Donald M. Kerwin
MPI Authors
Donald M. Kerwin
Donald Kerwin served as Vice President for Programs at the Migration Policy Institute. He is Executive Director of the Center for Migration Studies of New York, an educational institute of the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles, Scalabrinians, that studies migration policy issues and safeguards the dignity and rights of migrants, refugees, and newcomers. During his MPI tenure, Mr. Kerwin coordinated the Institute’s national and international programs, and wrote and spoke extensively on legalization, refugee protection, labor standards enforcement, detention, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and executive action on immigration.
Prior to his MPI tenure, he worked for more than 16 years at the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), serving as Executive Director for nearly 15 years.
He is a 1984 graduate of Georgetown University and a 1989 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School.
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The U.S. government spends more on federal immigration enforcement than on all other principal federal criminal law enforcement agencies combined, allocating nearly $187 billion since 1986. This report traces the evolution of the immigration enforcement system, analyzing how programs and policies resulted in a complex, interconnected, cross-agency system.
This report highlights gaps and anomalies in labor protection, while recognizing that U.S. law sets significant standards for minimum wage, overtime pay, child labor, safe and healthy workplaces, antidiscrimination, labor organizing, and collective bargaining.
The U.S. refugee protection system, while generous in many respects, has become less robust over the last two decades. The unique and often diverse needs of emerging refugee populations have exposed severe limitations in the standard resettlement approach.This report examines U.S. legal and policy responses to those seeking protection and addresses the barriers, gaps, and opportunities that exist.
In the absence of new U.S. immigration reform legislation, this report examines the opportunities that exist within the executive branch and the administration to refine and strengthen current U.S. immigration laws and policies. The administration can exercise its authority to field policies, programs, and procedures that are effective and fair in advancing the goals of the U.S. immigration system.
This policy brief shows that more unauthorized immigrants in the United States have been legalized through population-specific and registry programs than through the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act general legalization provisions.
This brief argues that an essential first step to any type of U.S. legalization must be a registration process that rapidly identifies, screens, and processes potential applicants. The government could successfully administer a large-scale legalization only with a well-crafted bill, sufficient funding, an unprecedented mobilization of public and private stakeholders, and intensive planning.