E.g., 04/24/2024
E.g., 04/24/2024
Integration Policy

Integration Policy

Immigrant integration is the process by which immigrants and their children come to feel and become participants in the life of their country of destination, and in its schools, workplaces, and communities. Governments' policies, initiatives, and programs help determine immigrants' opportunities to participate in society, as well as their guarantees to the same rights and responsibilities as those of the native born. The research offered here explores the many facets of immigrant integration policy—from citizenship and language acquisition to access to education, the workforce, and more.

Recent Activity

Cover image for How Immigrants and Their U.S.-Born Children Fit into the Future U.S. Labor Market
Reports
April 2024
How Immigrants and Their U.S.-Born Children Fit into the Future U.S. Labor Market
By  Jeanne Batalova, Julia Gelatt and Michael Fix
Cover image for Supporting Self-Sufficiency policy brief
Policy Briefs
April 2024
Supporting Self-Sufficiency: Considerations for Refugees’ Transition out of Sponsorship and Complementary Pathways Programs
By  Maria Belen Zanzuchi
Housing construction site in California.
Articles
March 20, 2024
Global Affordable Housing Shortages Can Harm Migrant Reception and Integration
By Benedicta Solf, Lindsey Guerrero, and Selena Sherzad
Cover image for Immigrants’ Eligibility for U.S. Public Benefits: A Primer
Reports
January 2024
Immigrants’ Eligibility for U.S. Public Benefits: A Primer
By  Valerie Lacarte, Julia Gelatt and Ashley Podplesky
Cover image for Expanding Protection Options?
Reports
January 2024
Expanding Protection Options? Flexible Approaches to Status for Displaced Syrians, Venezuelans, and Ukrainians
By  Andrew Selee, Susan Fratzke, Samuel Davidoff-Gore and Luisa Feline Freier
Cover image for Confronting Compassion Fatigue
Reports
January 2024
Confronting Compassion Fatigue: Understanding the Arc of Public Support for Displaced Populations in Turkey, Colombia, and Europe
By  Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, M. Murat Erdoğan and Lucía Salgado
Multimedia
November 30, 2023
The Importance of Community Consultations in the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Network
A loan officer in Kenya.
Articles
December 6, 2023
Often Shut Out of the Financial System, Refugees and Other Migrants Face Economic Integration Challenges
By Ting Zhang

Pages

Cover image for How Immigrants and Their U.S.-Born Children Fit into the Future U.S. Labor Market
Reports
April 2024
How Immigrants and Their U.S.-Born Children Fit into the Future U.S. Labor Market
By  Jeanne Batalova, Julia Gelatt and Michael Fix
Cover image for Supporting Self-Sufficiency policy brief
Policy Briefs
April 2024
Supporting Self-Sufficiency: Considerations for Refugees’ Transition out of Sponsorship and Complementary Pathways Programs
By  Maria Belen Zanzuchi
Cover image for Immigrants’ Eligibility for U.S. Public Benefits: A Primer
Reports
January 2024
Immigrants’ Eligibility for U.S. Public Benefits: A Primer
By  Valerie Lacarte, Julia Gelatt and Ashley Podplesky
Cover image for Expanding Protection Options?
Reports
January 2024
Expanding Protection Options? Flexible Approaches to Status for Displaced Syrians, Venezuelans, and Ukrainians
By  Andrew Selee, Susan Fratzke, Samuel Davidoff-Gore and Luisa Feline Freier
Cover image for Confronting Compassion Fatigue
Reports
January 2024
Confronting Compassion Fatigue: Understanding the Arc of Public Support for Displaced Populations in Turkey, Colombia, and Europe
By  Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, M. Murat Erdoğan and Lucía Salgado
Cover image for The Unmet Potential of Community Consultations report
Reports
November 2023
The Unmet Potential of Community Consultations in U.S. Refugee Resettlement
By  Lillie Hinkle
Cover image for Migration and Displacement in Secondary Cities
Reports
November 2023
Migration and Displacement in Secondary Cities: Insights from Côte d’Ivoire and Uganda
By  Samuel Davidoff-Gore and Camille Le Coz
Cover image for Immigration and Integration in the Ever More Diverse Houston Area
Reports
November 2023
Immigration and Integration in the Ever More Diverse Houston Area
By  Valerie Lacarte, Michael Fix and Jeanne Batalova

Pages

Housing construction site in California.
Feature
March 20, 2024
Global Affordable Housing Shortages Can Harm Migrant Reception and Integration

One-fifth of the planet lacks adequate housing. That scarcity, expected to affect 3 billion people by 2030, is a problem for native-born and immigrant communities alike. The global housing shortage can aggravate tensions over immigration and lead to integration challenges for new arrivals, as this article details.

