E.g., 04/18/2024
E.g., 04/18/2024
North America

North America

United States
Canada
Mexico

North America is a dynamic migration region, with the United States home to more immigrants than any other country in the world, the Mexico-U.S. corridor the globe's top migration corridor, and Canada a leading destination for migrants. Research collected here focuses on everything from visa policy and border management to immigrant integration, national identity, the demographics of immigrants in the region and their educational and workforce outcomes, and ways to more effectively use migration policy as a lever for national and regional competitiveness.

Graphic image of man's hand touching screen with word skills
Commentaries

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

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.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other leaders at the 2022 Summit of the Americas
Commentaries

The Los Angeles Declaration Could Represent a Big Step for Real Migration Cooperation across the Americas

The Los Angeles Agreement on Migration and Protection signed by leaders from 20 countries across the Western Hemisphere at the 2022 Summit of the Americas marks a significant step forward in creating a common language and a coherent set of ideas for more cooperatively managing migration movements across a region that has seen very significant mobility in recent years, as this commentary explains.

Recent Activity

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Policy Briefs
March 2017
Revised Trump Executive Order and Guidance on Refugee Resettlement and Travel Ban
By  Sarah Pierce and Doris Meissner
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Reports
March 2017
Rebuilding after Crisis: Embedding Refugee Integration in Migration Management Systems (Council Statement)
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Meghan Benton and Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan
Flickr Katelyn Brown and 3 ell students at Vaile rcs aprill 2014
Multimedia
March 9, 2017
Strategic Opportunities for Including English Learners in ESSA State Accountability Plans
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Commentaries
March 2017
Trump and DeVos: What Could the New Administration Spell for English Learner and Immigrant Students?
By  Julie Sugarman
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Fact Sheets
March 2017
Facts about English Learners and the NCLB/ESSA Transition in Select States
By  Julie Sugarman and Kevin Lee
Naturalization OldSalemInc Flickr
Articles
March 8, 2017
Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States
By Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova
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Commentaries
March 2017
The Revised Trump Travel Ban: Who Might Be Affected from the Six Targeted Countries?
By  Sarah Pierce
2017.2.28 PHOTO Reducing Integration Barriers photo from Upwardly Global
Multimedia
February 28, 2017
Reducing Integration Barriers Facing Foreign-Trained Immigrants: Policy and Practice Lessons from Across the United States

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Spotlight
December 8, 2011
Green Card Holders and Legal Immigration to the United States

More than 1 million people became legal permanent residents (LPRs) in the United States in 2010. Nearly two-thirds of new LPRs are immigrants with family ties in the United States, report MPI’s Carola Balbuena and Jeanne Batalova in this updated look at the latest statistics on legal immigration.

Top Ten
December 1, 2011
Caught between Two Migration Realities, Mexico Passes New Immigration Legislation

Migration to and through Mexico has been a critical policy issue for the Mexican government since the 1980s, as large numbers of Central Americans have flowed in through the country's porous southern border, first in flight during times of civil war and humanitarian crises and later in pursuit of greater economic opportunity in the United States.

Top Ten
December 1, 2011
A Decade after 9/11, Enforcement Focus Prevails in the United States; Broader Immigration Reforms Remain Stalled

As the United States paused in September to mark the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the enforcement paradigm that took hold immediately after the terrorist attacks showed no signs of waning.

Top Ten
December 1, 2011
Immigrant Detention under Scrutiny in Australia, United Kingdom, and United States

Public backlash against the detention systems of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States mounted in 2011 with allegations of unacceptable living conditions, abuse, prolonged detention, and government waste.

Top Ten
December 1, 2011
Heading into the 2012 Elections, Republican Presidential Candidates Walk the Immigration Policy Tightrope

The debate season is well underway for the Republican presidential primary races in the United States, and immigration has once again emerged as a highly contentious policy issue.

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Recent Activity

Policy Briefs
March 2017

Revised Trump Executive Order and Guidance on Refugee Resettlement and Travel Ban

This brief examines President Trump's revised executive order issued in March 2017, replacing an earlier legally contested version suspending travel from certain majority-Muslim countries and pausing the U.S. refugee resettlement program. The brief compares the revised executive order to provisions of the original one, as well as to prior policy and practice.

Reports
March 2017

Rebuilding after Crisis: Embedding Refugee Integration in Migration Management Systems (Council Statement)

This Transatlantic Council Statement explores the integration questions that the recent refugee and migration crisis in Europe has brought to the fore and their effect on broader governance structures for managing migration. As the immediate pressures have abated, policymakers have refocused their energies on preventing the next crisis and ensuring that newcomers—and the communities in which they settle—have the tools to thrive.

Video, Audio, Webinars
March 9, 2017

Strategic Opportunities for Including English Learners in ESSA State Accountability Plans

This discussion focuses on practices and options that states could adopt to hold schools accountable for English Learners’ achievement in the fairest and most accurate manner as part of the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act. This webinar marks the release of a set of 13 state fact sheets, available on MPI's web page English Learners and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), that provide a sketch of EL demographics, student outcomes, and accountability mechanisms under ESSA and its predecessor.

Commentaries
March 2017

Trump and DeVos: What Could the New Administration Spell for English Learner and Immigrant Students?

The selection of Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary and President Trump’s immigration enforcement-focused executive orders have left many parents and educators wondering how the new administration’s policies will affect students from immigrant families and the schools that serve them. The simple answer, as this commentary explores, is: It will depend on the actions of state and local policymakers where those students live.

Fact Sheets
March 2017

Facts about English Learners and the NCLB/ESSA Transition in Select States

These fact sheets provide a sketch of key characteristics of the foreign-born and English Learner (EL) populations in select states. The fact sheets look at the demographics of these states, discuss EL student outcomes as measured by standardized tests, and conclude with an overview of state accountability mechanisms that affect ELs under relevant provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act and predecessor No Child Left Behind Act.

Articles
March 8, 2017

Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

In 2015, 43.3 million immigrants lived in the United States, comprising 13.5 percent of the population. The foreign-born population grew more slowly than in prior years, up 2 percent from 2014. Get sought-after data on U.S. immigration trends, including top countries of origin, Mexican migration, refugee admissions, illegal immigration, health-care coverage, and much more in this Spotlight article.

Commentaries
March 2017

The Revised Trump Travel Ban: Who Might Be Affected from the Six Targeted Countries?

The revised travel ban executive order signed by President Trump on March 6, 2017 significantly narrows an earlier order that provoked chaos at U.S. airports and sparked many legal challenges. Still, as with the earlier version, it represents a sharp cut in the refugee resettlement program and restricts nationals from six majority-Muslim countries from newly entering the United States, as this commentary explores.

Video, Audio, Webinars
February 28, 2017

Reducing Integration Barriers Facing Foreign-Trained Immigrants: Policy and Practice Lessons from Across the United States

Marking the release of a report on the barriers foreign-trained high-skilled immigrants face in the United States, this webinar examines programs and initiatives that assist with credential recognition, employment, and relicensure, as well as recent policy developments. Discussants review recommendations for community-based organizations, employers, and policymakers to expand successful efforts aimed at preventing brain waste. 

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