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

Multimedia January 18, 2018 The State of the World on Migration – Vitorino & Papademetriou Discuss Challenges, Opportunities Ahead	Reports January 2018 Trump’s First Year on Immigration Policy: Rhetoric vs. Reality By Sarah Pierce, Jessica Bolter and Andrew Selee
Reports January 2018 In the Age of Trump: Populist Backlash and Progressive Resistance Create Divergent State Immigrant Integration Contexts By Margie McHugh	Articles January 10, 2018 Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants in the United States By Mattea Cumoletti and Jeanne Batalova
Policy Briefs December 2017 New Opportunities? ESSA and Its Implications for Dual Language Learners and ECEC Workforce Development By Delia Pompa, Maki Park and Michael Fix	Articles December 20, 2017 Under Trump Administration, United States Takes Steps to Narrow Legal Immigration By Julia Gelatt
Policy Briefs December 2017 Immigration under Trump: A Review of Policy Shifts in the Year Since the Election By Sarah Pierce and Andrew Selee	Articles December 15, 2017 Trump Administration Makes Down Payment on Campaign Pledges to Address Illegal Immigration By Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and Randy Capps

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Fact Sheets September 2003 Immigration Since September 11, 2001 By Elizabeth Grieco, Deborah W. Meyers and Kathleen Newland	Policy Briefs June 2003 Does 'Smarter' Lead to Safer? An Assessment of the Border Accords with Canada and Mexico By Deborah W. Meyers
Policy Briefs April 2003 Reconciling Refugee Protection and Security Concerns in Wartime: The Case of Iraq By Monette Zard and Erin Patrick	Policy Briefs April 2003 Immigration Policy and the Homeland Security Act Reorganization: An Early Agenda for Practical Improvements By David A. Martin
Reports April 2003 Discussion on Migration and Development: Using Remittances and Circular Migration as Drivers for Development By Kevin O'Neil	Reports March 2003 America's Challenge: Domestic Security, Civil Liberties, and National Unity After September 11 By Muzaffar Chishti, Doris Meissner, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Michael Wishnie, Stephen Yale-Loehr and Jay Peterzell
Reports March 2003 Women Immigrants in the United States By Deborah W. Meyers and Maia Jachimowicz	Policy Briefs February 2003 Census 2010 and the Foreign Born: Averting the Data Crisis By Elizabeth Grieco

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Policy Beat

January 22, 2013

New DHS Rule Will Help Expedite Permanent Residence for Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizens

MPI's Muzaffar Chishti and Claire Bergeron report on the new Department of Homeland Security rule on the filing of unlawful presence waivers, ICE's FY 2012 deportations and new detainer policy, and more.

Feature

January 2, 2013

International Protection for a Newly Surfacing Refugee Community

Many countries, and in particular the United States, have begun granting asylum claims filed on the basis of sexual orientation in the past few decades. Despite the efforts by U.S. and other governments to reinforce protection for LGBT refugees, this community remains a marginalized group.

Spotlight

December 27, 2012

College-Educated Immigrants in the United States

Immigrants accounted for 16 percent of the 58.8 million college-educated persons in the United States in 2011, with one in three immigrants holding a college degree. In this spotlight, MPI's Qingqing Ji and Jeanne Batalova provide a demographic and socioeconomic profile of college-educated natives and immigrants in the country.

Policy Beat

December 18, 2012

Deferred Action Program Revives Debate over Driver’s Licenses for Unauthorized Immigrants

MPI’s Muzaffar Chishti and Claire Bergeron report on the ongoing debate surrounding driver’s licenses for unauthorized immigrants, new immigration bills in Congress, proposed rules governing ICE detention, and more.

Top Ten

December 1, 2012

Major Immigration Countries Take a Crack at Addressing Thorny Issue of Immigrant Detention

The U.S. and Australian governments have long grappled with unwanted entries by unauthorized migrants and would-be asylum seekers. Both nations undertook efforts in 2012 to reform immigration detention policies and procedures that have generated significant scrutiny and criticism.

Recent Activity

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.

Articles

December 15, 2017

Trump Administration Makes Down Payment on Campaign Pledges to Address Illegal Immigration

In its first year, the Trump administration moved to deliver on some of Donald Trump’s campaign promises on immigration, including ramping up enforcement in the U.S. interior and ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The administration also announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals of some countries. This article explores some of the top policy changes.

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