E.g., 06/04/2026
E.g., 06/04/2026
James D. Bachmeier
Experts & Staff
JimBachmeier square

James D. Bachmeier

Nonresident Fellow
Associate Professor of Sociology, Temple University

James D. Bachmeier is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Temple University. His research is focused on patterns of immigrant incorporation in the United States, illegal migration, and the measurement of immigrant legal status. He is an MPI Nonresident Fellow.

Dr. Bachmeier’s research has been published in leading social science journals, including Social Forces, Demography, International Migration Review, and Social Science Research. Along with Jennifer Van Hook, he is the author of Texas-Style Exclusion: Mexican Americans and the Legacy of Limited Opportunity (2024). He is a member of the American Sociological Association and the Population Association of America.

Prior to joining the Sociology Department at Temple in 2013, Dr. Bachmeier was a postdoctoral researcher in the Population Research Institute at The Pennsylvania State University. He received his Ph.D. in sociology in 2010 from the University of California, Irvine.

Bio Page Tabs

Fact sheet thumbnail for 2025 unauthorized immigrants research
Fact Sheets
October 2025
Changing Origins, Rising Numbers: Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States
By  Julia Gelatt, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and James D. Bachmeier
coverthumb Bloomberg BrainWaste
Reports
December 2016
Untapped Talent: The Costs of Brain Waste among Highly Skilled Immigrants in the United States
By  Jeanne Batalova, Michael Fix and James D. Bachmeier
coverthumb DAPA Profile
Reports
February 2016
Deferred Action for Unauthorized Immigrant Parents: Analysis of DAPA's Potential Effects on Families and Children
By  Randy Capps, Heather Koball, James D. Bachmeier, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Jie Zong and Julia Gelatt
cover CIR_No5 DemProf
Policy Briefs
May 2013
A Demographic, Socioeconomic, and Health Coverage Profile of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States
By  Randy Capps, Michael Fix, Jennifer Van Hook and James D. Bachmeier

Recent Activity

Fact Sheets
October 2025

Changing Origins, Rising Numbers: Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States

The 13.7 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States as of mid-2023 reflect increasingly diverse origins, socioeconomic and labor market characteristics, family composition, and places of settlement. This fact sheet explores those trends, drawing on MPI's detailed data profiles of the unauthorized immigrant population at U.S., state, and top county levels. 

Reports
December 2016

Untapped Talent: The Costs of Brain Waste among Highly Skilled Immigrants in the United States

Nearly 2 million immigrants with college degrees in the United States—one out of every four—are employed in low-skilled jobs or unable to find work. This report explores this skill underutilization, often referred to as brain waste, and offers the first-ever economic costs of underemployment for immigrants in the United States: More than $39 billion in forgone wages and a resulting $10 billion in unrealized tax receipts.

Reports
February 2016

Deferred Action for Unauthorized Immigrant Parents: Analysis of DAPA's Potential Effects on Families and Children

This MPI-Urban Institute report examines the population of 3.6 million unauthorized immigrants potentially eligible for the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program, finding that work authorization and relief from deportation could boost their incomes, decrease poverty, and mitigate harms of parental unauthorized status for the 4.3 million minor children living in these families.

Policy Briefs
May 2013

A Demographic, Socioeconomic, and Health Coverage Profile of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States

This issue brief provides updated data, based on the Census Bureau's 2011 American Community Survey, on unauthorized immigrants in the United States, their demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, and their health care coverage. The analysis marks the first time that self-reported data on LPR status have been used to generate a national profile of unauthorized immigrants.