E.g., 10/04/2023
E.g., 10/04/2023
International Program

International Program

Border Security
Immigrant Profiles & Demographics
Employment & the Economy
Illegal Immigration & Interior Enforcement
Immigration Policy & Law
International Governance
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Policy Briefs
September 2023

Green Reintegration: Supporting Returning Migrants in Climate-Affected Communities

Motorbikes and cars travel down a road in a storm
Marcel Crozet/ILO

Reintegration after return is often a challenge, and doubly so for migrants returning to communities affected by climate change and environmental degradation. This brief explores the emergence of "green" approaches to providing reintegration assistance, including project types implemented to date, common challenges, and strategies for building a stronger case for climate-responsive reintegration programming.

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Commentaries
September 2023

Achieving Meaningful International Cooperation on Displacement: Can the 2023 Global Refugee Forum Deliver?

Sign for the 2019 Global Refugee Forum in Geneva
© UNHCR/Mark Henley

The 2023 Global Refugee Forum will test whether global solidarity for refugees and their hosts can be revived as the political environment cools in many countries. With responses to major displacement crises since 2019 largely taking place outside forum and Global Compact on Refugees processes, preserving the relevance of the forum and the compact will require going beyond counting pledges in Geneva, as this commentary explains.

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Commentaries
July 2023

Canada's New Tech Talent Strategy Takes Aim at High-Skilled Immigrants in the United States

Graphic image of man's hand touching screen with word skills
iStock.com/Natali_Mis

Canada’s Tech Talent Strategy is highly unusual for its explicit targeting of visa holders in another country. Opening a dedicated stream specifically for high-skilled immigrants in the United States who hold an H-1B visa is the latest salvo in a growing global competition for talent—one in which some countries are racing ahead of the United States in terms of policy dynamism, as this commentary explores.

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Policy Briefs
June 2023

Linking Migrant Reintegration Assistance and Development Goals

Young man at his shop in Kenya
IOM

When migrants return to their countries of origin, their reintegration is often most successful in communities that are welcoming, have functional public services, and where livelihood opportunities are available. In recognition of these facts, there has been a growing push to connect reintegration assistance programs with efforts to support local development. This issue brief explores common approaches to building such links.

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Reports
June 2023

Building Meaningful Refugee Participation into Protection Policymaking

Refugee woman who leads a community organization in Cameroon
Jesuit Refugee Service

One promising—but often underutilized—element of addressing the world’s urgent humanitarian protection needs is meaningfully engaging refugees in policymaking processes. As this report highlights, consultations, advisory roles, and leadership and staff positions can help ensure refugees’ knowledge and expertise are reflected in policy responses to displacement. The study also examines common limitations and ways to make engagement more impactful.  

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Reports
June 2023

Migration Narratives in Northern Central America: How Competing Stories Shape Policy and Public Opinion in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador

Colorful speech bubbles
iStock.com/incomible

El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have long histories of emigration, but are seeing increasing transit and return migration as well. This report explores the stories told within these three countries about migration in all its forms, how these narratives intersect with (and at times, contradict) each other, and how they influence policy decisions and public opinion.

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Venezuelan migrants at the Colombian border.
Articles

In a Dramatic Shift, the Americas Have Become a Leading Migration Destination

Political and economic crises, new free-movement arrangements, and other trends are transforming countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, a region once known primarily for its emigration. The number of immigrants living in the region has nearly doubled since 2010, an incredible change in a short period of time. This article makes sense of a profound transition underway in the Western Hemisphere.

Image of passport page with variety of stamps
Articles

Top Statistics on Global Migration and Migrants

Looking for some of the most often-sought information on global migration? This statistics-rich article draws on the most current data sources to offer a primer on international migration, highlighting its types, the size of the migrant population and growth over time, and major sending and receiving countries and regions. Beyond looking at labor and humanitarian migrants and international students, the article examines remittances and more.

Featured

Catch our new podcast, which examines the challenges facing the world as it seeks to restart travel and migration chilled by the COVID-19 pandemic. The repercussions of this dramatic halt to mobility will be profound, and will almost certainly lead to transformations that will reshape movement for the foreseeable future—maybe even permanently, as we explore.

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Featured

The Migration Portal is the first comprehensive website that tracks developments on immigration policy in Latin America and the Caribbean, presenting authoritative research, data, and analysis produced by MPI, governments, international organizations, researchers, and civil society.

