Julia Gelatt

Associate Director, U.S. Immigration Policy Program

Julia Gelatt is Associate Director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute. Her research and policy work focus on the legal immigration system, demographic trends, unauthorized immigrants and mixed-status families, access to public benefits and government services, and the impacts of U.S. immigration policies on immigrant families and the U.S. economy. She leads MPI’s data team, and development of the Institute’s estimates of the size and characteristics of the unauthorized immigrant population.

Dr. Gelatt previously worked as a Research Associate at the Urban Institute, where her mixed-methods research focused on state policies toward immigrants and barriers to and facilitators of immigrant families’ access to public benefits. She was a Research Assistant at MPI before graduate school.

She earned her PhD in sociology, with a specialization in demography, from Princeton University, where her work focused on the relationship between immigration status and children’s health and well-being. She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology/anthropology from Carleton College.

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    The Public-Charge Rule: Broad Impacts, But Few Will Be Denied Green Cards Based on Actual Benefits Use

    While the Trump administration public-charge rule is likely to vastly reshape legal immigration based on its test to assess if a person might ever use public benefits in the future, the universe of noncitizens who could be denied a green card based on current benefits use is quite small. That's because very few benefit programs are open to noncitizens who do not hold a green card. This commentary offers estimates of who might be affected.

    As the United States Resettles Fewer Refugees, Some Countries and Religions Face Bigger Hits than Others

    Even as refugee admissions have dropped sharply during the Trump administration, some countries and religions have been significantly more affected than others, as this commentary explores. In fiscal year 2019, 79 percent of refugees were Christian and 16 percent Muslim—as compared to 44 percent Christian and 46 percent Muslim in fiscal year 2016, which was the last full year of the Obama administration.

    How the U.S. Legal Immigration System Works

    This explainer answers common questions about the visa categories immigrants use to move temporarily or permanently to the United States, how many people are in the green-card backlog, and more.

    A graphic of a visa application with approval stamp, passport, and plane tickets

    More Than a DREAM (Act), Less Than a Promise

    The first bill introduced in the 116th Congress to offer a path to legal status to Dreamers, the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019, could legalize nearly 2.7 million, MPI estimates.