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Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh
Experts & Staff
Photo of Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh

Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh

Associate Policy Analyst

[email protected]
202-266-1944

  | @colleenputzlkav

Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh is an Associate Policy Analyst with MPI's U.S. Immigration Policy Program, where she focuses on the U.S.-Mexico border, including analysis of trends in border arrivals, migration at and between ports of entry, migrant processing, and the role of NGOs in border communities.

She comes to MPI after three years in San Diego, conducting research and working with asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Previously, Ms. Putzel-Kavanaugh interned with the Bipartisan Policy Center, the office of San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, and Al Otro Lado. Prior to her work as a researcher, she was a 7th and 8th grade teacher.

Ms. Putzel-Kavanaugh holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Assumption College and a master’s of peace and justice degree from the University of San Diego’s Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, where she focused on human rights, immigration, and corruption.

 
 
 

Bio Page Tabs

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.

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.

CBP personnel process and screen migrants for possible entry into the U.S.
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
Photo of CBP One App poster at shelter in Reynosa, Mexico
Commentaries
April 2023
A Post-Title 42 Vision for Migration Management Comes into Focus
By  Doris Meissner, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh
Expert Q&A, Audio
May 18, 2023

The U.S.-Mexico Border Becomes More High-Tech

MPI President Andrew Selee and two colleagues who joined him at the U.S.-Mexico border to examine increasingly sophisticated U.S. Customs and Border Protection operations discuss the evolution of policies and procedures to address asylum seekers and other migrants arriving at official ports of entry.

Expert Q&A, Audio
April 24, 2023

A Complex Picture: Diversifying Migration Flows & Policies at the U.S.-Mexico Border

How are U.S. border operations and policies evolving at the U.S.-Mexico border to address rising and diversifying flows? And what is driving increasing immigration from across Latin America, the Caribbean, and beyond? MPI President Andrew Selee speaks with two colleagues who traveled from one end of the nearly 2,000-mile boundary to the other, touring U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities and interviewing U.S. and Mexican officials, NGO leaders, and others.

Recent Activity

Articles
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.

Commentaries
October 2023

Shifting Patterns and Policies Reshape Migration to U.S.-Mexico Border in Major Ways in 2023

There is a deeper story behind the U.S. government's fiscal 2023 border encounters numbers than that the year marked a new record high. The pivot from the pandemic-era Title 42 expulsions policy and sharp diversification in nationalities have reshaped migrant arrivals unlike any year before. This commentary goes beyond the headlines to focus on the more enduring—and challenging—realities occuring at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Articles
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.

Expert Q&A, Audio
May 18, 2023

The U.S.-Mexico Border Becomes More High-Tech

MPI President Andrew Selee and two colleagues who joined him at the U.S.-Mexico border to examine increasingly sophisticated U.S. Customs and Border Protection operations discuss the evolution of policies and procedures to address asylum seekers and other migrants arriving at official ports of entry.

Commentaries
April 2023

A Post-Title 42 Vision for Migration Management Comes into Focus

Facing a dramatically different reality arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border with the end of a pandemic-era policy that resulted in more than 3 million expulsions, the Biden administration unveiled a policy vision that marries expanded legal pathways with stiff consequences for those seeking to enter without authorization. The strategy can succeed, but speedier while still fair border asylum decisionmaking must be an essential component, this commentary argues.

Expert Q&A, Audio
April 24, 2023

A Complex Picture: Diversifying Migration Flows & Policies at the U.S.-Mexico Border

How are U.S. border operations and policies evolving at the U.S.-Mexico border to address rising and diversifying flows? And what is driving increasing immigration from across Latin America, the Caribbean, and beyond? MPI President Andrew Selee speaks with two colleagues who traveled from one end of the nearly 2,000-mile boundary to the other, touring U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities and interviewing U.S. and Mexican officials, NGO leaders, and others.