A loan officer in Kenya.
Feature
December 6, 2023
Often Shut Out of the Financial System, Refugees and Other Migrants Face Economic Integration Challenges

Credit cards, bank accounts, and other financial services are often critical in order to fully participate in the modern world. Yet many refugees and other forced migrants have trouble obtaining these seemingly simple tools, preventing them from full integration. This article outlines humanitarian migrants’ needs for financial services and the barriers that can arise.

A Syrian woman in Turkey
Profile
November 1, 2023
The World’s Leading Refugee Host, Turkey Has a Complex Migration History

Turkey is home to the world’s largest refugee population, a fact that has been a source of pride, a geopolitical tool, and a logistical challenge. This article shows how the millions of Syrians who have arrived since 2011 comprise just one aspect of Turkey’s rich and complex migration history. The country has been a significant host, a transit point for individuals heading to Europe, and a source of migrant laborers.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams meeting with asylum seekers.
Policy Beat
September 27, 2023
New York and Other U.S. Cities Struggle with High Costs of Migrant Arrivals

U.S. cities have spent billions of dollars to provide shelter, health care, and other resources to migrants recently arrived from the U.S.-Mexico border. The exceptional costs, which the New York mayor has described as existential, are due to a unique combination of factors, this article explains, including the large numbers of migrants arriving without local connections and long waits for work permits.

Farmworkers in Murcia, Spain
Profile
April 18, 2023
A Pragmatic Bet: The Evolution of Spain’s Immigration System

Historically a country of emigration, Spain rapidly transitioned to become one of Europe’s major immigration destinations in just a few years. Remarkably, this evolution occurred with minimal political backlash, even as the country suffered through a crippling economic and labor crisis. This country profile examines the trends and policies that led to this astonishing development.

Pages

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President Biden meets with DACA recipients
Commentaries
September 2023
A Shrinking Number of DACA Participants Face Yet Another Adverse Court Ruling
By  Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and Julia Gelatt
Group of students studying at a library
Commentaries
August 2023
Investing in the Future: Higher Ed Should Give Greater Focus to Growing Immigrant-Origin Student Population
By  Jeanne Batalova and Miriam Feldblum
Photo of a teacher from Ukraine organizing activities for refugee children in Moldova
Commentaries
February 2023
Prolonged Ukrainian Displacement: An Uneasy Marriage of Reception, Integration, and Return Policies
By  Hanne Beirens, Lucía Salgado and Jasmijn Slootjes
Photo of a preschool teacher reading to students.
Commentaries
November 2022
Apprenticeship Programs Are a Promising Solution to Bring More Multilingual Workers into Early Childhood Field
By  Jacob Hofstetter, Alexis Fintland and Maki Park
Image of women and young children from Ukraine arriving at train station in Bucharest
Commentaries
October 2022
Why the European Labor Market Integration of Displaced Ukrainians Is Defying Expectations
By  Maria Vincenza Desiderio and Kate Hooper
Image of the hands of two people at a desk going over paperwork
Commentaries
September 2022
The Public-Charge Final Rule Is Far from the Last Word
By  Jonathan Beier and Essey Workie
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other leaders at the 2022 Summit of the Americas
Commentaries
June 2022
The Los Angeles Declaration Could Represent a Big Step for Real Migration Cooperation across the Americas
By  Andrew Selee
A woman in a winter coat receives food from a woman in an orange safety vest at a train station in P
Commentaries
May 2022
The Ukrainian Conflict Could Be a Tipping Point for Refugee Protection
By  Meghan Benton and Andrew Selee
Image of masked woman with a clipboard speaking with another woman outside her home.
Commentaries
May 2022
Schools Should Engage Diverse Community Stakeholders to Promoting Equitable Allocation of Historic Funding to Reimagine Education
By  Jazmin Flores Peña
A U.S. service member helps an older Afghan woman off a plane at a naval air station
Commentaries
March 2022
Straight Path to Legal Permanent Residence for Afghan Evacuees Would Build on Strong U.S. Precedent
By  Julia Gelatt and Doris Meissner

Pages

Video, Audio
November 30, 2023

The Importance of Community Consultations in the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Network

Coordination and communication among key stakeholders in the resettlement network have never been more critical. This conversation focuses on how consultation supports capacity building and where it can, at times, fall short.

