North America
Recent Activity
The culminating report of the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America’s Future seeks to design a new and simplified immigration regime that averts illegal immigration, and at the same time, harnesses the benefits of immigration for the future.
This report examines post-9/11 immigration enforcement practices in the United States through the lens of international human rights. It identifies gaps in the protection of noncitizens’ civil rights under U.S. constitutional law, and then evaluates whether post-9/11 U.S. immigration control measures have complied with obligations under international human rights law with respect to due process protections and the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of national origin or race.
Previously confined to everyday conversations among migrants and their families, remittances are now on the minds of most governments, members of civil society, the international community, and, to some extent, the private sector. The continued deficiency in our understanding of some of the fundamental aspects of remittances is evident in current literature.
For an increasing number of scholars, international migration has undergone a transformation particularly in the last decade or so. Although circular migration’s impact on development is far from settled, a review of the current literature suggests increasing optimism about its developmental potential.
MPI's Julia Gelatt reports on Congressional action on immigration reform, the costs of the Senate-passed reform bill, new Census data on the U.S. foreign-born population, proposals for greater scrutiny of immigration judges' performance, changes in immigration policy for Cubans, and more.
Over 604,000 immigrants received U.S. citizenship in 2005. MPI's Jeanne Batalova takes a detailed look at the latest naturalization trends in the United States.
Both of the leading presidential candidates said during the campaign that Mexico needed to create more and better jobs to stem migration - but their approaches to the problem differ. Susan Gzesh of the University of Chicago reports.
The total number of nonimmigrants admitted to the U.S. more than tripled between 1985 and 2005. MPI's Jeanne Batalova outlines the definition of nonimmigrants and takes a detailed look at admissions data.
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.