Externalization

Explore all research, analysis, commentary, and data on the policies and programs governments are taking to push their borders outwards by engaging transit and origin countries.

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

Caribbean maritime arrivals to the United States hit the highest levels since the 1990s; the Biden administration is betting on legal pathways and regional cooperation to curb dangerous sea crossings.

The U.S. Coast Guard interdicts a vessel with Cuban migrants.

As Nauru Shows, Asylum Outsourcing Has Unexpected Impacts on Host Communities

Australia's multibillion-dollar asylum outsourcing deal transformed Nauru's economy, but research shows the arrangement damaged local communities and subjected refugees to severe psychological harm.

Protests at a refugee compound in Nauru.

Tense Neighbors, Algeria and Morocco Have Divergent Migration Histories

Algeria and Morocco share a border and mutual desire to curb irregular migration, but their sharply divergent diaspora policies, EU ties, and bilateral rivalry keep cooperation out of reach.

Paintings of the Algerian and Moroccan flags on a brick wall

Roxham Road Meets a Dead End? U.S.-Canada Safe Third Country Agreement Is Revised

The revised U.S.-Canada Safe Third Country Agreement closed the Roxham Road loophole but raises serious safety concerns and signals a broader U.S. shift toward externalizing asylum responsibility.

A border checkpoint between Canada and the United States.

External Processing: A Tool to Expand Protection or Further Restrict Territorial Asylum?

External processing can widen or narrow asylum access; whether it protects or deters hinges on design, procedural safeguards, and international cooperation.

Refugees & asylum seekers arrive in Rwanda as part of the Emergency Transit Mechanism.

‘Recalcitrant’ and ‘Uncooperative’: Why Some Countries Refuse to Accept Return of Their Deportees

Various factors lead countries to resist accepting the return of their deported nationals, leading to lower than expected return rates from the United States and European Union.

A migrant scheduled to be deported from the United States is escorted to a charter flight.

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

Caribbean maritime migration to the United States has surged to 1990s-level highs, driven by crises in Haiti and Cuba and constrained legal pathways.

Migrants from Haiti intercepted by U.S. authorities off the coast of Florida.

The UK-Rwanda Agreement Represents Another Blow to Territorial Asylum

The United Kingdom’s controversial deal with Rwanda to relocate certain asylum seekers there—not for offshore processing for possible settlement in the United Kingdom but as a permanent destination—will have far-reaching implications, possibly destabilizing the norms and architecture of the post-World War II protection system, this commentary argues.

Home Secretary Priti Patel & Rwandan Foreign Affairs Minister Vincent Biruta hold asylum accord

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

The end of the use of Title 42 after 1.7 million expulsions at the U.S.-Mexico border promises to reshape processing, but the transition poses major challenges for the Biden administration.

U.S. Border Patrol agents prepare to transport unauthorized migrants to Mexico under Title 42.

Court-Ordered Relaunch of Remain in Mexico Policy Tweaks Predecessor Program, but Faces Similar Challenges

The court-ordered revival of Remain in Mexico for certain asylum seekers affects a Trump-era program with a troubled record.

Migrants enrolled in the Migrant Protection Protocols are processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.