Video, Audio
November 14, 2023

Engaging Local Voices: Letting Cities Inform National Refugee Resettlement Goals

With the Global Refugee Forum approaching, this webcast explores how municipalities and other key stakeholders can be engaged in informing and delivering on the 2024 resettlement and complementary pathways pledges. 

Video, Audio
October 11, 2023

Improving Language Access in Federal Programs: What Is the State of Play?

White House and Department of Health and Human Services officials join a leading language access advocate and MPI's Margie McHugh in a conversation exploring executive-branch efforts related to language access provision, upcoming actions, and opportunities to improve the provision of information and services in languages other than English in federal programs.

Expert Q&A, Audio
September 26, 2023

The Power of Refugee Sponsorship: A Sponsor’s Story

How is refugee resettlement evolving? As more countries turn to private or community sponsorship, MPI speaks with Erin Schutte Wadzinski, who leads one of the pioneering private sponsorship groups in Worthington, Minnesota, under the Welcome Corps initiative.

Video
September 18, 2023

20th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

The 20th annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference, organized by MPI, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., and Georgetown University Law Center, features fresh, thoughtful policy and legal analysis, and discussion of some of the top immigration issues by leading government officials, attorneys, researchers, advocates, and other experts. 

Pages

Recent Activity

Reports
June 2019

Social Innovation for Refugee Inclusion: From Bright Spots to System Change

In the three years since the European migration and refugee crisis vividly captured public attention, a wave of innovative initiatives has emerged to help newcomers settle into receiving societies. Now, as the sense of crisis abates, this report explores what these initiatives will need to do to outlast the hype and produce lasting change on key integration issues such as housing, economic inclusion, and community building.

Articles
June 6, 2019

Migration and Integration in Czechia: Policy Advances and the Hand Brake of Populism

Since regaining its independence in 1989, the Czech Republic has transformed from a country of emigration to one of rising immigration, amid growing labor market needs. Even as Czechia received few asylum seekers during the 2015-16 European migration crisis, the country has taken a harder line on immigration, and public opinion and political stances have grown more negative towards immigrants and refugees.

Policy Briefs
May 2019

Noncitizens in the U.S. Military: Navigating National Security Concerns and Recruitment Needs

Noncitizens have long served in the U.S. military, often encouraged by the promise of a fast track to U.S. citizenship. In recent years, however, Congress and the Defense Department have made it more difficult for noncitizens to enlist. This brief give context to these policy changes and explores ways the military could better balance concerns about national security and the need for recruits with key cultural and professional skills.

Video, Audio, Webinars
May 9, 2019

A Mirror for the Nation? The Changing Profile of Mexican Immigrants in Texas

At this discussion, experts from MPI and Southern Methodist University’s Texas-Mexico Center offer an overview of trends and key characteristics of highly skilled Mexican adults at the national level and for Texas, including educational levels by legal status and top industries of employment across Texas metro areas. They also discuss the policy implications of these findings.

Articles
May 8, 2019

Can Return Migration Revitalize the Baltics? Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania Engage Their Diasporas, with Mixed Results

Faced with high emigration rates and shrinking, aging populations, the Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—are exploring different ways to lure back nationals who have emigrated and establish or solidify ties with members of the diaspora. Of the three countries, Estonia is proving the most successful, while Latvia appears to be ignoring the looming demographic crisis and lacks an immigration plan.

Reports
May 2019

Eight Key U.S. Immigration Policy Issues: State of Play and Unanswered Questions

Amid a significant reshaping of immigration policy by the Trump administration, a range of immigration topics that have not been at the forefront of debate merit further information sharing with the public and policymakers. This report examines eight issues areas that are deserving of additional review and could form the basis for future action by Congress, including H-1B reform and treatment of unaccompanied minors.

Articles
May 1, 2019

Migration in the Netherlands: Rhetoric and Perceived Reality Challenge Dutch Tolerance

The Netherlands has witnessed a rise in far-right populism, challenging its reputation as a humanitarian haven. Yet, public fears equating immigration with a rise in religious extremism do not necessarily reflect the facts. This profile explores historical and contemporary migration in a country where population growth relies largely on immigration, and analyzes to what extent policymaking has been shaped by rising populism.

Reports
May 2019

Preparing for the Unknown: Designing Effective Predeparture Orientation for Resettling Refugees

Refugees encounter a range of challenges after resettlement—from adjusting to a new culture and language, to finding a job. Many resettlement countries invest in predeparture orientation to help refugees develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to face these challenges. This report explores the many forms these programs take, highlighting important design questions and key elements that effective programs share.

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