Immigration Policy & Law

Immigration legislative and administrative policies, legal statutes and court decisions, and regulations collectively shape nations' immigration systems—from visa allotments and immigrant-selection mechanisms to immigrant integration programs, border controls, and more. As international migration has increased in size and spread and as a number of nations are more flexibly adjusting their immigration systems, the research offered here examines the many permutations of immigration policy and law, often with a comparative lens.

Recent Activity

Reports April 2019 Immigrant Families and Child Welfare Systems: Emerging Needs and Promising Policies By Mark Greenberg, Randy Capps, Andrew Kalweit, Jennifer Grishkin and Ann Flagg	Multimedia April 16, 2019 Is U.S.-Mexico Cooperation on Migration Possible?
Articles April 18, 2019 “Us” or “Them”? How Policies, Public Opinion, and Political Rhetoric Affect Immigrants’ Sense of Belonging By Kristina Bakkær Simonsen	Multimedia April 10, 2019 International vs. National Protection for Refugees: Diverging Trends?
Reports April 2019 Spain’s Labor Migration Policies in the Aftermath of Economic Crisis By Kate Hooper	Reports April 2019 Competing Approaches to Selecting Economic Immigrants: Points-Based vs. Demand-Driven Systems By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Kate Hooper
Articles April 3, 2019 Foreign Fighters: Will Revoking Citizenship Mitigate the Threat? By Meghan Benton and Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan	Policy Briefs April 2019 Mitigating the Effects of Trauma among Young Children of Immigrants and Refugees: The Role of Early Childhood Programs By Maki Park and Caitlin Katsiaficas

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Policy Briefs December 2011 Regularizations in the European Union: The Contentious Policy Tool By Kate Brick	Reports November 2011 Up for Grabs: The Gains and Prospects of First- and Second-Generation Young Adults By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
Reports October 2011 Shared Challenges and Opportunities for EU and U.S. Immigration Policymakers By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Madeleine Sumption	Reports October 2011 Migration and Development Policy: What Have We Learned? By Kathleen Newland
Books September 2011 Immigrants and Welfare: The Impact of Welfare Reform on America's Newcomers	Reports September 2011 Climate Change and Migration Dynamics By Kathleen Newland
Reports September 2011 The Governance of International Migration: Defining the Potential for Reform in the Next Decade (Transatlantic Council Statement) By Demetrios G. Papademetriou	Fact Sheets August 2011 Through the Prism of National Security: Major Immigration Policy and Program Changes in the Decade since 9/11 By Michelle Mittelstadt, Burke Speaker, Doris Meissner and Muzaffar Chishti

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Feature

July 15, 2015

The EuroMaidan Protests, Corruption, and War in Ukraine: Migration Trends and Ambitions

Public frustration with decades of poor governance and pervasive corruption in Ukraine culminated in the EuroMaidan revolution in November 2013. Since then, violent conflict and Russia's annexation of Crimea have displaced an estimated 2 million people, both internally and internationally. This feature article explores migration ambitions among Ukrainians in the lead-up and aftermath of EuroMaidan, and the impact of war and economic crisis on traditional migration patterns.

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Policy Beat

June 25, 2015

Quick Resolution of Challenge over Obama Administration Deportation Relief Programs Is Ever Less Likely

As legal challenges continue to impede President Obama's deferred action programs to protect millions of unauthorized immigrants from deportation, it is becoming increasingly clear that the window of opportunity for implementation before the 2016 election is growing ever narrower. Even as advocates continue mobilizing immigrants to apply, attention is shifting to other new policies announced by the president last November.

Feature

June 18, 2015

Redefining Nepal: Internal Migration in a Post-Conflict, Post-Disaster Society

Even as Nepal will lean more heavily on its international diaspora to help recover from devastating earthquakes that killed thousands and decimated parts of the country, the disasters have had effects on internal migration. Class and gender dynamics have long driven significant internal flows. This feature article explores migration trends in Nepal, including movement between ecological zones, growing urbanization, and the feminization of an increasingly mobile workforce.

