U.S. Immigration Policy Program

Commentaries

March 2024

As Europe and the United States Face Similar Migration Challenges, Spain Can Act as a Bridge

Image of female worker at the Boqueria market in Barcelona making a crepe

Marcel Crozet/ILO

Spain and the United States both receive their greatest number of immigrants from Latin America, and have worked collaboratively together on displacement crises and other migration issues. As shared immigration challenges dominate debate on both sides of the Atlantic, Spain can serve as a vital bridge in the policy conversation, this commentary notes.

Policy Briefs

February 2024

A New Way Forward for Employment-Based Immigration: The Bridge Visa

A man in a high-visibility jacket and gloves at work

Aaron Sussell/U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. employment-based visa policies, last updated in 1990, are not aligned with the country’s current and future labor market needs. This policy brief outlines MPI’s proposal for a new visa pathway that could help the United States better leverage immigration to meet its labor market needs, boost protections for both U.S.- and foreign-born workers, and flexibly adapt to future economic and demographic changes.

Reports

February 2024

Outmatched: The U.S. Asylum System Faces Record Demands

Inadmissible migrants, some seeking asylum, are processed by CBP officers

Mani Albrecht/CBP

The U.S. humanitarian protection system, known for its long history of assisting those in need, has come under incredible pressure in recent years. The asylum adjudications system, which is under-resourced, is struggling to keep up with record asylum seeker arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border. This report examines the state of the asylum system, including changes under the Biden administration and potential lessons for other countries.

Reports

January 2024

Immigrants’ Eligibility for U.S. Public Benefits: A Primer

A young nurse hugs an elderly patient in a wheelchair

iStock.com/PeopleImages

Immigrants’ eligibility for public benefits in the United States is governed by a complex patchwork of rules that make many groups of noncitizens eligible for some benefits but not others, while other noncitizens are excluded completely. This report provides an overview of immigrants’ eligibility for programs related to general assistance, health and nutrition, employment and income, education, housing, driver’s licenses, and more.

Reports

January 2024

Migration at the U.S.-Mexico Border: A Challenge Decades in the Making

U.S.-Mexico border fence with Tijuana on the left

Josh Denmark/CBP

Unauthorized migration at the U.S.-Mexico border has been a high-profile and politically divisive issue for decades. But as the nature of migration at the border has changed profoundly, U.S. policy responses have struggled to keep up. This report explores the changing nature of migration flows and migration policy at the border from the early 1990s until today, highlighting key lessons for contemporary policy-making.

Reports

January 2024

Shifting Realities at the U.S.-Mexico Border: Immigration Enforcement and Control in a Fast-Evolving Landscape

CBP officers screen border crossers at the San Ysidro Port of Entry

Jerry Glaser/CBP

All eyes are on the U.S.-Mexico border, where shifting migration trends and record migrant arrivals have stretched the U.S. border management system beyond its capabilities. As the Biden administration continues to implement its new regime of incentives for orderly arrivals and disincentives for unauthorized crossings, this report analyzes the rapidly changing policy and migration realities and outlines recommendations for a more effective, durable system of border control.

President Joe Biden signs an executive order.

Articles

Biden at the Three-Year Mark: The Most Active Immigration Presidency Yet Is Mired in Border Crisis Narrative

In three years, President Joe Biden has surpassed the number of immigration-focused executive actions taken by the Trump administration throughout its entire four-year term, making his the most active U.S. presidency ever on immigration. Yet the Biden administration has been repeatedly accused of inaction at the U.S.-Mexico border, where record levels of migrant encounters have occurred. This article reviews the Biden track record on immigration.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams meeting with asylum seekers.

Articles

New York and Other U.S. Cities Struggle with High Costs of Migrant Arrivals

U.S. cities have spent billions of dollars to provide shelter, health care, and other resources to migrants recently arrived from the U.S.-Mexico border. The exceptional costs, which the New York mayor has described as existential, are due to a unique combination of factors, this article explains, including the large numbers of migrants arriving without local connections and long waits for work permits.

Recent Activity

Multimedia February 4, 2021 Prospects for a U.S. Legalization Program and the Unauthorized Immigrant Groups that Could Factor in the Debate	Reports February 2021 Back on the Table: U.S. Legalization and the Unauthorized Immigrant Groups that Could Factor in the Debate By Jessica Bolter, Muzaffar Chishti and Doris Meissner
Articles January 27, 2021 Biden Sets the Stage for a Remarkably Active First 100 Days on Immigration By Muzaffar Chishti and Sarah Pierce	Reports January 2021 Obscure but Powerful: Shaping U.S. Immigration Policy through Attorney General Referral and Review By Sarah Pierce
Articles January 14, 2021 International Students in the United States By Emma Israel and Jeanne Batalova	Commentaries January 2021 Nearly 3 Million U.S. Citizens and Legal Immigrants Initially Excluded under the CARES Act Are Covered under the December 2020 COVID-19 Stimulus By Julia Gelatt, Randy Capps and Michael Fix
Commentaries December 2020 Anticipated “Chilling Effects” of the Public-Charge Rule Are Real: Census Data Reflect Steep Decline in Benefits Use by Immigrant Families By Randy Capps, Michael Fix and Jeanne Batalova	Fact Sheets December 2020 Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States: Stable Numbers, Changing Origins By Randy Capps, Julia Gelatt, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and Jennifer Van Hook

