Unauthorized Immigration/Irregular Migration
Explore all research, analysis, commentary, and data on unauthorized immigrants and irregular migrants, terms used in different parts of the world to describe the individuals who lack the right to reside legally in their country of destination, as well as the policies and enforcement practices affecting them.
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Curbing the Influence of "Bad Actors" in International Migration (Transatlantic Council Statement)
Irregular migration persists despite massive enforcement investments because market demand drives illegality and bad actors consistently outpace government controls.
Securing Borders: The Intended, Unintended, and Perverse Consequences
Border enforcement consistently generates perverse consequences, and strong borders require strong institutions and rule of law as much as physical controls.
Spheres of Exploitation: Thwarting Actors Who Profit from Illegal Labor, Domestic Servitude, and Sex Work
Migrant exploitation is sustained by high profits and low risk for bad actors, and enforcement tools across labor, care, and sex markets each carry serious unintended consequences.
A Strategic Framework for Creating Legality and Order in Immigration
Immigration enforcement lags other regulatory fields by failing to apply evidence-based, proportionate, and strategically prioritized responses to immigration harms.
IRCA in Retrospect: Guideposts for Today’s Immigration Reform
The statutory design flaws of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, not just implementation failures, enabled the unauthorized population growth it sought to eliminate.
Trade-Offs in Immigration Enforcement
Return-only enforcement globally is costly and incomplete, making regularization an indispensable complement to deportation in any credible migration enforcement regime.
10th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference
The 10th annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference featured keynotes by U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, and panel discussions on the prospects for legislative action, policy options, and political mobilization; lessons learned from past immigration legislation and programs; and an assessment of current conditions at the U.S. border and considerations for future policy.
Mexicans in Hawaiʻi: Challenges and Prospects
This briefing at the State Capitol in Honolulu, organized in conjunction with the University of Hawaii at Manoa, marked the formal release of a Migration Policy Institute report that presents key demographic and socioeconomic information about the Mexican-origin population in Hawai’i.
Newcomers to the Aloha State: Challenges and Prospects for Mexicans in Hawai'i
Hawai'i's Mexican community is predominantly U.S.-born and lawfully present, yet faces disproportionate enforcement, geographic dispersal, and fragmented identity.
A House Divided: Divergent Views in Congress Over Immigration Reform
An online web chat with MPI's Doris Meissner and Muzaffar Chishti examining the U.S. Senate & House bills for Immigration Reform in 2013.
