E.g., 08/12/2022
E.g., 08/12/2022
Border Security

Border Security

Border Enforcement
Smuggling & Trafficking
Technology & Infrastructure
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In an era when countries and their populations are increasingly exposed to the opportunities and risks associated with the ever-expanding global movement of people, policymakers are rethinking approaches to border controls and border management. These policies and programs run the gamut—from facilitating the legitimate movement of people and trade to thwarting the unauthorized movement of humans and contraband, the latter a significant preoccupation in the post-9/11 era and as publics have become ever less accepting of illegal immigration. The research offered here examines the management of borders, enforcement policies and initiatives, and technologies used in pursuit of border security.

Recent Activity

Multimedia
April 15, 2021
Building Effective Migration Management Capacity in Mexico and Central America
Sentando las bases para una cooperación regional: Política migratoria y capacidad institucional en México y Centroamérica
Reports
April 2021
Sentando las bases para una cooperación regional: Política migratoria y capacidad institucional en México y Centroamérica
By  Andrew Selee, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Andrea Tanco, Luis Argueta and Jessica Bolter
Laying the Foundation for Regional Cooperation: Migration Policy and Institutional Capacity in Mexico and Central America
Reports
April 2021
Laying the Foundation for Regional Cooperation: Migration Policy & Institutional Capacity in Mexico and Central America
By  Andrew Selee, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Andrea Tanco, Luis Argueta and Jessica Bolter
2021.4.8 IOM Muse Mohammed Syrian Refugees Leaving Lebanon Covid
Multimedia
April 8, 2021
A Year of Pandemic: The State of Global Human Mobility & What Is on the Horizon
Migrants arrive in Greece on a crowded boat from Turkey.
Articles
April 8, 2021
The EU-Turkey Deal, Five Years On: A Frayed and Controversial but Enduring Blueprint
By Kyilah Terry
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Reports
April 2021
COVID-19 and the State of Global Mobility in 2020
By  Meghan Benton, Jeanne Batalova, Samuel Davidoff-Gore and Timo Schmidt
Unaccompanied minors undergo processing at a temporary facility in Texas.
Articles
April 1, 2021
Border Déjà Vu: Biden Confronts Similar Challenges as His Predecessors
By Muzaffar Chishti and Sarah Pierce
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Commentaries
March 2021
Hampered by the Pandemic: Unaccompanied Child Arrivals Increase as Earlier Preparedness Shortfalls Limit the Response
By  Mark Greenberg

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Reports
May 2016
Maintaining Public Trust in the Governance of Migration
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou
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Reports
May 2016
Engaging the Anxious Middle on Immigration Reform: Evidence from the UK Debate
By  Sunder Katwala and Will Somerville
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Reports
January 2016
Border Metrics: How to Effectively Measure Border Security and Immigration Control
By  Marc R. Rosenblum and Faye Hipsman
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Fact Sheets
January 2016
Trends in Unaccompanied Child and Family Migration from Central America
By  Marc R. Rosenblum and Isabel Ball
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Reports
December 2015
Stopping the Revolving Door: Reception and Reintegration Services for Central American Deportees
By  Victoria Rietig and Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas
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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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Reports
September 2015
Migrants Deported from the United States and Mexico to the Northern Triangle: A Statistical and Socioeconomic Profile
By  Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas and Victoria Rietig
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Reports
August 2015
In-Country Processing in Central America: A Piece of the Puzzle
By  Faye Hipsman and Doris Meissner

Pages

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Feature
October 22, 2019
As More Migrants from Africa and Asia Arrive in Latin America, Governments Seek Orderly and Controlled Pathways

Growing numbers of African and Asian migrants are moving through Latin America, many hoping to reach the United States or Canada after expensive, arduous, and often dangerous journeys that can take months or even years. As more extracontinental migrants transit through South and Central America, Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica have developed the most comprehensive policies to manage these flows, sometimes working in coordination with the U.S. government.

Asylum seekers cross into Canada
Feature
October 16, 2019
Changing U.S. Policy and Safe-Third Country “Loophole” Drive Irregular Migration to Canada

Nearly 50,000 asylum seekers have entered Canada irregularly via land crossing from the United States since spring 2017—contributing to a doubling in the overall number of asylum requests seen in 2016. Based on interviews with asylum claimants, this article analyzes their motivations for making the journey and the political implications of rising irregular migration to Canada.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban
Profile
October 10, 2019
Using Fear of the “Other,” Orbán Reshapes Migration Policy in a Hungary Built on Cultural Diversity

The recent rise in xenophobia in Hungary stands in marked contrast with the country's rich migration history. After 390,000 migrants and asylum seekers arrived in 2015, the government of Viktor Orbán issued policies to significantly limit migration and enacted a law criminalizing humanitarian assistance to migrants. This country profile examines Hungary’s migration past and present, tracing the country’s multicultural heritage to the current wave of anti-immigrant sentiment.

An apprehended migrant sits in a truck with his hands in his face
Policy Beat
September 25, 2019
Supreme Court Asylum Ruling Latest Sign Judiciary Is Not the Brake on the Trump Administration that Immigration-Rights Activists Sought

Buoyed by initial successes challenging Trump administration immigration actions such as the travel ban in federal court, many critics expected the judiciary to act as a brake on major changes to the immigration system. Yet the Supreme Court has repeatedly shown a willingness to affirm the executive branch's immigration policies, most recently permitting what is arguably the most significant asylum policy change in four decades to proceed.

