E.g., 04/24/2024
E.g., 04/24/2024
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.

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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

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Policy Briefs
November 2020
At the Starting Gate: The Incoming Biden Administration’s Immigration Plans
By  Doris Meissner and Michelle Mittelstadt
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Articles
November 5, 2020
Mexican Immigrants in the United States
By Emma Israel and Jeanne Batalova
Federal immigration officers make an arrest during an operation in Virginia.
Articles
October 29, 2020
Trump's Promise of Millions of Deportations Is Yet to Be Fulfilled
By Muzaffar Chishti and Sarah Pierce
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Policy Briefs
October 2020
Rethinking the U.S.-Mexico Border Immigration Enforcement System: A Policy Road Map
By  Doris Meissner
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Reports
October 2020
Navigating the Future of Work: The Role of Immigrant-Origin Workers in the Changing U.S. Economy
By  Julia Gelatt, Jeanne Batalova and Randy Capps
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Multimedia
October 21, 2020
Lessons from the Pandemic: Weaknesses in K-12 Teacher Education Policies Fuel Inequities Facing English Learners
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Articles
October 23, 2020
Climate Impacts as Drivers of Migration
By Alex de Sherbinin
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Articles
October 16, 2020
Indian Immigrants in the United States
By Mary Hanna and Jeanne Batalova

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Reports
July 2013
Is the United States Bad for Children’s Health? Risk and Resilience among Young Children of Immigrants
By  Jennifer Van Hook, Nancy Landale and Marianne Hillemeier
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Reports
July 2013
Recognizing Foreign Qualifications: Emerging Global Trends
By  Lesleyanne Hawthorne
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Books
July 2013
How Can Talent Abroad Induce Development at Home? Towards a Pragmatic Diaspora Agenda
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Reports
July 2013
Tackling Brain Waste: Strategies to Improve the Recognition of Immigrants’ Foreign Qualifications
By  Madeleine Sumption
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Reports
July 2013
Migración Mexicana a los EE.UU.: Factores Económicos Subyacentes y Posibles Escenarios de Flujos Futuros
By  Daniel Chiquiar and Alejandrina Salcedo
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Reports
July 2013
Preparing the Children of Immigrants for Early Academic Success
By  Robert Crosnoe
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Reports
July 2013
Skills, Professional Regulation, and International Mobility in the Engineering Workforce
By  Matthew Dixon
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Reports
June 2013
Shaping Our Futures: The Educational and Career Success of Washington State’s Immigrant Youth
By  Sarah Hooker, Margie McHugh, Michael Fix and Randy Capps

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Spotlight
February 8, 2018
Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

The United States is by far the world's top migration destination, home to roughly one-fifth of all global migrants. In 2016, nearly 44 million immigrants lived in the United States, comprising 13.5 percent of the country's population. Get the most sought-after data available on immigrants and immigration trends, including top countries of origin, legal immigration pathways, enforcement actions, health-care coverage, and much more.

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Policy Beat
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.

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Spotlight
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.

 

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Top Ten
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.

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Top Ten
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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Video, Audio
August 14, 2013

A Year In: A Review of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

During this online chat, MPI researchers discuss their findings in an MPI brief, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals at the One-Year Mark: A Profile of Currently Eligible Youth and Applicants, that provides the most up-to-date estimates of the current and prospective DACA population by educational attainment, English proficiency, state of residence, country of origin, age, gender, labor force participation, poverty, and parental status.

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Video, Audio
August 7, 2013

A House Divided: Divergent Views in Congress Over Immigration Reform - A Video Chat

MPI experts participate in a video chat shortly after the Migration Policy Institute released an analysis comparing the major provisions of the Senate bill to those of the individual House bills considered to date in House committees. 

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Video
August 2, 2013

Doris Meissner Testimony Video: Border Security

Testimony of Doris Meissner, Senior Fellow and Director, U.S. Immigration Policy Program, before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate.

