E.g., 04/23/2024
E.g., 04/23/2024
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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Reports
June 2011
The Role of Immigration in Fostering Competitiveness in the United States
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Madeleine Sumption
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Reports
June 2011
Emerging Transatlantic Security Dilemmas in Border Management
By  Elizabeth Collett
Articles
May 24, 2011
Immigrants from Asia in the United States
By Jeanne Batalova
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Multimedia
May 18, 2011
E Pluribus Unum Prizes Panel Discussions and Awards Ceremony
Articles
May 17, 2011
DHS Announces End to Controversial Post-9/11 Immigrant Registration and Tracking Program
By Muzaffar Chishti, Claire Bergeron
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Reports
May 2011
Immigrants in the United States: How Well Are They Integrating into Society?
By  Tomás R. Jiménez
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Reports
May 2011
Evolving Demographic and Human-Capital Trends in Mexico and Central America and Their Implications for Regional Migration
By  Aaron Terrazas, Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Marc R. Rosenblum
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Reports
May 2011
The Faltering U.S. Refugee Protection System: Legal and Policy Responses to Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Others in Need of Protection
By  Donald M. Kerwin

Pages

Policy Beat
October 1, 2003
Visitor Tracking Technology Faces Obstacles
Machine-Readable Passport Requirement Delayed One Year... California Allows Undocumented Immigrants to Obtain Driver's License... US-VISIT Confronts Criticism, Potential Setbacks... Annual Cap for H-1B Visa Holders Slashed... New Citizenship Office Chief Appointed... TPS Extended for Burundians and Sudanese, Terminated for Sierra Leonians...
Spotlight
October 1, 2003
The Foreign Born from Mexico in the United States in 2000

MPI Data Manager Elizabeth Grieco provides an overview of the largest immigrant group in the United States.

Feature
September 1, 2003
Chicago's Immigrants Break Old Patterns

Rob Paral of Roosevelt University's Institute for Metropolitan Affairs examines the key role of recent immigrants in one of the United States' largest cities.

Policy Beat
September 1, 2003
Security Concerns Spur Policy Changes
Visa Waiver Transit Programs Suspended... State Dept. Adds Visa Categories for Border Students... Ridge Names Citizenship and Immigration Ombudsman... State Dept. Requires Online Applications for Visa Lottery... Temporary Protected Status Extended for Liberians...
Policy Beat
August 1, 2003
Government Widens Efforts to Scrutinize Foreign Visitors
State Dept. Tightens Rules on Visa Applicant Interviews... Agreements With Chile, Singapore Open Door to Trade in Services... DHS Fully Implements Foreign Student Tracking System... TPS Extended for Montserratians, Salvadorans, Somalians... DHS Expands Efforts to Deport ‘Predatory’ Criminal Aliens...

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Recent Activity

Articles
January 24, 2018

Shifting Gears, Trump Administration Launches High-Profile Worksite Enforcement Operations

An unannounced sweep of 98 convenience stores by U.S. immigration authorities—resulting in the arrest of 21 unauthorized workers—may signal a new approach to worksite enforcement under the Trump administration, moving away from a strategy of paper-based audits that resulted in higher employer fines and fewer worker arrests. This article explores worksite enforcement over recent decades.

Audio
January 18, 2018

The State of the World on Migration – Vitorino & Papademetriou Discuss Challenges, Opportunities Ahead

This MPI Europe discussion brings together two of the most experienced thinkers on migration policy— António Vitorino and Demetrios G. Papademetriou—to explore what will be needed over the next years to ensure that the properly managed movement of people remains an integral, positive force in the world.

Reports
January 2018

Trump’s First Year on Immigration Policy: Rhetoric vs. Reality

Looking back after one year in office, it is striking how just closely the Trump administration’s actions on immigration have hewed to priorities Donald Trump outlined in an uncommonly detailed policy speech in August 2016. This report revisits those pledges to assess where the administration has made the most and least headway, and what its policy agenda ahead might look like.

Reports
January 2018

In the Age of Trump: Populist Backlash and Progressive Resistance Create Divergent State Immigrant Integration Contexts

As long-simmering passions related to federal immigration policies have come to a full boil, less noted but no less important debates are taking place at state and local levels with regards to policies affecting immigrants and their children. As states are increasingly diverging in their responses, this report examines how some of the key policies and programs that support long-term integration success are faring in this volatile era.

Articles
January 10, 2018

Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants in the United States

In 2016, nearly 1.2 million immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region lived in the United States. MENA immigration has picked up in recent decades, owing to war and worsening economic prospects. This article offers the latest data on the MENA population in the United States, which is more likely to come via humanitarian routes and less likely via family reunification than the foreign-born population overall.

 

Policy Briefs
December 2017

New Opportunities? ESSA and Its Implications for Dual Language Learners and ECEC Workforce Development

Enactment of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015 introduced opportunities to use federal funds to strengthen the early childhood education and care (ECEC) workforce as a means of better meeting the needs of the growing and increasingly diverse young child population.

Articles
December 20, 2017

Under Trump Administration, United States Takes Steps to Narrow Legal Immigration

During its first year, the Trump administration methodically put in place a series of bureaucratic barriers that could significantly reduce opportunities for foreigners to come to the United States legally. Among the actions taken during 2017: Imposition of a much-challenged travel ban suspending the entry of nationals from certain Muslim-majority countries, cuts to refugee admissions, and increased scrutiny for visa applicants.

Policy Briefs
December 2017

Immigration under Trump: A Review of Policy Shifts in the Year Since the Election

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump made immigration the centerpiece of his campaign, offering a more detailed policy agenda than on any other issue. In the year since the election that propelled the Republican into the White House, how has the Trump administration’s record matched up with the rhetoric? This policy brief examines the executive orders and other changes to existing policy and practice made during 2017.

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