North America

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.

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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

Explainers April 2019 Explainer: Illegal Immigration in the United States By Jessica Bolter	Articles February 13, 2019 Caribbean Immigrants in the United States By Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova
Articles January 31, 2019 The Travel Ban at Two: Rocky Implementation Settles into Deeper Impacts By Muzaffar Chishti and Jessica Bolter	Policy Briefs January 2019 Creatividad dentro de la crisis: opciones legales para migrantes venezolanos en América Latina By Andrew Selee, Jessica Bolter, Betilde Muñoz-Pogossian and Miryam Hazán
Policy Briefs January 2019 Creativity amid Crisis: Legal Pathways for Venezuelan Migrants in Latin America By Andrew Selee, Jessica Bolter, Betilde Muñoz-Pogossian and Miryam Hazán	Multimedia January 16, 2019 Promising Strategies for Reintegration of Migrants Returning to Mexico and Central America
Articles January 17, 2019 Immigrants from New Origin Countries in the United States By Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova	Reports January 2019 Sustainable Reintegration: Strategies to Support Migrants Returning to Mexico and Central America By Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas, Luis Argueta and Randy Capps

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Reports October 2008 Uneven Progress: The Employment Pathways of Skilled Immigrants in the United States By Jeanne Batalova, Michael Fix and Peter A. Creticos	Reports October 2008 Hybrid Immigrant-Selection Systems: The Next Generation of Economic Migration Schemes By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Will Somerville and Hiroyuki Tanaka
Fact Sheets October 2008 Foreign-Born Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces By Aaron Terrazas	Reports September 2008 Gambling on the Future: Managing the Education Challenges of Rapid Growth in Nevada By Aaron Terrazas and Michael Fix
Policy Briefs September 2008 High Stakes, More Meaning: An Overview of the Process of Redesigning the U.S. Citizenship Test By Laureen Laglagaron	Policy Briefs September 2008 Learning by Doing: Experiences of Circular Migration By Kathleen Newland, Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza and Aaron Terrazas
Policy Briefs July 2008 Hometown Associations: An Untapped Resource for Immigrant Integration? By Aaron Terrazas, Jamie Durana and Will Somerville	Reports April 2008 Los Angeles on the Leading Edge: Immigrant Integration Indicators and their Policy Implications By Michael Fix, Margie McHugh, Aaron Terrazas and Laureen Laglagaron

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Spotlight

January 28, 2015

Chinese Immigrants in the United States

With the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1943 and normalization of U.S.-China relations in the late 1970s, Chinese immigration to the United States has steadily increased, to a population of more than 2 million. Using the latest data, this Spotlight highlights characteristics of Chinese immigrants from mainland China and Hong Kong, including their top state and metro areas of residence, immigration pathways, educational attainment, and more.

Policy Beat

January 13, 2015

Normalization of Relations with Cuba May Portend Changes to U.S. Immigration Policy

Normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States will have a significant impact on U.S. immigration policy and future Cuban migration to the United States. This Policy Beat explores the U.S.-Cuba migration relationship, as fear of changes to the "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy has spurred hundreds of new boat arrivals in recent months.

Top Ten

December 18, 2014

Border Controls under Challenge: A New Chapter Opens

In 2014 governments in Europe, North America, and Australia reacted to significant mixed flows of humanitarian, economic, and family-stream migrants with a range of new policies. These came as some migrants presented themselves to authorities for processing rather than trying to evade U.S. or European border controls, with the knowledge that backlogs and little political will for the removal of vulnerable populations might allow them to stay for extended periods.

Top Ten

December 18, 2014

President Obama Breaks Immigration Impasse with Sweeping Executive Action

After years of gridlock, increasing pressure from immigrant advocates, and several delays in 2014, President Obama announced sweeping executive actions to provide deportation relief to as many as 5.2 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States. The plan sparked a political firestorm among Republicans who vowed to use all tools at their disposal to block the actions, ensuring that immigration will continue to be a flashpoint for the remainder of the president's term.

Top Ten

December 18, 2014

World Confronts Largest Humanitarian Crisis since WWII

The number of people around the world forcibly displaced by conflict or persecution reached its highest total since World War II, with more than 51.2 million fleeing their country or displaced within it, the UN refugee agency reported in 2014. An estimated 13.6 million people have been displaced by conflicts in Syria and Iraq alone, constituting what the UN High Commissioner for Refugees dubbed a mega-crisis.

Recent Activity

Explainers

April 2019

Explainer: Illegal Immigration in the United States

How has the size of the unauthorized population in the United States changed over time? How is illegal immigration changing, and where do unauthorized immigrants come from? This explainer answers basic questions about illegal immigration, the changing patterns from Mexico, and more.

Articles

February 13, 2019

Caribbean Immigrants in the United States

Caribbean immigrants represent 10 percent of the 44.5 million immigrants in the United States, with the vast majority coming from just five countries: Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago. Depending on their origin country and period of arrival, immigrants from the Caribbean have varying skill levels, racial composition, language background, and motivations for migration, as this article explores.

Articles

January 31, 2019

The Travel Ban at Two: Rocky Implementation Settles into Deeper Impacts

Two years after the Trump administration’s much-litigated travel ban was created, the policy has demonstrated a significant impact on the admission of foreigners from the banned countries, while also reshaping U.S. security vetting procedures and the refugee resettlement process in enduring ways, as this article explores on the second-year anniversary.

Policy Briefs

January 2019

Creatividad dentro de la crisis: opciones legales para migrantes venezolanos en América Latina

Enfrentados con la llegada de más de 3 millones de venezolanos huyendo de una economía colapsada y conflictos políticos, los países latinoamericanos han respondido con creatividad y pragmatismo. Pero, a medida que la crisis venezolana y la migración que ha impulsado se extienden, es necesario examinar más allá de la facilitación de la entrada legal y la otorgación del estatus temporal para planificar a largo plazo.

Policy Briefs

January 2019

Creativity amid Crisis: Legal Pathways for Venezuelan Migrants in Latin America

Faced with the arrival of more than 3 million Venezuelans fleeing economic collapse and political upheaval, Latin American countries have responded with creativity and pragmatism. But as the migration spurred by the crisis stretches on, there is a need to look beyond facilitating legal entry and granting temporary status to plan for the long term. This brief explores the policy response thus far and challenges ahead.

Video, Audio, Webinars

January 16, 2019

Promising Strategies for Reintegration of Migrants Returning to Mexico and Central America

This MPI webinar focuses on reception and reintegration services for returning migrants, along with the heightened pressure policymakers in Mexico and Central America are facing to design systems and programs that support both returnees and the communities in which they settle. Authors of a year-long study of reception and reintegration services in Mexico and the Northern Triangle discuss the findings of their fieldwork.

Articles

January 17, 2019

Immigrants from New Origin Countries in the United States

The national origins of new arrivals to the United States are shifting, in ways not always fully appreciated. Recent newcomers are more likely to come from Asia, Central America, and Africa, and less likely to be from Mexico. This article offers key demographic information about the 15 immigrant groups that have experienced the largest growth since 2010, including Indians, Chinese, Colombians, Nigerians, and Bangladeshis.

Reports

January 2019

Sustainable Reintegration: Strategies to Support Migrants Returning to Mexico and Central America

Reception and reintegration programs for deported and other returning migrants represent a long-term investment for migrant-origin and destination countries, holding the potential to reduce re-migration and permit communities of origin to benefit from the skills migrants learn abroad. This report offers recommendations to make reintegration programs more effective in Mexico and Central America.

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