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Reports January 2011 Delegation and Divergence: 287(g) State and Local Immigration Enforcement By Randy Capps, Marc R. Rosenblum, Muzaffar Chishti and Cristina Rodríguez	Policy Briefs December 2010 More than IRCA: U.S. Legalization Programs and the Current Policy Debate By Donald M. Kerwin
Policy Briefs December 2010 Immigrant Legalization in the United States and European Union: Policy Goals and Program Design By Marc R. Rosenblum	Fact Sheets December 2010 Updated Estimates of the 2010 DREAM Act
Policy Briefs November 2010 Structuring and Implementing an Immigrant Legalization Program: Registration as the First Step By Donald M. Kerwin and Laureen Laglagaron	Policy Briefs July 2010 DREAM vs. Reality: An Analysis of Potential DREAM Act Beneficiaries By Jeanne Batalova and Margie McHugh
Books April 2010 Securing Human Mobility in the Age of Risk: New Challenges for Travel, Migration, and Borders By Susan Ginsburg	Reports March 2010 A Program in Flux: New Priorities and Implementation Challenges for 287(g) By Cristina Rodríguez , Muzaffar Chishti, Randy Capps and Laura St. John

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Outside of the Justice Department building

Feature

October 3, 2019

Crisis in the Courts: Is the Backlogged U.S. Immigration Court System at Its Breaking Point?

With a backlog of more than 1 million removal cases, the U.S. immigration court system is in crisis. Pressure from external forces, internal challenges, and lagging resources for the courts at a time of massive increases in spending on immigration enforcement have contributed to the backlog. This article explores how the system got to the breaking point, and what opportunities for reform exist.

An apprehended migrant sits in a truck with his hands in his face

Policy Beat

September 25, 2019

Supreme Court Asylum Ruling Latest Sign Judiciary Is Not the Brake on the Trump Administration that Immigration-Rights Activists Sought

Buoyed by initial successes challenging Trump administration immigration actions such as the travel ban in federal court, many critics expected the judiciary to act as a brake on major changes to the immigration system. Yet the Supreme Court has repeatedly shown a willingness to affirm the executive branch's immigration policies, most recently permitting what is arguably the most significant asylum policy change in four decades to proceed.

Spotlight

August 15, 2019

Central American Immigrants in the United States

While much attention has been paid to recent Central American arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border, nearly half of the approximately 3.5 million Central Americans resident in the United States in 2017 arrived before 2000. About one-third are naturalized U.S. citizens, and they tend to participate in the labor force at a higher rate than foreign- and U.S.-born adults. Discover more about this population in this data-rich article.

Spotlight

August 15, 2019

Inmigrantes centroamericanos en los Estados Unidos

Si bien se ha prestado mucha atención a los centroamericanos recién llegados a la frontera entre los Estados Unidos y México, casi la mitad de los aproximadamente 3.5 millones que vivían en los Estados Unidos en 2017 llegaron antes de 2000. Aproximadamente un tercio son ciudadanos estadounidenses y tienden a participar en la fuerza laboral con más frecuencia que otros extranjeros y estadounidenses. Descubra más en este artículo lleno de datos.

Policy Beat

July 25, 2019

Democrats Under Pressure: Political Calendar Exposes Ideological Differences on Immigration

Ideological differences in the Democratic Party over immigration that were once masked by unity against President Trump’s border wall and immigration agenda are now being exposed as Democratic presidential candidates seek to stand out in a crowded field and amid controversy over an emergency border spending bill. As the 2020 electoral calendar accelerates, how the party navigates the gulf between its most liberal and conservative wings will become a greater challenge for its leaders.

Pages

Video, Audio

June 24, 2014

Detained or Deported: How Parents in the Immigration Enforcement System Can Protect their Children

This MPI panel discussion focuses on a toolkit by the Women's Refugee Commission to provide detained and deported immigrants as well as unauthorized immigrant mothers and fathers with crucial information to protect and maintain their parental rights and make well-informed decisions regarding the care and welfare of their children.

