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

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	Reports September 2018 The U.S. Asylum System in Crisis: Charting a Way Forward By Doris Meissner, Faye Hipsman and T. Alexander Aleinikoff

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Reports January 2009 Migration and the Economic Downturn: What to Expect in the European Union By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Madeleine Sumption and Will Somerville	Reports January 2009 America's Views of Immigration: The Evidence from Public Opinion Surveys By Roberto Suro
Reports November 2008 The Growing Global Demand for Students as Skilled Migrants By Lesleyanne Hawthorne	Policy Briefs October 2008 Managing Temporary Migration: Lessons from the Philippine Model By Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza
Reports October 2008 Regulating Immigration at the State Level: Highlights from the Database of 2007 State Immigration Legislation and the Methodology By Laureen Laglagaron and Cristina Rodríguez	Reports October 2008 Demographic Trends in Mexico: The Implications for Skilled Migration By Elena Zúñiga and Miguel Molina
Reports October 2008 Uneven Progress: The Employment Pathways of Skilled Immigrants in the United States By Jeanne Batalova, Michael Fix and Peter A. Creticos	Reports October 2008 Hybrid Immigrant-Selection Systems: The Next Generation of Economic Migration Schemes By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Will Somerville and Hiroyuki Tanaka

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Feature

March 17, 2008

Little Job Growth Makes Labor Migration and Remittances the Norm in Post-Soviet Armenia

For many Armenians, working abroad and sending money home has become the main way of coping with poverty and limited job prospects. Aleksandr V. Gevorkyan, Arkady Gevorkyan, and Karine Mashuryan examine recent labor migration flows, the growth in remittances, and concerns about the country's dependence on both.

Policy Beat

December 17, 2007

USCIS Faces Criticism over Visa Backlog

MPI's Gretchen Reinemeyer, Aaron Matteo Terrazas, and Claire Bergeron report on USCIS backlogs, actions to limit access to driver's licenses in Oregon and Maine, the latest on "no-match" letters, and more.

Feature

November 12, 2007

Canada's Temporary Migration Program: A Model Despite Flaws

In response to an agricultural worker shortage over 40 years ago, Canada initiated a temporary migration program to brings workers from the Caribbean and later Mexico. But this "model" program also has its drawbacks, as Tanya Basok of the University of Windsor explains.

Feature

October 1, 2007

Mujeres Migrantes en Tránsito y Detenidas en México

Click here to read the article in English.

México es uno de los principales países de tránsito de migrantes en el mundo, particularmente para los miles de centroamericanos que viajan cada año por el país con el objetivo de alcanzar los Estados Unidos.

Feature

September 11, 2007

Unauthorized Youths and Higher Education: The Ongoing Debate

Dawn Konet provides an overview of the arguments for and against granting in-state tuition rates to the unauthorized in the United States, and looks at relevant legislation at the state and federal levels.

Recent Activity

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.

Reports

September 2018

The U.S. Asylum System in Crisis: Charting a Way Forward

The United States has a long tradition of providing asylum to those in need. But in recent years, case backlogs have grown and many asylum seekers now wait years for a decision. This report examines the factors that have brought the U.S. asylum system to this crisis point and proposes common-sense steps that can be taken to restore timeliness and fairness, while deterring abuses.

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