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.

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 February 22, 2018 Effectively Serving Children in a Superdiverse Classroom: Implications for the Early Education System	Articles February 22, 2018 Trump Administration Ratchets up Pressure on “Sanctuary” Jurisdictions By Muzaffar Chishti and Jessica Bolter
Reports February 2018 Growing Superdiversity among Young U.S. Dual Language Learners and Its Implications By Maki Park, Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova	Commentaries February 2018 A Path to Citizenship for 1.8 Million DREAMERs? Despite Talk, No Proposal Would Do So By Sarah Pierce
Commentaries February 2018 The Diversity Visa Program Holds Lessons for Future Legal Immigration Reform By Julia Gelatt	Articles February 8, 2018 Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States By Jie Zong, Jeanne Batalova, and Jeffrey Hallock
Commentaries January 2018 The Trump Immigration Plan: A Lopsided Proposal By Julia Gelatt and Sarah Pierce	Articles January 24, 2018 Shifting Gears, Trump Administration Launches High-Profile Worksite Enforcement Operations By Muzaffar Chishti, Sarah Pierce, and Jessica Bolter

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Books February 2007 Securing the Future: U.S. Immigrant Integration Policy, A Reader	Fact Sheets February 2007 Immigration Fee Increases in Context By Julia Gelatt and Margie McHugh
Fact Sheets November 2006 Mexican-Born Persons in the U.S. Civilian Labor Force By Jeanne Batalova	Reports November 2006 La inmigración y el futuro de los Estados Unidos: Un nuevo capítulo By Doris Meissner, Deborah W. Meyers, Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Michael Fix
Fact Sheets October 2006 Legal Immigration to United States Increased Substantially in FY 2005 By Julia Gelatt and Deborah W. Meyers	Policy Briefs October 2006 New Estimates of Unauthorized Youth Eligible for Legal Status under the DREAM Act By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
Reports September 2006 La inmigración y el futuro de los Estados Unidos: Un nuevo capítulo (Resumen ejecutivo) By Doris Meissner, Deborah W. Meyers, Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Michael Fix	Reports September 2006 Immigration and America's Future: A New Chapter (Executive Summary) By Doris Meissner, Deborah W. Meyers, Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Michael Fix

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Policy Beat

October 17, 2013

As Immigration Reform Stalls in Congress, Activists Take a Page from the Civil-Rights Movement

While budget issues and the debt ceiling dominated the congressional agenda and public attention last week, thousands of activists in Washington were stepping up civil disobedience and mobilization tactics to pressure lawmakers into voting to overhaul the nation’s immigration system. This article explores this growing trend and its possible implications for immigration reform in the 113th Congress. It also provides an update on other national, state, and local developments in immigration policy.

Spotlight

September 26, 2013

Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants in the United States

Immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region residing in the United States are part of a migration flow that dates back several decades. The highly diverse MENA immigrant population has grown from about 50,000 in 1920 to nearly 961,000 in 2012. This article examines the latest data on immigrants from the MENA region in the United States, including population size, geographic distribution, admission categories, and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.

Policy Beat

September 12, 2013

State Access to Federal Immigration Data Stirs New Controversy in Debate over Voting Rights

Iowa has just become the third state to gain access to federal SAVE immigration data for the purpose of removing noncitizens from its voter lists. This practice, which signifies a major departure from the system's intended purposes, comes amid renewed focus over voting rights. This article explores the recent surge in state activism regarding the possibility of noncitizen voting and also examines the current leadership vacuum in the Department of Homeland Security, new guidance for immigration benefits for same-sex couples, and more.

Feature

September 4, 2013

Integrating Immigrant Youth: Transatlantic Perspectives

This article examines common challenges and factors influencing the development of local labor-market integration initiatives targeting immigrant youth, based on four city case studies conducted in the United States and the European Union.

Spotlight

August 21, 2013

Indian Immigrants in the United States

In 2011, India was the third largest country of origin for immigrants in the United States, after Mexico and China. The close to 1.9 million Indian immigrants in the United States accounted for almost 5 percent of the country’s total foreign-born population of 40.4 million. This article examines the latest data on Indian immigrants in the United States, including population size, geographic distribution, admission categories, and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.

Recent Activity

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.

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.

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