Migration Information Source
Flore de Preneuf/World Bank
Credit cards, bank accounts, and other financial services are often critical in order to fully participate in the modern world. Yet many refugees and other forced migrants have trouble obtaining these seemingly simple tools, preventing them from full integration. This article outlines humanitarian migrants’ needs for financial services and the barriers that can arise.
The U.S. immigration system is notorious for persistent backlogs and antiquated processes. In recent months, under-the-radar changes have made a dent in the logjam and helped bring the system into the 21st century. But some pandemic-era changes are set to expire, potentially undoing the incremental reforms. This article details the quiet technological and efficiency improvements in U.S. immigration operations.
Is climate change a major driver of migration and displacement? From where are people leaving, and where are they going? This informative primer, a Climate Migration 101 of sorts, provides answers to basic questions about climate change and migration, starting with how and where climate change triggers human movement.
Mitchell Zachs/Knight Foundation
The United States is the world’s top destination for Haitian migrants, who in recent years have fled an array of disasters and crises. Compared to other immigrant groups in the United States, the nearly 731,000 Haitians are more likely to be naturalized citizens, arrive through family-based pathways, and work in the service industry, as this data-rich article details.
Turkey is home to the world’s largest refugee population, a fact that has been a source of pride, a geopolitical tool, and a logistical challenge. This article shows how the millions of Syrians who have arrived since 2011 comprise just one aspect of Turkey’s rich and complex migration history. The country has been a significant host, a transit point for individuals heading to Europe, and a source of migrant laborers.
Cutter Hamilton crew/U.S. Coast Guard
Amid the highest Caribbean maritime migration levels in a generation, the Biden administration is relying on a carrot-and-stick strategy it honed amid record unauthorized migration at the U.S.-Mexico border. The approach, combining limits on asylum, expanded legal pathways, and international enforcement partnerships, could be increasingly important if maritime migration rises, as this article explains.
Whether as migrant-sending or migrant-receiving locations—or both—many countries have rich, complex international and internal migration histories. MPI's online journal, the Migration Information Source, offers resources on more than 100 nations. Written by leading scholars, these articles delve into countries' migration histories, demographics, policymaking, and more.
Want to check a fact about U.S. immigration? Interested in putting recent trends into perspective? This article compiles authoritative, up-to-date information about the U.S. immigrant population and how it has changed over time. Data cover immigrants' demographic, educational, and linguistic characteristics; their top states of residence; enforcement activities; refugees and asylum seekers; naturalization trends; visa backlogs; and more.
Severe weather, rising seas, and other consequences of global climate change are affecting the way people live, work, and move around the planet. While there is no clear, direct line between the impacts of climate change and changing human movement, there are indications that the warming planet is indirectly creating or altering patterns of migration. Our podcast Changing Climate, Changing Migration dives deep into the intersection of climate change and migration to separate fact from fiction.
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Interested in answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about immigration and immigrants in the United States? This incredible resource collects in one place top statistics from authoritative government and nongovernmental sources, offering a snapshot of the immigrant population, visa and enforcement statistics, and data on emerging trends, including the slowing of growth of the foreign-born population, changing origins, and increasing educational levels.
As highly industrialized countries ramp up their border controls, human smugglers are playing a central role in moving migrants through key migration corridors around the world. Despite the illicit nature of their work and being cast as villains in the public eye, smugglers have complex, multifaceted relationships with their clients. At times, the relationship can be mutually beneficial or even lifesaving; at others, it can be predatory and dangerous, as this article explores.
Forty-two governors, Republican and Democrat alike, have affirmed their consent for continued refugee resettlement, bypassing an invitation from the Trump administration to stop accepting refugees. These actions, which reportedly surprised the White House, suggest there may be limits to the Trump immigration agenda when it comes to refugees, as this Policy Beat explores.
India is the world's largest source for immigrant physicians, and for Indian-trained doctors and nurses the allure of working abroad is strong despite an acute domestic shortage of health-care workers. Against this pull, the Indian government has enacted a number of policies to limit and regulate the emigration of health-care professionals, though these have been more ad hoc in nature and not part of a fully realized strategy.
Nearly 2.5 million Chinese immigrants lived in the United States in 2018—the third largest foreign-born population in the country. Chinese immigration has grown nearly seven-fold since 1980, and China became the top sending country of immigrants in the United States in 2018, replacing Mexico. Chinese immigrants tend to be highly educated and employed in management positions, as this Spotlight article explores.
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In Moldova, 100,000 children have been left behind by migrant parents; in Ukraine, there are 200,000 such children. The scale of labor migration and impact of remittances on both economies have prompted Moldova and Ukraine to work with the European Union and international organizations to develop policies addressing the welfare of left-behind children. This article examines research on the effects of parental migration on children and the policy environment.
Pacific Islanders with criminal convictions have found themselves deported from Australia, New Zealand, or the United States, which have shifted their immigration enforcement priorities in recent years. This article explores the significant barriers to reintegration that criminal deportees in Pacific Island countries face upon their return, including difficulty accessing community networks and jobs.
Recent surges in the arrival of unauthorized migrants with possible humanitarian claims have prompted the United States and the European Union to consider in-country and offshore processing for some refugee and asylum applications. As this article explores, some of the questions raised about the feasibility of such programs include their consistency with humanitarian law and their effectiveness in reducing unwanted entries.
Drawing on a case study of two Hmong refugee populations from Laos that were resettled in a major Texas city and a German village, this article explores the different approaches to immigrant integration found in the United States and Germany as well as the outcomes for the Hmong and their sense of belonging in their new communities.
Central American migrants have long hopped freight trains known as "La Bestia," or the beast, to get through Mexico en route to the United States. While Mexico has been accused of turning a blind eye to this traffic, U.S. outcry over the surge of unaccompanied child migrants has drawn new attention to the use of the trains. This article highlights the journey aboard the trains, the dangers faced by migrants, and responses by the Mexican government and others.
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Nearly 1.3 million individuals became lawful permanent residents of the United States in 2006. MPI's Gretchen Reinemeyer and Jeanne Batalova look at the latest statistics on legal immigration.
Of the 15.36 million union members in 2006, 12 percent were foreign born. MPI's Chuncui Velma Fan and Jeanne Batalova examine the data on immigrants and labor unions from 1996 to 2006.
Over half of the foreign born in the United States in 2005 arrived in 1990 or later. MPI's Jeanne Batalova and Aaron Terrazas look at the countries of origin, education levels, occupations, and other characteristics of newer immigrants.
In 2005, U.S. immigration officials detained nearly a quarter of a million individuals. MPI's Dawn Konet and Jeanne Batalova look at the most recent data on apprehensions, detentions, and removals.
In 2005, 15 percent of all U.S. health-care workers were foreign born. MPI's Esha Clearfield and Jeanne Batalova report.
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MPI's Julia Gelatt reports on the provisions of the Senate compromise immigration bill; new strategies for internal immigration enforcement; and Georgia's strict new controls regarding unauthorized immigrants, plus other immigration news.
MPI's Julia Gelatt reports on the Judiciary Committee's proposals for immigration reform, which set the stage for Senate debate on the topic, plus other immigration news.
MPI’s Julia Gelatt reports on funding for immigration in Bush’s 2007 budget proposal, the State of the Union Address, upcoming immigration debate in the Senate, expedited removal along the northern border, and more.
MPI's Julia Gelatt reports on immigration leadership appointments, changes to the citizenship test, criticism of immigration judges, new border initiatives, and more.
MPI's Julia Gelatt reports on House passage of immigration enforcement legislation, immigration measures in budget legislation, upcoming regulations for worksite enforcement, new government reports, and more.
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