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Video
July 23, 2013

Margie McHugh Testimony Video: Illegal Immigration and Children

Testimony of Margie McHugh, Co-Director of MPI's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, U.S. House of Representatives.

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Audio
July 16, 2013

Immigration and U.S. Economic Competitiveness: A View from the Midwest

At this release event in Washington, DC, co-sponsored by MPI, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and ImmigrationWorks USA, the Chicago Council's independent task force on immigration released its report, U.S. Economic Competitiveness at Risk: A Midwest Call to Action on Immigration Reform.

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Recent Activity

Articles
March 7, 2018

Connecting the Dots: Emerging Migration Trends and Policy Questions in North and Central America

Together, Canada, Mexico, and the United States are home to nearly one-quarter of the world's migrants. Despite shifts in the profile of those who migrate and changing demographic realities across the region, such as population aging, perceptions and policies remain set in earlier eras. This article explores the intersection of migration and population dynamics in North America and the Northern Triangle of Central America.

Video, Audio, Webinars
February 22, 2018

Effectively Serving Children in a Superdiverse Classroom: Implications for the Early Education System

As the number and share of Dual Language Learners (DLLs) continues to grow across the United States, diversity within this population is also increasing. This webinar marks the release of a report providing analysis of the diversity within the DLL population nationwide and at the state and local levels. Speakers discuss data on the three rapidly growing subgroups within the DLL population: Black and Asian American and Pacific Islander DLLs and young children of refugees, and the implications for the early education and care field and K-12 education systems. 

Articles
February 22, 2018

Trump Administration Ratchets up Pressure on “Sanctuary” Jurisdictions

The Trump administration has been steadily building a case to penalize "sanctuary" cities—those jurisdictions that in some way limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities—after threatening to cut federal funding. Despite court rulings that seemed to strike a blow against these efforts, the Justice Department is moving forward with its strategy, relying on a broad interpretation of a federal statute, as this article explores.

Reports
February 2018

Growing Superdiversity among Young U.S. Dual Language Learners and Its Implications

Dual Language Learners (DLLs) grow up in U.S. families with a wide range of languages, origins, and socioeconomic characteristics. Yet little is known about which practices and program models work best in superdiverse classrooms where no minority language is dominant. This report explores DLL diversity at national, state, and local levels, highlighting its implications for early childhood programs and schools.

Commentaries
February 2018

A Path to Citizenship for 1.8 Million DREAMERs? Despite Talk, No Proposal Would Do So

Even as the 1.8 million number swirls in the discussion of how many DREAMers would be placed on a path to citizenship, proposals debated in the Senate in February 2018 would have resulted in the legalization of smaller numbers, as this commentary explains. It offers estimates of potential beneficiaries of several Senate proposals, including one backed by the White House, and analysis of key criteria.

Commentaries
February 2018

The Diversity Visa Program Holds Lessons for Future Legal Immigration Reform

On paper, the Diversity Visa Program is not set up to bring in the highly skilled; applicants need only a high school diploma (or equivalent) or two years of mid-level work experience. Yet as this commentary explains, the green-card lottery has become a channel for entry of the highly skilled—with half of recipients coming to the United States in recent years having a college degree.

Articles
February 8, 2018

Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

The United States is by far the world's top migration destination, home to roughly one-fifth of all global migrants. In 2016, nearly 44 million immigrants lived in the United States, comprising 13.5 percent of the country's population. Get the most sought-after data available on immigrants and immigration trends, including top countries of origin, legal immigration pathways, enforcement actions, health-care coverage, and much more.

Commentaries
January 2018

The Trump Immigration Plan: A Lopsided Proposal

The White House immigration plan offered as a solution to resolve the fate of DREAMers seeks legal immigration cuts unlike any seen since 1924. In addition to a decrease of up to 40 percent in family-sponsored immigration, the proposal demands vast increases in enforcement and a retrenchment in protections for those seeking humanitarian relief. In exchange, one-sixth of the unauthorized population could gain legal status.

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