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
The Immigration Debate America Needs—and Is Not Having
Immigration is central to America’s economic future, yet debate fixates on border crises and policy failures instead of how a modern legal…
Trump Restrictions on Legal Immigration Could Sharply Reduce U.S. Population Growth
President Donald Trump's second-term curbs on legal immigration, spanning visas, refugees, and family reunification, could meaningfully slow U.S…
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)- General Inquiries
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Michelle Mittelstadt
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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.
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.
Building a New Regional Migration System: Redefining U.S. Cooperation with Mexico and Central America
An enforcement-only approach cannot manage Central American migration. A regional system of legal pathways, protection, and development is needed, as this report sketches.
An Early Readout on the Economic Effects of the COVID-19 Crisis: Immigrant Women Have the Highest Unemployment
Immigrant women in the United States faced the steepest job losses in the COVID-19 recession, with unemployment peaking at 18.5 percent in May 2020.