E.g., 04/24/2024
E.g., 04/24/2024
Sectoral Employment

Sectoral Employment

_SectoralEmployment

Certain labor market sectors experience greater concentrations of foreign-born workers—whether in construction, hospitality, manufacturing, or particular occupations in health care and services. The research collected here examines sectoral employment by nativity; how immigrant workers fare compared to their native-born peers in sectors such as agriculture, construction, health care, and IT; and their trajectories within these sectors.

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
Flags of South American countries.
Articles
April 11, 2024
South American Immigrants in the United States
By Julian Montalvo and Jeanne Batalova
People walk through the streets of Hong Kong
Articles
April 3, 2024
Brain Drain and Brain Gain in Hong Kong’s Population Shuffle
By Yiran Yu
A naturalization ceremony at the White House.
Articles
March 13, 2024
Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States
By Jeanne Batalova
Cover image for Diverging Paths
Reports
March 2024
Diverging Paths: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in the Middle East and North Africa
By  Samuel Davidoff-Gore
Cover image for Coordination Breakdown
Reports
March 2024
Coordination Breakdown: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in Europe
By  Frey Lindsay
Cover image for A New Way Forward for Employment-Based Immigration
Policy Briefs
February 2024
A New Way Forward for Employment-Based Immigration: The Bridge Visa
By  Julia Gelatt and Muzaffar Chishti
A family of Afghan evacuees leaving Fort McCoy, Wisconsin.
Articles
February 15, 2024
Afghan Immigrants in the United States
By Julian Montalvo and Jeanne Batalova

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 Diverging Paths
Reports
March 2024
Diverging Paths: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in the Middle East and North Africa
By  Samuel Davidoff-Gore
Cover image for Coordination Breakdown
Reports
March 2024
Coordination Breakdown: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in Europe
By  Frey Lindsay
Cover image for A New Way Forward for Employment-Based Immigration
Policy Briefs
February 2024
A New Way Forward for Employment-Based Immigration: The Bridge Visa
By  Julia Gelatt and Muzaffar Chishti
Cover image for Consolidating Gains
Policy Briefs
December 2023
Consolidating Gains: Lessons and Priorities for Promoting Fair and Ethical Recruitment
By  Kate Hooper
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
Cover image for Un camino sinuoso hacia la integración...
Reports
October 2023
Un camino sinuoso hacia la integración: Regularización de migrantes venezolanos y perspectivas del mercado laboral
By  Diego Chaves-González and Natalia Delgado
Cover image for A Winding Path to Integration...
Reports
October 2023
A Winding Path to Integration: Venezuelan Migrants’ Regularization and Labor Market Prospects
By  Diego Chaves-González and Natalia Delgado

Pages

Flags of South American countries.
Spotlight
April 11, 2024
South American Immigrants in the United States

The South American immigrant population in the United States has grown at a faster rate than that of the overall foreign-born population, amid crises in Venezuela, Colombia, and elsewhere. Yet South Americans still account for only about one in ten U.S. immigrants. While they mirror the overall U.S. immigrant population in several demographic characteristics, there are some notable differences, as this article details.

People walk through the streets of Hong Kong
Feature
April 3, 2024
Brain Drain and Brain Gain in Hong Kong’s Population Shuffle

Hong Kong finds itself in the middle of opposing trends. Amid political unrest, Beijing's increasing security pressure, and pandemic disruptions, many Hong Kongers have left and been replaced by a new group of immigrants, largely from mainland China. The dynamic has raised questions whether Hong Kong will remain a global cosmopolitan hub or instead turn inward to Asia, as this article discusses.

A naturalization ceremony at the White House.
Spotlight
March 13, 2024
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.

A family of Afghan evacuees leaving Fort McCoy, Wisconsin.
Spotlight
February 15, 2024
Afghan Immigrants in the United States

The Afghan immigrant population in the United States has grown dramatically since 2010, and particularly since the 2021 withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. Most Afghans who obtained a green card in recent years have done so through the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, reserved for interpreters and other Afghans who worked with the U.S. government. This article offers data on the approximately 195,000 Afghan immigrants in the United States.

A health worker from the Philippines.
Feature
January 26, 2024
Aging Societies Rely on Immigrant Health-Care Workers, Posing Challenges for Origin Countries

Countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany are increasingly relying on immigrant health-care workers to fill gaps in their workforce and care for aging populations. That has created opportunities for many foreign-born doctors and nurses, but could harm their origin countries. This article examines the dynamics of global health-care worker migration, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pages

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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
Woman in France working in a vineyard
Commentaries
October 2021
Labor Shortages during the Pandemic and Beyond: What Role Can Immigration Policy Play?
By  Kate Hooper
HealthCare BrainWaste Commentary CDC
Commentaries
December 2020
The Role of Immigrant Health-Care Professionals in the United States during the Pandemic
By  Michael Fix, Jeanne Batalova and José Ramón Fernández-Peña
SeasonalWorkerCommentary ClausBunks Flickr
Commentaries
March 2020
A Race Against the Clock: Meeting Seasonal Labor Needs in the Age of COVID-19
By  Kate Hooper and Camille Le Coz
BrexitDay January2020
Commentaries
January 2020
Brexit Day—Is This the Dawning of the Age of Immobility?
By  Meghan Benton
_DREAMer
Commentaries
December 2017
Will DREAMers Crowd U.S.-Born Millennials Out of Jobs?
By  Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
_DACAterminate
Commentaries
September 2017
All Eyes Turn to Congress, Following Trump Decision to Terminate DACA Program
By  Julia Gelatt
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Commentaries
January 2015
The Field of Migration Studies Loses a Giant: Graeme Hugo
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou
Explainer_LegalImmigrationSystem Legal Immigration Pie_small
Explainers
April 2019

Explainer: How the U.S. Legal Immigration System Works

Through which visa categories can immigrants move temporarily or permanently to the United States? What are the main channels by which people come, and who can sponsor them for a green card? Are there limits on visa categories? And who is waiting in the green-card backlog? This explainer answers basic questions about temporary and permanent immigration via family, employment, humanitarian, and other channels.

