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 November 2018 In Search of a New Equilibrium: Immigration Policymaking in the Newest Era of Nativist Populism By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Kate Hooper and Meghan Benton	Policy Briefs October 2018 English Plus Integration: Shifting the Instructional Paradigm for Immigrant Adult Learners to Support Integration Success By Margie McHugh and Catrina Doxsee
Multimedia October 1, 2018 15th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference	Policy Briefs October 2018 Balancing Acts: Policy Frameworks for Migrant Return and Reintegration By Kathleen Newland and Brian Salant
Reports October 2018 Applying Behavioral Insights to Support Immigrant Integration and Social Cohesion By Meghan Benton, Antonio Silva and Will Somerville	Articles October 11, 2018 Mexican Immigrants in the United States By Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova
Multimedia September 27, 2018 The U.S. Asylum System in Crisis: First Steps for Rescue	Reports October 2018 Jobs in 2028: How Will Changing Labor Markets Affect Immigrant Integration in Europe? By Meghan Benton and Liam Patuzzi

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Reports July 2011 Running in Circles: Progress and Challenges in Regulating Recruitment of Filipino and Sri Lankan Labor Migrants to Jordan (In Arabic) By Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza	Reports July 2011 Labor Standards Enforcement and Low-Wage Immigrants: Creating an Effective Enforcement System By Donald M. Kerwin and Kristen McCabe
Reports July 2011 Scientists, Managers, and Tourists: The Changing Shape of European Mobility to the United States By Xiaochu Hu and Madeleine Sumption	Reports July 2011 Running in Circles: Progress and Challenges in Regulating Recruitment of Filipino and Sri Lankan Labor Migrants to Jordan By Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza
Reports June 2011 Rethinking Points Systems and Employer-Selected Immigration By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Madeleine Sumption	Reports June 2011 Migration and Development: Policy Perspectives from the United States By Aaron Terrazas
Reports June 2011 The Role of Immigration in Fostering Competitiveness in the United States By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Madeleine Sumption	Books June 2011 Migration and the Great Recession: The Transatlantic Experience

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Top Ten

December 10, 2014

Migration with Chinese Characteristics: Hukou Reform and Elite Emigration

With a range of policies in 2014, China sought to address changing large-scale migration patterns within the country and beyond. This year included promises to reform the hukou registration system and thus enable an estimated 100 million internal migrants to access social services in the cities where they live, schemes to entice the return of emigrant professionals, and crackdowns on corrupt officials who send their families and money abroad.

Top Ten

December 10, 2014

The Points System Is Dead, Long Live the Points System

2014 marked the quiet demise worldwide of the traditional points system for selecting skilled immigrants. Canada, which in 1969 invented the points system, in 2015 will join other countries in adopting a hybrid system that places more emphasis on a demand-driven system. This article examines how following the economic crisis, governments have revamped, hybridized, or ended such programs.

Top Ten

December 10, 2014

Changing Landscape Prompts Mexico's Emergence as a Migration Manager

In recent years emigration from Mexico has declined, the country's stable economy has drawn an increasing number of international migrants, and the pace of transmigration to the United States has quickened. Amid these changing realities, punctuated by a spike in migration of unaccompanied minors from Central America in 2014, Mexico is confronting a new role as migration manager: balancing increasing enforcement and protection of migrants' rights.

Policy Beat

November 12, 2014

Immigration Not Decisive in the Midterms, But Results Critical to the Congressional Debate

While immigration and the Latino vote may not have been decisive in the 2014 midterm elections, the Republican takeover of the Senate come January 2015 and increased majority in the House have significant implications for the outcome of the immigration debate. This article examines the changing dynamics and the president's intent to proceed with executive action to shield some of the unauthorized immigrant population from deportation.

Policy Beat

October 23, 2014

Ebola Outbreak Rekindles Debate on Restricting Admissions to the United States on Health Grounds

The outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, with three cases diagnosed in the United States, has generated tremendous public fear and anxiety in the United States and other countries. The Obama administration has restricted air travel from West Africa to five airports with enhanced screening, amid calls for a complete travel ban. The Policy Beat examines the use of U.S. immigration controls to halt the spread of disease.

Recent Activity

Reports

November 2018

In Search of a New Equilibrium: Immigration Policymaking in the Newest Era of Nativist Populism

In many recent European and U.S. elections, candidates touting nativist populist and anti-immigrant platforms have enjoyed rising support. As populism moves from the fringes into the mainstream, this report takes stock of the economic and social forces driving its rise, the diverse ways populists are influencing immigration policymaking, and what it will take to build a new center around immigration and integration issues.

Policy Briefs

October 2018

English Plus Integration: Shifting the Instructional Paradigm for Immigrant Adult Learners to Support Integration Success

To successfully integrate, immigrants and refugees need a variety of skills and knowledge—from English proficiency to understanding how school systems and local services work. Yet the adult education programs in place to support them have narrowed in scope. This policy brief proposes a new instructional model, English Plus Integration, to help states more comprehensively meet the diverse needs of their adult immigrant learners.

Video, Audio

October 1, 2018

15th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

At the 15th annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference, held in October 2018, leading experts and government officials discussed the role that immigration is playing in the mid-term elections; how the courts are handling key immigration questions; and recent changes in the U.S. asylum system, border and interior enforcement, and regulations surrounding legal immigration.

Policy Briefs

October 2018

Balancing Acts: Policy Frameworks for Migrant Return and Reintegration

In recent years, questions of whether, when, and how to return failed asylum seekers and other migrants to their origin countries have dominated migration debates in many countries. These issues were also taken up in the negotiation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, moving the discussion beyond the typical bilateral one. This policy brief outlines how states might more constructively work together on returns and reintegration programs.

Reports

October 2018

Applying Behavioral Insights to Support Immigrant Integration and Social Cohesion

Governments are increasingly drawing on research into human behavior when developing policies that aim to encourage people to make better decisions, be it accessing preventative health care or paying taxes. This report explores how a similar approach of "nudges" could be applied to immigrant integration policy to encourage social mixing, narrow socioeconomic gaps, and more.

Articles

October 11, 2018

Mexican Immigrants in the United States

For decades, Mexicans have been the largest immigrant group in the United States. While this is still the case, the Mexican immigrant population is no longer growing at the rate it once was. In fact, between 2010 and 2017, the number of Mexicans in the country first leveled off and then began to decline. This article explores the latest data on Mexican immigrants in the United States.

Video, Audio, Webinars

September 27, 2018

The U.S. Asylum System in Crisis: First Steps for Rescue

Speakers, including report authors, discuss the findings from an MPI report that analyzes the factors that have brought the U.S. asylum system to a crisis point. During the discussion, the authors propose common-sense steps that can be implemented now to jump-start the system's rescue.

Reports

October 2018

Jobs in 2028: How Will Changing Labor Markets Affect Immigrant Integration in Europe?

European labor markets are poised to change significantly in the coming years as technological advancements and other forces reshape the world of work. While these developments will affect all workers, they have particular implications for immigrant integration. This report breaks down the factors driving change and explores promising policy innovations to help societies better prepare for it.

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