E.g., 01/26/2023
E.g., 01/26/2023
U.S. Immigration Policy Program

U.S. Immigration Policy Program

Border Security
Immigrant Profiles & Demographics
Employment & the Economy
Illegal Immigration & Interior Enforcement
Immigrant Integration
Immigration Policy & Law
Refugee & Asylum Policy
Pause
Policy Beat
January 26, 2023

Biden at the Two-Year Mark: Significant Immigration Actions Eclipsed by Record Border Numbers

President Joe Biden at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Tia Dufour/DHS

At his term's midpoint, President Joe Biden has relied on executive action to advance his immigration agenda more than his predecessors, including Donald Trump. Yet many of the changes to interior enforcement, humanitarian protection, and other areas have been overshadowed by the record pace of arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border, which has presented the administration with major policy and operational challenges.

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Fact Sheets
December 2022

The Skills and Economic Outcomes of Immigrant and U.S.-Born College Graduates

An FDA researcher stores stem cell samples for analysis
Michael J. Ermarth/FDA

College-educated immigrants are more likely to have advanced degrees than their U.S.-born peers with college degrees. But their educational levels have not always translated into similar occupational gains: They are more likely to be overeducated for their positions. Drawing on PIAAC data, this fact sheet sketches educational characteristics, monthly earnings, skill underutilization, and job quality for immigrant and U.S.-born college graduates alike.

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Fact Sheets
November 2022

A Profile of Low-Income Immigrants in the United States

A crowd of people outside a food pantry
iStock.com/Massimo Giachetti

Immigrants in the United States experience strong economic mobility overall. But for some, limited educational attainment and English proficiency, and the challenges of restarting life in a new country, can result in low incomes and economic hardship. This fact sheet looks at the origins, states of residence, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, and employment of low-income immigrants.

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Commentaries
October 2022

Record-Breaking Migrant Encounters at the U.S.-Mexico Border Overlook the Bigger Story

Photo of individuals re-entering Mexico after U.S. expulsion
Jerry Glaser/U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Headlines focusing on the record-breaking nature of the 2.4 million migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2022 overlook the much bigger story: Migrant and asylum seeker flows have rapidly diversified beyond Mexico and northern Central America and as a result, U.S. enforcement policies are misaligned. Today's reality sharply underscores the need for new regional approaches, this commentary argues.

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Policy Briefs
October 2022

Diverging Pathways: Immigrants’ Legal Status and Access to Postsecondary Credentials

A young woman operating an industrial drilling machine
iStock.com/Omar Osman

As the United States seeks to adapt to trends such as technological change and aging that are reshaping the labor market, increasing productivity and the number of high-skilled workers will be critical. This issue brief explores the characteristics of the 115 million adults without postsecondary credentials, 21 percent of them immigrant, as well as the prospects for credential acquisition for foreign-born subgroups.

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Reports
July 2022

Changing the Playbook: Immigrants and the COVID-19 Response in Two U.S. Communities

Aerial views of Worthington, MN, and Houston, TX
iStock.com/Jacob Boomsma & iStock.com/simonkr

U.S. cities and towns have responded to COVID-19 in ways that are as diverse as the communities they aim to support. This report looks at how two very different locations—Worthington, MN, and the greater Houston area—incorporated immigrants into their relief efforts, through partnerships, strategic outreach, targeted assistance, and more. The report also highlights useful lessons for responses to future emergencies.

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A person walks with luggage in John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.
Articles

After a Slump, Legal Immigration to the United States Is Returning to Pre-Pandemic Levels

Legal immigration to the United States fell to its lowest level in years during the COVID-19 pandemic, but preliminary data suggest it is returning to previous levels, belying predictions that the public-health crisis had allowed the Trump administration to make lasting, deep cuts. Yet the patterns have changed and persistent case processing backlogs could spell long-term problems, as this article explores.

A mariachi band performing in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Articles

Mexican Immigrants in the United States

Mexicans are by far the largest immigrant group in the United States, accounting for nearly one-fourth of all immigrants. However their numbers have been declining and in 2021 there were 1 million fewer than a decade ago. At the same time, despite years in which more new migrants came from China and India, Mexicans once again count as the largest group of new arrivals. This article outlines the changing shape and composition of this immigrant population.