EventPH 2014.4.29 The Deportation Story 3

Video, Audio

April 29, 2014

The Deportation Story: Deporter-in-Chief, Releaser-in-Chief, or Reformer-in-Chief?

This MPI panel discussion examines the U.S. deportation system with analysis on migrant apprehensions, removals, returns, and criminal prosecutions, and launches the report, "The Deportation Dilemma: Reconciling Tough and Humane Enforcement."

EventPH 2014.03.20 Children on the Run An Analysis of First Hand Accounts from Children Fleeing Central America

Video, Audio

March 12, 2014

Children on the Run: An Analysis of First-Hand Accounts from Children Fleeing Central America

This event with UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres features findings from UNHCR’s report, Children on the Run, which examines the increasing numbers of children from Central America and Mexico who head off alone to find refuge in the United States, fleeing violence, insecurity, and abuse.

EventPH 2014.02.27 A Treacherous Journey Child Migrants Navigating the U.S. Immigration System

Video, Audio

February 27, 2014

A Treacherous Journey: Child Migrants Navigating the U.S. Immigration System

This panel discussion on unaccompanied minors focuses on a report by Kids in Need of Defense and the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies at UC Hastings College of the Law, whose primary conclusion is that children face a U.S. immigration system created for adults that is not required to consider the child’s best interests.

EventPH 2014.02.19 A Transatlantic Conversation Managing Migration in the Era of Mobility2

Video, Audio

February 19, 2014

A Transatlantic Conversation: Managing Migration in the Era of Mobility

This discussion explores how the 2014 Greek Presidency of the European Union and the United States can work to address the challenges of managing migration while meeting humanitarian obligations and nurturing economic growth.

Recent Activity

Video, Webinars

February 4, 2021

Prospects for a U.S. Legalization Program and the Unauthorized Immigrant Groups that Could Factor in the Debate

Following President Biden's call on Congress to enact a sweeping immigration proposal that offers most unauthorized immigrants a pathway to citizenship, this discussion examines the prospects for any legislative efforts at immigration reform, what bipartisan support might develop, and the various legalization policy options. The event also showcases MPI estimates of subgroups within the unauthorized population, including DREAMers and essential workers.

Reports

February 2021

Back on the Table: U.S. Legalization and the Unauthorized Immigrant Groups that Could Factor in the Debate

With legalization of the U.S. unauthorized immigrant population back on the table, this report offers estimates and characteristics for subgroups that have particularly strong equities, including DREAMers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients, and parents and spouses of U.S. citizens. It also traces past legalizations and details the range and scope of legalization options that policymakers have.

Articles

January 27, 2021

Biden Sets the Stage for a Remarkably Active First 100 Days on Immigration

The Biden administration has set the pace for what could be the most active first 100 days on immigration policy by any White House in recent memory—even that of predecessor Donald Trump. The efforts, which represent a dramatic break from the Trump administration's view of immigration as threat, are likely to meet stiff opposition on Capitol Hill and elsewhere. This article evaluates Biden's early actions and what they suggest about the White House's ambitions on immigration.

Reports

January 2021

Obscure but Powerful: Shaping U.S. Immigration Policy through Attorney General Referral and Review

Among the many executive action tools the Trump administration used to significantly rewrite U.S. immigration policy is an obscure but powerful legal authority known as the attorney general’s referral and review. This report examines how this power’s use and impact have changed over time, deep-rooted concerns about it that predate the Trump administration but that have grown due to its more frequent use, and ways to improve it going forward.

Articles

January 14, 2021

International Students in the United States

For the first time in a decade, fewer international students were studying in the United States during the 2019-20 school year than the year before. This decline, brought about in part by changing U.S. policy, has been aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This article profiles the international student population in the United States, including their origins and fields of study.

Commentaries

January 2021

Nearly 3 Million U.S. Citizens and Legal Immigrants Initially Excluded under the CARES Act Are Covered under the December 2020 COVID-19 Stimulus

The pandemic-recovery stimulus package that passed Congress in December rectified what many had viewed as a significant oversight in the earlier CARES Act: Its exclusion of U.S. citizens and legal immigrants in mixed-status families. MPI researchers estimate nearly 3 million U.S. citizens and legal immigrants excluded from the earlier legislation can receive the later relief, as well as qualify retroactively for the CARES Act payment, as this commentary explores.

Commentaries

December 2020

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.

Fact Sheets

December 2020

Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States: Stable Numbers, Changing Origins

After decades of growth, the number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States has remained largely stable since the 2008–09 recession. The group's demographics are changing, though, with a shrinking number of Mexicans and rising Asian and Central American arrivals. This fact sheet presents a profile of these 11 million individuals, including top origin countries; U.S. destinations; and age, education, job, income, home ownership, English proficiency, and other characteristics.

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