Doris Meissner
Doris Meissner, former Commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), is a Senior Fellow at MPI, where she directs the Institute’s U.S. immigration policy work.
Her responsibilities focus in particular on the role of immigration in America’s future and on administering the nation’s immigration laws, systems, and government agencies. Her work and expertise also include immigration and politics, immigration enforcement, border control, cooperation with other countries, and immigration and national security. She has authored and coauthored numerous reports, articles, and op-eds and is frequently quoted in the media. She served as Director of MPI's Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future, a bipartisan group of distinguished leaders. The group's report and recommendations address how to harness the advantages of immigration for a 21st century economy and society.
From 1993-2000, she served in the Clinton administration as Commissioner of the INS, then a bureau in the U.S. Department of Justice. Her accomplishments included reforming the nation's asylum system; creating new strategies for managing U.S. borders; improving naturalization and other services for immigrants; shaping new responses to migration and humanitarian emergencies; strengthening cooperation and joint initiatives with Mexico, Canada, and other countries; and managing growth that doubled the agency’s personnel and tripled its budget.
She first joined the Justice Department in 1973 as a White House Fellow and Special Assistant to the Attorney General. She served in various senior policy posts until 1981, when she became Acting Commissioner of the INS and then Executive Associate Commissioner, the third-ranking post in the agency. In 1986, she joined the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as a Senior Associate. Ms. Meissner created the Endowment's Immigration Policy Project, which evolved into the Migration Policy Institute in 2001.
Ms. Meissner is Vice Chair of the board of trustees of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Inter-American Dialogue, the Pacific Council on International Diplomacy, the National Academy of Public Administration, the Administrative Conference of the United States, and the Constitution Society.
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Explore Content by Doris Meissner
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21st Annual Immigration Law & Policy Conference
Featuring keynotes by IOM Director General Amy Pope, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, this conference examined competing U.S. immigration narratives, the global smuggling economy, immigration executive orders and litigation, and more.
Shifting Realities at the U.S.-Mexico Border: Immigration Enforcement and Control in a Fast-Evolving Landscape
Nearly 2.5 million encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2023 exposed a system reacting to rather than managing realities at the border. Real control will require multiagency investment.
The U.S.-Mexico Border Problem Will Not Be “Solved” Until All Parts of the Border Enforcement System Are Properly Resourced
The $13.6 billion border emergency supplemental spending bill the Biden administration is seeking lays out the elements for resourcing immigration functions to full capacity across the entire border enforcement system. Without resourcing the system across all its parts, including adjudications and management, no administration, present or future, will be able to effectively manage spontaneous border arrivals, this commentary argues.
20th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference
Experts examined the Biden administration's immigration actions, border policy, state actions, legal representation, humanitarian parole for Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan nationals, and other top issues in immigration policy.
Straining under the Backlog: Fixing a U.S. Immigration Court System in Crisis
As the U.S. immigration court system struggled with record case backlogs in 2023, this discussion examined the factors that have driven the system to the point of crisis and possible fixes.
At the Breaking Point: Rethinking the U.S. Immigration Court System
By 2023, the U.S. immigration court backlog surpassed 3 million cases. Incremental fixes have failed—fundamental redesign of the system is essential.
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.
Revamping Asylum at the U.S.-Mexico Border: A Workable Rescue?
The border asylum proposed rule the Biden administration unveiled in February represents a bid to save the U.S. asylum system, not shut it down, as some contend. Whether it can succeed, however, depends on how it is implemented and on other steps that are beyond the bounds of the proposed rule, as this commentary explains.
19th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference
This conference examined the Biden administration's immigration record, border and asylum policy, litigation trends, and humanitarian protection developments.
A Tribute to the Life of Dr. Demetrios G. Papademetriou
MPI and MPI Europe celebrated the life and career of Dr. Demetrios G. Papademetriou, bringing together speakers from around the world to address his legacy.
