Deportations/Returns

Amid a rise in mixed migration to U.S. and European borders, dating back to 1990 in the U.S. case and more recently in Europe, governments have explored ways to increase removals/returns of people found to be resident without authorization. The research gathered here explores the growing U.S. focus over recent decades on deportations, which reached a peak of about 432,000 in a single year, as well as EU governments' policy focus on returns and reintegration.

Recent Activity

Articles January 19, 2024 Biden at the Three-Year Mark: The Most Active Immigration Presidency Yet Is Mired in Border Crisis Narrative By Muzaffar Chishti, Kathleen Bush-Joseph, and Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh	Reports January 2024 Shifting Realities at the U.S.-Mexico Border: Immigration Enforcement and Control in a Fast-Evolving Landscape By Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh and Doris Meissner
Policy Briefs December 2023 What Role Could Digital Technologies Play in the New EU Pact on Migration and Asylum? By Lucía Salgado and Hanne Beirens	Commentaries November 2023 The U.S.-Mexico Border Problem Will Not Be “Solved” Until All Parts of the Border Enforcement System Are Properly Resourced By Doris Meissner
Multimedia September 18, 2023 20th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference	Articles October 25, 2023 Can the Biden Immigration Playbook Be Effective for Managing Arrivals via Sea? By Muzaffar Chishti, Kathleen Bush-Joseph, and Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh
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	Policy Briefs September 2023 Green Reintegration: Supporting Returning Migrants in Climate-Affected Communities By Camille Le Coz and Ravenna Sohst

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Policy Briefs June 2023 Linking Migrant Reintegration Assistance and Development Goals By Camille Le Coz and Ravenna Sohst	Reports June 2023 Migration Narratives in Northern Central America: How Competing Stories Shape Policy and Public Opinion in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador By Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, Aaron Clark-Ginsberg, Alejandra Lopez and Alejandro Vélez Salas
Policy Briefs June 2022 Embedding Reintegration Assistance for Returning Migrants in the Local Context: The Role of Referrals By Ravenna Sohst and Camille Le Coz	Policy Briefs May 2022 Leveraging Predeparture Counseling to Support Returning Migrants’ Sustainable Reintegration By Lucía Salgado
Reports March 2022 The Central Role of Cooperation in Australia’s Immigration Enforcement Strategy By Henry Sherrell	Reports February 2022 Four Years of Profound Change: Immigration Policy during the Trump Presidency By Jessica Bolter, Emma Israel and Sarah Pierce
Reports January 2022 Putting Migrant Reintegration Programs to the Test: A Road Map to a Monitoring System By Lucía Salgado, Radu-Mihai Triculescu, Camille Le Coz and Hanne Beirens	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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The U.S. Coast Guard interdicts a vessel with Cuban migrants.

Policy Beat

October 25, 2023

Can the Biden Immigration Playbook Be Effective for Managing Arrivals via Sea?

Amid the highest Caribbean maritime migration levels in a generation, the Biden administration is relying on a carrot-and-stick strategy it honed amid record unauthorized migration at the U.S.-Mexico border. The approach, combining limits on asylum, expanded legal pathways, and international enforcement partnerships, could be increasingly important if maritime migration rises, as this article explains.

Haitians at a medical site in Jeremie, Haiti.

Feature

July 5, 2023

Haitians Flee a Nation Nearing Collapse

The Haitian diaspora has swelled since a massive earthquake in 2010 and in the wake of violent riots that culminated in a political crisis in 2018 and the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. Poverty, natural disasters, political crisis, and insecurity have historically driven Haitian migration. Destination countries have often rejected these arrivals and sought to deport Haitian migrants in large numbers.

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.

Policy Beat

March 30, 2023

Federal Judges Step into the Void to Set U.S. Immigration Policy

Virtually all major U.S. immigration policy reforms have faced lawsuits in recent years, giving federal judges wide latitude to shape national policy. The situation, which began during the Obama administration and has escalated, is a byproduct of congressional inaction and the emergence of immigration as a political wedge issue. This article tracks the trend, which has added new volatility to the immigration system, and places it in context.