Jamal Khashoggi
Feature
August 22, 2019
A Tightening Grip Abroad: Authoritarian Regimes Target Their Emigrant and Diaspora Communities

Authoritarian states have long attempted to restrict citizens’ movement. But what happens when their reach extends beyond their borders? The October 2018 assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi brought into sharp relief the long arm of these regimes in reaching citizens abroad. This phenomenon, “transnational authoritarianism,” further shows that the relationship between migration and authoritarianism is becoming more complex.

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Video
July 9, 2019

Beyond Walls and Tariffs: Responding to Migration Challenges at the U.S.-Mexico Border

This event features a smart conversation by a range of experts on U.S.-Mexico border conditions, looking at policy responses by both countries and regional cooperation.

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Video, Audio
June 26, 2019

Will Immigration Reform Ever Succeed Again? The Legacy of IRCA & Its Enduring Lessons

This discussion on the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) showcases MPI Fellow Charles Kamasaki's book, Immigration Reform: The Corpse That Will Not Die. Kamasaki is joined by other veterans of the IRCA debate for a conversation on the lessons, the intended and unintended consequences, and how the law’s legacy has shaped contemporary politics on immigration.

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Video, Audio
April 16, 2019

Is U.S.-Mexico Cooperation on Migration Possible?

Over recent months, the number of Central American migrants apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border has surged, presenting a critical challenge in the relationship between the two neighboring countries. Experts from a Study Group on U.S.-Mexico Migration convened by El Colegio de México and MPI discuss current trends, policies, and politics surrounding migration from the Northern Triangle of Central America and the U.S.-Mexico relationship, ways to improve U.S. and Mexican asylum systems, possible new approaches to labor migration, ways to address smuggling networks, and modernize border management.

International vs. National Protection for Refugees Event - David Fitzgerald
Video, Audio
April 10, 2019

International vs. National Protection for Refugees: Diverging Trends?

MPI's Kathleen Newland, Refugee Council USA's Mary Giovagnoli, and David Scott FitzGerald, author of Refuge beyond Reach, discuss how and why international and national responses to the rising challenge of refugee displacement are diverging.

Interior Secretary for Web
Video, Audio
February 28, 2019

Una nueva política migratoria para una nueva era: Una conversación con la Secretaria de Gobernación Olga Sánchez Cordero

Durante su primera visita oficial a Washington, DC, la Secretaria de Gobierno Olga Sánchez Cordero presento un discurso público sobre la nueva política migratoria de México en el Instituto de Políticas Migratorias.

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Recent Activity

Video, Audio, Webinars
April 15, 2021

Building Effective Migration Management Capacity in Mexico and Central America

This report release event examines migration management in Mexico and Central America, and the growing government attention to migration functions, enhanced immigration enforcement, increased investments in asylum systems and existing protection frameworks, as well as labor migration policies. This is the original audio. Speakers made their remarks in Spanish and English. There is no interpretation on this version. Spanish and English interpretations will be posted soon. 

Reports
April 2021

Sentando las bases para una cooperación regional: Política migratoria y capacidad institucional en México y Centroamérica

Los países de la región que se extiende desde Panamá hasta la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México enfrentan una importante oportunidad para fortalecer la cooperación en materia de migración. Este informe examina los pilares fundamentales que pueden sentar las bases de la cooperación regional. Además de evaluar la capacidad institucional, los marcos legales y las políticas migratorias, también identifica áreas clave en el desarrollo de capacidades.

Reports
April 2021

Laying the Foundation for Regional Cooperation: Migration Policy & Institutional Capacity in Mexico and Central America

The countries in the region that stretches from Panama to the U.S.-Mexico border face an important opportunity to strengthen cooperation on migration. This report examines key building blocks that can lay the foundation for regional cooperation. In addition to assessing institutional capacity, legal frameworks, and migration policies, it also identifies key areas for capacity-building efforts.

Video, Audio, Webinars
April 8, 2021

A Year of Pandemic: The State of Global Human Mobility & What Is on the Horizon

Marking the release of an IOM-MPI report, this two-panel discussion, features introductory remarks by IOM Director General António Vitorino and examines how the pandemic has reshaped border management and human mobility in 2020 and what the lasting impacts may be throughout 2021 and beyond.

Articles
April 8, 2021

The EU-Turkey Deal, Five Years On: A Frayed and Controversial but Enduring Blueprint

The European Union’s landmark 2016 migration deal with Turkey offered aid and other benefits in exchange for Turkey's assistance in helping reduce arrivals of asylum seekers and other migrants. At its fifth anniversary, the EU-Turkey deal remains one criticized by human-rights advocates and has met frustration from Turkey, but in many ways created a blueprint for other externalization arrangements, as this article outlines.

Reports
April 2021

COVID-19 and the State of Global Mobility in 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically curtailed cross-border mobility in 2020, affecting travelers and migrants around the world. This report presents a first-of-its-kind analysis of the many thousands of travel restrictions and border closures imposed by governments to curb the spread of the virus. It examines how these policies evolved, varied across countries and regions, and what these trends may mean for the future of international movement.

Articles
April 1, 2021

Border Déjà Vu: Biden Confronts Similar Challenges as His Predecessors

The number of unaccompanied child migrants at the U.S. southern border has risen, presenting President Joe Biden with challenges similar to those faced by his predecessors in 2014 and 2019. This article examines the previous episodes and evaluates how Biden is mirroring or deviating from previous presidents' responses.

Commentaries
March 2021

Hampered by the Pandemic: Unaccompanied Child Arrivals Increase as Earlier Preparedness Shortfalls Limit the Response

The increase in unaccompanied child arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border in February and March has led to backups and overcrowding at U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities ill-suited to house children, in part due to earlier significant reductions in Office of Refugee Resettlement shelter capacity during 2020. This commentary explores preparedness shortfalls and the options the Biden administration has moving forward.

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