Recent Activity

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Reports
February 2014
Human Smuggling and Trafficking into Europe: A Comparative Perspective
By  Louise Shelley
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Reports
February 2014
Curbing the Influence of "Bad Actors" in International Migration (Transatlantic Council Statement)
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou
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Reports
February 2014
'Donkey Flights:' Illegal Immigration from the Punjab to the United Kingdom
By  Nicola Smith
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Reports
January 2014
Securing Borders: The Intended, Unintended, and Perverse Consequences
By  Randall Hansen and Demetrios G. Papademetriou
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Reports
January 2014
Spheres of Exploitation: Thwarting Actors Who Profit from Illegal Labor, Domestic Servitude, and Sex Work
By  Meghan Benton
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Reports
January 2014
A Strategic Framework for Creating Legality and Order in Immigration
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Will Somerville
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Reports
January 2014
Trade-Offs in Immigration Enforcement
By  Elizabeth Collett and Will Somerville
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Multimedia
December 12, 2013
Tackling Brain Waste among Immigrant Professionals: Initiatives to Improve the Recognition of Foreign Qualifications

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Recent Activity

Reports
February 2014

Curbing the Influence of "Bad Actors" in International Migration (Transatlantic Council Statement)

This Transatlantic Council on Migration Statement assesses the continuum of policies needed to disrupt illegal migration-related activities and addresses the conditions that make them possible. It examines the role of migration "bad actors"—human traffickers and unscrupulous employers, among them—who operate and profit in this environment, and considers how governments can deploy resources to discourage their actions.

Reports
February 2014

Human Smuggling and Trafficking into Europe: A Comparative Perspective

This report examines human trafficking and smuggling trends and routes to Europe, and profiles the facilitators and clients/victims of such activities. It also offers a menu of policy options that are likely to reduce trafficking and smuggling flows, noting that such policies must be multifaceted to address a variety of contributing factors simultaneously.
Reports
February 2014

'Donkey Flights:' Illegal Immigration from the Punjab to the United Kingdom

This report, based on an undercover exposé of Punjabi visa agencies by The Sunday Times, sketches one immigration loophole into Europe: so-called “donkey flights” by which Indian migrants obtain a tourist visa for a Schengen-zone country in order to enter the United Kingdom through the back door. Thousands of visa agencies operate in the Punjab region alone, with varying degrees of legality, some having links to criminal smuggling networks across Europe.
Reports
January 2014

Trade-Offs in Immigration Enforcement

Policymakers confront significant constraints in addressing the population of unauthorized migrants, including tackling illegal migration. This report, part of a Transatlantic Council on Migration series focused on migration "bad actors," explores the trade-offs that policymakers face with respect to comprehensive enforcement efforts.
Reports
January 2014

A Strategic Framework for Creating Legality and Order in Immigration

This report analyzes how governments ought to best allocate their resources to address the risks associated with migration—the "immigration harms" that undermine the positive economic and social benefits of immigration—including choosing which threats to tackle and where to prioritize enforcement efforts. Immigration policymakers can learn from other public policy regulation efforts to ensure that regulatory actions advance the public interest.
Reports
January 2014

Spheres of Exploitation: Thwarting Actors Who Profit from Illegal Labor, Domestic Servitude, and Sex Work

This report analyzes the exploitation of migrants in three spheres: the domestic care sector, the labor market, and the sex industry. It details several obstacles governments face in their efforts to weaken the "bad actors" that profit from exploitation, and shows how one of the biggest challenges facing law enforcement is that serious criminals and lawbreakers often operate on the edge of legality and exploit legal routes wherever possible.
Reports
January 2014

Securing Borders: The Intended, Unintended, and Perverse Consequences

This report outlines the security-related challenges that borders are intended to address—including terrorism, human smuggling and trafficking, illegal migration, and drug trafficking—and, in turn, the perverse consequences that tighter border enforcement can generate. As states implement extensive border controls and deterrence measures to prevent illegal migration, they indirectly push unauthorized migrants into the hands of smugglers and traffickers.
Video, Audio
December 12, 2013

Tackling Brain Waste among Immigrant Professionals: Initiatives to Improve the Recognition of Foreign Qualifications

This panel discussion focuses on the circulation of skilled immigrant professionals and the recognition of foreign qualifications in the United States and Europe.

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