Video, Audio
June 14, 2022

Alternativas a la migración irregular: Ampliación de los programas de trabajo temporal en Canadá, México y Costa Rica

Este seminario web, que presenta el lanzamiento de un informe, examina el potencial de Canadá, México y Costa Rica para expandir los programas de trabajadores temporales para los centroamericanos, ofreciendo un medio importante para convertir algunos flujos irregulares en flujos legales.

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.

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Expert Q&A, Audio
March 31, 2020

Expert Podcast: Meeting Seasonal Labor Needs in the Age of COVID-19

Governments are facing urgent pandemic-related questions. One of the more pressing ones: Who is going to harvest crops in countries that rely heavily on seasonal foreign workers? In this podcast, MPI experts examine ways in which countries could address labor shortages in agriculture, including recruiting native-born workers and letting already present seasonal workers stay longer.

Francis Cissna keynotes 15th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference
Video, Audio
October 1, 2018

15th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

At the 15th annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference, held in October 2018, leading experts and government officials discussed the role that immigration is playing in the mid-term elections; how the courts are handling key immigration questions; and recent changes in the U.S. asylum system, border and interior enforcement, and regulations surrounding legal immigration.   

Pages

Recent Activity

Reports
April 2021

COVID-19 and the State of Global Mobility in 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically curtailed cross-border mobility in 2020, affecting travelers and migrants around the world. This report presents a first-of-its-kind analysis of the many thousands of travel restrictions and border closures imposed by governments to curb the spread of the virus. It examines how these policies evolved, varied across countries and regions, and what these trends may mean for the future of international movement.

Articles
February 18, 2021

Climate Extremes, Food Insecurity, and Migration in Central America: A Complicated Nexus

Climate change has had a devastating impact on many poor Central American farmers, which can contribute to food insecurity and may be prompting migration from the region's Dry Corridor. But the process is not straightforward. As this article explains, most poor farmers rely on a combination of buying, cultivating, and foraging for their food, which makes it difficult to predict how people will react to individual climate events.

Policy Briefs
February 2021

COVID-19 and the Demand for Labor and Skills in Europe: Early Evidence and Implications for Migration Policy

While the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on European labor markets have focused attention on weathering this crisis, Europe also faces longer-term challenges linked to technological and demographic changes. This issue brief examines how the pandemic is reshaping demand for workers and skills in Europe, what this means for migration policy, and strategies for tackling both short- and long-term labor market challenges.

Articles
February 11, 2021

Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

Have a question about U.S. immigration trends and the country's immigrant population? This article collects in one place the most sought-after information about the world's largest immigrant population and how it has changed over time. Drawing from a wide array of authoritative data sources, this article provides an up-to-date snapshot of the immigrant population, visa and enforcement statistics, and information on emerging trends, including slowing immigration and changing origins.

Commentaries
December 2020

The Role of Immigrant Health-Care Professionals in the United States during the Pandemic

With the U.S. health-care system buckling under the resurgent COVID-19 outbreak, policymakers could undertake efforts to enable skilled, underemployed international health-care professionals to practice. This would both make the health system more resilient and flexible, as well as introduce critical language and cultural skills important during the contact-tracing and vaccine rollout phases of the pandemic response, as this commentary explores.

Reports
December 2020

Construcción de un nuevo sistema migratorio regional: Redefiniendo la cooperación entre Estados Unidos con México y Centroamérica

Un desafío y una oportunidad clave que enfrentará la administración de Joe Biden será cómo abordar la cooperación regional en relación a la migración. Este informe explora la evolución de la movilidad entre los Estados Unidos, México y Centroamérica y presenta una estrategia para ampliar las oportunidades en cuanto a la migración legal, abordar necesidades humanitarias, fortalecer la aplicación de la ley y mitigar algunas de las fuerzas que provocan la emigración.

Fact Sheets
November 2020

An Early Readout on the Economic Effects of the COVID-19 Crisis: Immigrant Women Have the Highest Unemployment

Working-age immigrant women in the United States entered the COVID-19-induced recession with unemployment rates similar to those of other groups. Yet they have been among the most affected by pandemic-related job losses. This fact sheet seeks to explain why they have been hit so hard by the coronavirus-induced recession.

 

Reports
November 2020

Building a New Regional Migration System: Redefining U.S. Cooperation with Mexico and Central America

Addressing regional cooperation around migration will be among the immigration challenges and opportunities facing the incoming Biden administration. This report examines how movement between the United States, Mexico, and Central America has evolved in recent decades, and lays out a four-part strategy to expand opportunities for legal migration, address humanitarian protection needs, improve enforcement, and mitigate some of the forces driving people to emigrate.

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