Feature

June 10, 2015

Integration Key to Combating Radicalization: A Q&A with Solveig Horne, Norwegian Minister of Children, Equality, and Social Inclusion

With rising inflows of humanitarian and economic migrants, Norway faces a series of integration challenges. In conversation with the Migration Information Source, Solveig Horne, Norway's Minister of Children, Equality, and Social Inclusion discusses her work on integration policy, from the importance of language training and a feeling of belonging, to the protection of immigrant women and resettlement of asylum seekers.

Profile

May 28, 2015

Revolution and Political Transition in Tunisia: A Migration Game Changer?

With a history of encouraging workers to emigrate to relieve unemployment at home, Tunisia now has 11 percent of its population living abroad. The factors underlying the 2011 revolution that sparked the Arab Spring have also fueled emigration desires for many Tunisians. This country profile explores historical and current trends in Tunisia from colonial settlement to the aftermath of the Arab Spring, and the new focus on migrant rights at home and abroad.

Recent Activity

Reports

April 2019

Immigrant Families and Child Welfare Systems: Emerging Needs and Promising Policies

With the children of immigrants a growing share of all U.S. children, and federal immigration enforcement and other policies undergoing significant change, some state and local child welfare agencies are developing new ways to improve how they work with immigrant families. This report examines key cultural, linguistic, and legal challenges, and how agencies are adjusting staffing, training, placement, and other policies to tackle them.

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.

Articles

April 18, 2019

“Us” or “Them”? How Policies, Public Opinion, and Political Rhetoric Affect Immigrants’ Sense of Belonging

Citizenship and integration policies are often thought of as markers for whether a country is welcoming to immigrants. Yet research suggests that public opinion and political rhetoric play a bigger role in immigrants' sense of belonging. This article explores how boundaries between "us" and "them" are drawn through popular conceptions of nationhood and political rhetoric, and their impact on immigrants' belonging.

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. They examine what lies ahead for the Global Compact on Refugees and how adjustments to asylum policies in many high-income democracies are narrowing the paths to protection.

Reports

April 2019

Spain’s Labor Migration Policies in the Aftermath of Economic Crisis

A relatively new destination for immigrants, Spain has developed a labor migration system that builds on longstanding relationships with countries outside the European Union and that actively involves employers, trade unions, and regional governments. This report examines how this legal framework has evolved in recent decades, and how it could serve as a model for EU policymakers in admitting non-EU workers.

Reports

April 2019

Competing Approaches to Selecting Economic Immigrants: Points-Based vs. Demand-Driven Systems

National systems for selecting skilled foreign workers have evolved in two directions: Points-based systems in which governments select economic immigrants based on labor and human-capital considerations and demand-driven ones that rely heavily on employer involvement. This report explores these two models—and their convergence—and offers tips for designing selection systems that are flexible, transparent, and effective.

Articles

April 3, 2019

Foreign Fighters: Will Revoking Citizenship Mitigate the Threat?

Even with the collapse of the Islamic State's "caliphate," thousands of Western foreign fighters are estimated to remain in the Middle East. Deciding how to handle the return of the radicalized—and their dependents—is no easy issue. Some countries seek to revoke their citizenship. Yet citizenship revocation has unclear impact and raises deep questions about the limits of a state’s responsibility to its citizens, as this article explores.

Policy Briefs

April 2019

Mitigating the Effects of Trauma among Young Children of Immigrants and Refugees: The Role of Early Childhood Programs

The first years of a child’s life are a time of immense growth, and exposure to trauma—if left unaddressed—can have significant, lifelong effects. This issue brief examines how young children of refugees and other immigrants may be affected by trauma, and what early childhood education and care programs, health-care providers, and others can do to mitigate its adverse effects.

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