Rethinking US Immigration CMS

Featured

The Rethinking U.S. Immigration Policy Initiative is generating a big-picture, evidence-driven vision of the role immigration can and should play in America’s future. In a range of reports and other analyses, the Rethinking Initiative is examining the state of the U.S. asylum system, border enforcement, the legal immigration system, immigration detention, and the immigration courts, and is advancing pragmatic policy solutions to fix the long dysfunctional immigration system.

Recent Activity

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Reports
September 2006
Immigration and America's Future: A New Chapter (Executive Summary)
By  Doris Meissner, Deborah W. Meyers, Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Michael Fix
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Reports
September 2006
Immigration and America's Future: A New Chapter
By  Doris Meissner, Deborah W. Meyers, Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Michael Fix
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Reports
September 2006
America's Human Rights Challenge: International Human Rights Implications of U.S. Immigration Enforcement Actions Post-September 11
By  Susan Gzesh
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Policy Briefs
August 2006
The Impact of Immigration on Native Workers: A Fresh Look at the Evidence
By  Julie Murray, Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
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Policy Briefs
July 2006
Immigration Enforcement: Beyond the Border and the Workplace
By  David A. Martin
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Policy Briefs
July 2006
Immigrants and Labor Force Trends: The Future, Past, and Present
By  Julia Gelatt, Jeanne Batalova and B. Lindsay Lowell
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Policy Briefs
July 2006
The Contributions of High-Skilled Immigrants
By  Michael Fix and Neeraj Kaushal
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Reports
February 2006
Countering Terrorist Mobility: Shaping an Operational Strategy
By  Susan Ginsburg

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Recent Activity

Reports
September 2006

Immigration and America's Future: A New Chapter

The culminating report of the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America’s Future seeks to design a new and simplified immigration regime that averts illegal immigration, and at the same time, harnesses the benefits of immigration for the future.

Reports
September 2006

Immigration and America's Future: A New Chapter (Executive Summary)

The culminating report of the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America’s Future seeks to design a new and simplified immigration regime that averts illegal immigration, and at the same time, harnesses the benefits of immigration for the future. .

Reports
September 2006

La inmigración y el futuro de los Estados Unidos: Un nuevo capítulo (Resumen ejecutivo)

¿Qué clase de política y sistema de inmigración podría aprovechar los beneficios de la inmigración para avanzar los intereses nacionales de EE.UU. en el siglo XXI? El Grupo de Trabajo sobre Inmigración y el Futuro de los Estados Unidos fue convocado por el Instituto de Política Migratoria (MPI) debatir este tema.

Policy Briefs
August 2006

The Impact of Immigration on Native Workers: A Fresh Look at the Evidence

This report examines the debate over whether immigrants depress wages and displace native workers in the U.S. labor market. It provides an overview of research since the mid-1990s studying the impact of immigration on native wages and job displacement, and reviews additional factors that may affect labor markets.

Policy Briefs
July 2006

The Contributions of High-Skilled Immigrants

This report provides a background for policy discussion on high-skilled immigration to the United States by presenting an occupational profile of foreign-born professionals and highlighting their contributions to the U.S. economy.

Policy Briefs
July 2006

Immigrants and Labor Force Trends: The Future, Past, and Present

Debates on immigration policy often discuss calibrating immigration levels to meet the labor needs of the nation’s economy. Indeed, it is clear that immigration strongly affects U.S. labor markets – over the past thirty years, foreign-born workers have grown to record numbers.

Policy Briefs
July 2006

Immigration Enforcement: Beyond the Border and the Workplace

New immigration legislation must include changes to achieve effective and resolute enforcement of the immigration laws. Because border and workplace enforcement have been addressed elsewhere, this policy brief offers suggestions for other key enforcement improvements that Congress should implement.

Reports
February 2006

Countering Terrorist Mobility: Shaping an Operational Strategy

This report examines how counterterrorism strategy relates to border security and immigration reform, and how terrorist mobility should be countered. The author argues that terrorist mobility comprises a set of problems distinct from the challenges of managing large-scale global migration.

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