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Video

September 20, 2022

19th Annual Immigration Law & Policy Conference

Focusing on top immigration policy issues at federal and state levels, this 2022 Immigration Law and Policy Conference featured keynotes by Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson exploring the growing role states are taking in the national immigration debate.

A food and goods distribution to returned migrants in Burkina Faso

Video, Audio

June 27, 2022

Forging Partnerships to Make the Reintegration of Migrants More Effective and Sustainable

This MPI Europe webinar examines how referral mechanisms can be designed so that returnees receive the core services they need, while also ensuring support is embedded within the local community.

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

Video, Audio

September 27, 2021

18th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

The 2021 annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference featured a keynote conversation with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas and analysis by top experts on the early months of the Biden administration and how immigration law and policy can respond to our changing world in a manner that is humane and in the national interest.

Video, Audio

September 2, 2021

From Immigrant Detention to a More Effective U.S. Immigration Custody System

The sprawling U.S. immigration detention system has long been controversial for its conditions of care, number of immigrants and asylum seekers detained, and costs. This discussion of a report provides a vision for a reimagined immigration custody system.

Recent Activity

Policy Briefs

June 2022

Embedding Reintegration Assistance for Returning Migrants in the Local Context: The Role of Referrals

Although European programs to support returning migrants’ reintegration into the communities where they settle have expanded and improved in recent years, returning—at times after years away—is never easy. This policy brief looks at how reintegration programs can adapt the assistance they provide to the local context and connect returnees with longer-term support through referrals, and what it takes to make these referrals successful.

Commentaries

June 2022

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.

Articles

May 25, 2022

Rise in Maritime Migration to the United States Is a Reminder of Chapters Past

A recent uptick in the number of unauthorized migrants attempting to reach the United States by sea has been largely overshadowed by tensions on the southwest border but serves as an echo of eras past. This article explains why migrant interdictions have risen to recent highs, especially among Cubans and Haitians.

Policy Briefs

May 2022

Leveraging Predeparture Counseling to Support Returning Migrants’ Sustainable Reintegration

As assisted voluntary return and reintegration (AVRR) programs proliferate in Europe, there is growing recognition that counseling migrants as they prepare to return to their countries of origin can play an important role in their longer-term reintegration. This policy brief assesses the gaps between counselors in Europe and organizations supporting migrants after return that will need to be overcome to maximize the benefits of predeparture counseling.

Articles

April 27, 2022

For Overwhelmed Immigration Court System, New ICE Guidelines Could Lead to Dismissal of Many Low-Priority Cases

New Biden administration guidelines encourage immigration prosecutors to support dismissing many low-priority deportation cases and focus on criminals, threats to national security, and other priorities. This move could have a major impact on clearing backlogs in the overstretched U.S. immigration court system, resulting in quicker determinations in removal and asylum cases, where wait times can presently stretch for years.

Articles

March 31, 2022

Controversial U.S. Title 42 Expulsions Policy Is Coming to an End, Bringing New Border Challenges

The United States’ controversial Title 42 migrant expulsions policy will come to an end in May 2022, after more than 1.7 million expulsions over two years. The COVID-19-era public-health restriction ushered in an unprecedented period of mass expulsions, including of would-be asylum seekers, at the U.S.-Mexico border. Unwinding the policy will be complicated amid predictions of a significant increase in unauthorized migration.

Reports

March 2022

The Central Role of Cooperation in Australia’s Immigration Enforcement Strategy

Cooperation with other countries has become a central part of Australian border enforcement. Partnerships with countries such as Indonesia, Cambodia, Nauru, and Papua New Guinea have helped Australia curb irregular maritime migration, but also come at significant costs. This report explores the current and future role of cooperation in Australian immigration enforcement policy.

Articles

March 17, 2022

Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

Need information about U.S. immigration trends or the makeup of the country's immigrant population? This useful, stats-rich article answers the most common questions about the size, shape, and changing nature of the U.S. foreign-born population. It also offers data on immigration enforcement actions, backlogs, and other elements of the U.S. immigration system.

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Deportations/Returns

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