different. And historically, their approaches to emigration have been a study in contrasts. This article explores the factors driving migration policy in these two countries.

People hold flags of Central American nations at a march in San Diego.

Spotlight

May 10, 2023

Central American Immigrants in the United States

Central Americans comprise less than one-tenth of the overall U.S. foreign-born population, but their numbers have grown tenfold since 1980, amid economic challenges, political crises, and natural disasters in their region. This article provides a comprehensive look at this population.

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Seeking the US border, many Central American migrants begin their journey in Mexico on 'La Bestia'

Video, Audio

May 24, 2022

Seeking Safety: Regional Protection Options for Central Americans

Marking the release of a Migration Policy Institute report on possible protection pathways for Central Americans, this webcast offers analysis on regional resettlement and humanitarian channels and the opportunities and obstacles to expanding these programs, along with specific actions that the United States and Canada could take.

Nigerian Ministry of interior launched IOM’s Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS) in Abuja airport.

Video, Audio

May 10, 2022

The State of Global Human Mobility More than Two Years into the Pandemic

Marking the launch of an IOM-MPI report, this webcast examines the state of mobility across world regions into the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic—what travel restrictions remain, what policy adaptations have occurred, and how do systems improve for the next public-health crisis.

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

October 29, 2021

U.S. Immigration Reform Denied: Destined to Repeat the Cycle of Failure?

The architecture of the U.S. legal immigration system rests on a 1965 law and was last significantly updated in 1990. While there is widespread agreement that the existing framework does not align with the needs and realities of the 21st century, Congress has proven unable to enact significant legislative reform over the past two decades. How have debates on immigration changed and is achieving bipartisan consensus on this highly charged issue possible today?

Recent Activity

Commentaries

March 2023

Revamping Asylum at the U.S.-Mexico Border: A Workable Rescue?

The border asylum proposed rule the Biden administration unveiled in February represents a bid to save the U.S. asylum system, not shut it down, as some contend. Whether it can succeed, however, depends on how it is implemented and on other steps that are beyond the bounds of the proposed rule, as this commentary explains.

Articles

February 23, 2023

Imminent End of Formal U.S. Pandemic Emergencies Marks New Era in Immigration Realm

Pandemic-related U.S. policies have led to more than 2.6 million migrant expulsions at the U.S.-Mexico border, expanded public benefits to cover millions more U.S. residents, and offered free COVID-19 vaccines and treatment. Many of these policies are now likely to end as the Biden administration in May 2023 formally declares the pandemic to be over, although what comes next remains unclear.

Articles

January 26, 2023

Biden at the Two-Year Mark: Significant Immigration Actions Eclipsed by Record Border Numbers

At his term's midpoint, President Joe Biden has relied on executive action to advance his immigration agenda more than his predecessors, including Donald Trump. Yet many of the changes to interior enforcement, humanitarian protection, and other areas have been overshadowed by the record pace of arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border, which has presented the administration with major policy and operational challenges.

Reports

January 2023

Using Risk Analysis to Shape Border Management: A Review of Approaches during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Although nearly all countries adopted travel measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, national approaches have varied considerably and often been controversial. In many cases, decisionmakers failed to clearly communicate the rationale for using certain measures. This report looks at how governments and international organizations approached travel-related risk analysis, and what it would take to do this more strategically in future public-health emergencies.

Articles

December 20, 2022

‘Recalcitrant’ and ‘Uncooperative’: Why Some Countries Refuse to Accept Return of Their Deportees

Every year, thousands of migrants ordered deported from EU Member States, the United States, and elsewhere are not returned to their origin countries. Why? One reason is the multiple nations that refuse to cooperate on readmitting their nationals abroad. This article explores the motivations behind countries’ lack of cooperation and how deporting states have responded.

Expert Q&A, Audio

December 15, 2022

A Century of Climate Migration Upheaval? An Audacious Prediction for the Future

As the planet’s temperature warms, award-winning environmental journalist Gaia Vince thinks humanity is facing a chaotic century of mass migration spurred by climate change? In this episode of Changing Climate, Changing Migration, she contemplates a future in which hundreds of millions of people move from one part of the globe to another.

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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Border Security

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"Border security has been significantly strengthened in all its key dimensions."