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.

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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Multimedia
October 15, 2015
Unaccompanied Child Migrants in the United States: How Are They Faring?
LBJ 1965 Act Helicopter YoichiOkamoto LBJLibrary
Articles
October 15, 2015
Fifty Years On, the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act Continues to Reshape the United States
By Muzaffar Chishti, Faye Hipsman, and Isabel Ball
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Policy Briefs
October 2015
Unaccompanied Child Migrants in U.S. Communities, Immigration Court, and Schools
By  Sarah Pierce
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Multimedia
October 8, 2015
Variations in In-State Tuition, Financial Aid, and Scholarship Policies for Unauthorized Youth
Dreamers DREAMActivist RubenHernandez
Commentaries
October 2015
Mapping the Patchwork of State ‘DREAM Acts’ and Postsecondary Education Policies for Unauthorized Immigrant Youth
By  Margie McHugh
A group of older Korean adults sitting in chairs at a Med-Cal event at the Korean Resource Center
Commentaries
October 2015
It is Time for Federal Agencies to Do More to Improve the Provision of Language Access Services
By  Margie McHugh
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Commentaries
October 2015
The U.S. Record Shows Refugees Are Not a Threat
By  Kathleen Newland
EventPH 2015.09.30 TheImmigrationandNationalityActof1965 ThenandNow
Multimedia
September 30, 2015
The Immigration Act of 1965: Then and Now

Pages

Spotlight
January 15, 2010
Haitian Immigrants in the United States in 2008

The 535,000 Haitian immigrants residing in the United States in 2008 accounted for 1.4 percent of all U.S. immigrants and the fourth-largest immigrant group from the Caribbean. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines their socioeconomic characteristics, where they live, and the size of the Haitian-born unauthorized population.

Policy Beat
January 14, 2010
New Immigration Bill Edges Comprehensive Immigration Reform Back on the Legislative Agenda

MPI's Muzaffar Chishti and Claire Bergeron report on the new "CIR-ASAP" bill, the H-1B visa program, new ICE policies for detained asylum seekers, and more.

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Spotlight
January 5, 2010
Salvadoran Immigrants in the United States in 2008

The 1.1 million Salvadoran immigrants residing in the United States in 2008 accounted for 2.9 percent of all U.S. immigrants, making them the second-largest immigrant group from Latin America. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines their socioeconomic characteristics, where they live, and the size of the Salvadoran-born unauthorized population.

Policy Beat
December 15, 2009
Recession Breathes New Life into U.S. Immigrant Investor Visa Program

MPI's Muzaffar Chishti and Claire Bergeron report on EB-5 investor visas, audits of employers suspected of hiring unauthorized immigrants, the virtual border fence, and more.

Spotlight
December 14, 2009
Immigrant Women in the United States in 2008

The 18.9 million immigrant women in the United States in 2008 made up 12 percent of all women in the country. MPI's Jeanne Batalova examines which countries they come from, their labor force participation, and their socioeconomic status.

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Recent Activity

Articles
February 28, 2019

Executive Power Showdown: Congress and White House Quarrel over Immigration Spending

Though a faceoff between the U.S. executive and legislative branches is now in the courts, with President Trump's decision to declare a national emergency so he can allocate more money for construction of a border wall, a less-noted dispute has been taking place over the Department of Homeland Security's decision to add thousands more immigration detention beds than Congress provides annually, as this article explains.

Explainers
April 2019

Explainer: Illegal Immigration in the United States

How has the size of the unauthorized population in the United States changed over time? How is illegal immigration changing, and where do unauthorized immigrants come from? This explainer answers basic questions about illegal immigration, the changing patterns from Mexico, and more.

Articles
February 13, 2019

Caribbean Immigrants in the United States

Caribbean immigrants represent 10 percent of the 44.5 million immigrants in the United States, with the vast majority coming from just five countries: Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago. Depending on their origin country and period of arrival, immigrants from the Caribbean have varying skill levels, racial composition, language background, and motivations for migration, as this article explores.

Articles
January 31, 2019

The Travel Ban at Two: Rocky Implementation Settles into Deeper Impacts

Two years after the Trump administration’s much-litigated travel ban was created, the policy has demonstrated a significant impact on the admission of foreigners from the banned countries, while also reshaping U.S. security vetting procedures and the refugee resettlement process in enduring ways, as this article explores on the second-year anniversary.

Policy Briefs
January 2019

Creatividad dentro de la crisis: opciones legales para migrantes venezolanos en América Latina

Enfrentados con la llegada de más de 3 millones de venezolanos huyendo de una economía colapsada y conflictos políticos, los países latinoamericanos han respondido con creatividad y pragmatismo. Pero, a medida que la crisis venezolana y la migración que ha impulsado se extienden, es necesario examinar más allá de la facilitación de la entrada legal y la otorgación del estatus temporal para planificar a largo plazo.

Policy Briefs
January 2019

Creativity amid Crisis: Legal Pathways for Venezuelan Migrants in Latin America

Faced with the arrival of more than 3 million Venezuelans fleeing economic collapse and political upheaval, Latin American countries have responded with creativity and pragmatism. But as the migration spurred by the crisis stretches on, there is a need to look beyond facilitating legal entry and granting temporary status to plan for the long term. This brief explores the policy response thus far and challenges ahead.

Video, Audio, Webinars
January 16, 2019

Promising Strategies for Reintegration of Migrants Returning to Mexico and Central America

This MPI webinar focuses on reception and reintegration services for returning migrants, along with the heightened pressure policymakers in Mexico and Central America are facing to design systems and programs that support both returnees and the communities in which they settle. Authors of a year-long study of reception and reintegration services in Mexico and the Northern Triangle discuss the findings of their fieldwork.

Articles
January 17, 2019

Immigrants from New Origin Countries in the United States

The national origins of new arrivals to the United States are shifting, in ways not always fully appreciated. Recent newcomers are more likely to come from Asia, Central America, and Africa, and less likely to be from Mexico. This article offers key demographic information about the 15 immigrant groups that have experienced the largest growth since 2010, including Indians, Chinese, Colombians, Nigerians, and Bangladeshis.

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