U.S. Immigration Policy Program
The U.S. Immigration Policy Program provides thought leadership on ways to improve the U.S. immigration system so that it works most effectively in the national interest. To that end, its work focuses on immigration pathways to the United States and immigration enforcement policies and their impacts. It examines the complex demographic, economic, social, political, foreign policy, and other forces that shape U.S. immigration.
Program staff produce data and analyses of immigration trends and the characteristics of U.S. immigrant populations, including unauthorized immigrants. And they conduct original research on the impacts of policy change and the experiences of immigrant populations in diverse parts of the country. This work is frequently informed by private convenings of policymakers and key stakeholders. For more, click here.
Featured
Following Years of High Border Arrivals, the U.S. Unauthorized Immigrant Population Hits New Peak
MPI estimates the U.S. unauthorized immigrant population reached a new peak of 15.8 million as of mid-2024, after holding steady at around 11 million…
Haitian Immigrants in the United States
Haitian immigration to the United States has grown sharply in recent decades, amid a series of profound challenges in Haiti.
In Its Second Term, Trump Administration Quietly Expands Family Separation
Immigration enforcement during the second Trump term is driving a quieter, more diffuse wave of family separations inside the United States, often…
More Featured Work
Key Statistics
Learn more about immigrants and immigration to the United States
14.8%
The immigrant share of the total U.S. population
Learn how this share has evolved (opens in a new tab)50.2 million
The number of immigrants in the United States
Explore Data Profiles by State (opens in a new tab)18.4%
The share of workers in the U.S. civilian labor force who are immigrants
Get the data at U.S. and state levels (opens in a new tab)
Showing 201–210 of 821 results
The Role of Immigrant Health-Care Professionals in the United States during the Pandemic
With the U.S. health-care system buckling under the resurgent COVID-19 outbreak, policymakers could undertake efforts to enable skilled, underemployed international health-care professionals to practice. This would both make the health system more resilient and flexible, as well as introduce critical language and cultural skills important during the contact-tracing and vaccine rollout phases of the pandemic response, as this commentary explores.
Anticipated “Chilling Effects” of the Public-Charge Rule Are Real: Census Data Reflect Steep Decline in Benefits Use by Immigrant Families
Researchers, service providers, and others have long predicted that sweeping revisions by the Trump administration to the definition of who constitutes a public charge would deter large numbers of immigrant-led households from using federal means-tested public benefits for which they are eligible. Recently released Census Bureau data show they were right: During the administration's first three years, program participation declined twice as fast among noncitizens as citizens.
Construcción de un nuevo sistema migratorio regional: Redefiniendo la cooperación entre Estados Unidos con México y Centroamérica
El control fronterizo solo no basta; se propone un sistema regional con visas temporales, protección humanitaria, control profesionalizado e inversión en Centroamérica.
How the Fear of Immigration Enforcement Affects the Mental Health of Latino Youth
The prevalence of mental-health symptoms among Latino high school students, immigrant and U.S. born alike, is closely related to their fears of immigration enforcement. And the situation may have worsened since the researchers sampled this population, given the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic hardship have increased the stress on Latino communities that have been hit disproportionately hard, as this commentary explores.
The “Trump Effect” on Legal Immigration Levels: More Perception than Reality?
Data show pandemic-era curbs on mobility globally, not first-term Trump policies, drove the sharpest decline in U.S. legal immigration, though structural changes may have lasting effects.
Mission Critical: The Evolution of U.S. Homeland Security in the 21st Century
What does it mean to “secure the homeland” in the 21st century? What lessons can be drawn from the U.S. government efforts to do so? And how do the Department of Homeland Security's immigration and border security missions figure into the equation? In this webinar, top security experts assess the department’s evolution and how it organizes its operations and migration management. They also offer recommendations on how to improve the U.S. homeland security enterprise.
The Post-Pandemic Ascent: The Role of Migration in Emerging from the Economic and Labor Market Turmoil
This discussion with MPI and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) examines the impact of the coronavirus on migration and mobility systems, and highlights findings from OECD’s International Migration Outlook 2020 on recent developments in migration movements and policies.
What Is Immigration Policy Expected to Look Like in a Biden Administration?
What would Biden’s immigration agenda mean for asylum, enforcement, and legal pathways?
Immigration Data Matters
This useful resource collects in one place some of the top and most authoritative sources for often-sought U.S. and international data on immigrants and immigration trends.
At the Starting Gate: The Incoming Biden Administration’s Immigration Plans
This brief maps immigration challenges and opportunities facing the incoming Biden administration in enforcement, asylum, legalization, and regional cooperation.
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Michelle Mittelstadt
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