E.g., 06/07/2026
E.g., 06/07/2026
Technology & Infrastructure

Technology & Infrastructure

_Technology+Infrast

A new border architecture has emerged that seeks to respond effectively to the seemingly competing demands of facilitating mobility while better managing the risks associated with cross-border travel (terrorism, organized crime, and the entry of unwanted migrants). Information and technology are the centerpieces of this new architecture. This research explores the increased collection and sharing of traveler and other data, expanded use of interoperable information databases, and the new border-management technologies and infrastructure used at ports of entry and beyond.

Recent Activity

Can AI Predict Climate Migration?
Multimedia
May 29, 2025
An ICE specialist in cybercrime.
Articles
A travel document being stamped in Somalia.
Articles
A judge's gavel with multicolor background
Explainers
October 2024
By  Ariel G. Ruiz Soto
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump speak to supporters
Articles
Turkish authorities assist a migrant.
Articles
Cover image for The End of Asylum?
Reports
July 2024
By  Susan Fratzke, Meghan Benton, Andrew Selee, Emma Dorst and Samuel Davidoff-Gore
Cover image for Managing International Protection Needs at Borders
Reports
July 2024
By  Lucía Salgado, Susan Fratzke, Lawrence Huang and Emma Dorst
Cover image for The End of Asylum?
Reports
July 2024
By  Susan Fratzke, Meghan Benton, Andrew Selee, Emma Dorst and Samuel Davidoff-Gore
Cover image for Managing International Protection Needs at Borders
Reports
July 2024
By  Lucía Salgado, Susan Fratzke, Lawrence Huang and Emma Dorst
Cover image for Lessons from COVID-19
Policy Briefs
March 2024
By  Meghan Benton and Lawrence Huang
Cover image for Migration at the U.S.-Mexico Border
Reports
January 2024
By  Alan D. Bersin, Nate Bruggeman and Ben Rohrbaugh
Shifting Realities at the U.S.-Mexico Border report
Reports
January 2024
By  Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh and Doris Meissner
Cover image for What Role Could Digital Technologies Play...
Policy Briefs
December 2023
By  Lucía Salgado and Hanne Beirens
An ICE specialist in cybercrime.

In its bid to ramp up deportations, the Trump administration is granting ICE access to a swath of government databases that were previously off limits for immigration enforcement, including sensitive tax and Social Security records. This article details the growing digital arsenal of government and commercial databases that ICE can tap to identify and arrest removable noncitizens, and how this unprecedented data sharing has its roots in the post-9/11 era.

A travel document being stamped in Somalia.

Passports are powerful documents that can either open the world to international mobility or signify the limits of one's citizenship. Yet passports are relatively recent inventions, and often operate with a nuance that is rarely appreciated. This article examines the international law of passports and the legal framework for issuing and recognizing travel documents.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump speak to supporters

A quiet political realignment has taken place in the United States. As unauthorized crossings of the U.S.-Mexico border have reached record levels in recent years, Democrats have begun to embrace restrictions at the border that they once reviled, including limits to asylum and expansion of the border wall. This article examines the pivot and how it might affect future U.S. immigration politics and policy.

Turkish authorities assist a migrant.

Turkey is engaged in wide-ranging efforts to halt irregular migration and break up migrant smuggling networks. In recent years, the government has installed a three-meter-high wall along much of its borders with Syria and Iran, arrested thousands of smugglers, and engaged in agreements and cooperation with the European Union. This article explains the motivations behind the enforcement and how the strategy is evolving.

People in South Sudan fleeing conflict in Sudan.

The international humanitarian protection system built amid the ashes of World War II has come under increasing strain, as record numbers of people flee internationally and travel farther distances. New barriers to protection in destination countries have captured public attention, but governments are also experimenting with ways to offer sanctuary, which could signal a remaking of the global system, as this article explains.

Photo of CBP One App poster at shelter in Reynosa, Mexico
Short Reads
April 2023
By  Doris Meissner, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh
CBP agents process asylum seeker at El Paso, Texas port of entry
Short Reads
March 2023
By  Doris Meissner
Two adults and two children wearing face masks at a migration health centre in Nigeria
Short Reads
May 2022
By  Meghan Benton and Lawrence Huang
Covid SchengenBorderClosures Falk Lademann Flickr
Short Reads
August 2020
By  Hanne Beirens, Susan Fratzke and Lena Kainz
Covid Mobility Commentary Flickr JensOlafWalter
Short Reads
May 2020
By  Meghan Benton
MigrantsTijuanaRiverBed_BBCWorldService2014
Short Reads
July 2019
By  Andrew Selee, Silvia E. Giorguli-Saucedo, Claudia Masferrer and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto
BorderWall CBP ManiAlbrecht
Short Reads
January 2019
By  Doris Meissner and Sarah Pierce
BorderPatrol UAC water
Short Reads
June 2018
By  Jessica Bolter and Doris Meissner
A judge's gavel with multicolor background
Explainers
October 2024

A significant and growing body of research at U.S., state, and local levels demonstrates that immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than the U.S.-born population. This explainer delves into the key takeaways and also looks at the screening process for new arrivals.

Can AI Predict Climate Migration?
Expert Q&A, Audio
May 29, 2025

Does AI have a role to play in mapping and predicting climate migration trends? This episode of the Changing Climate, Changing Migration podcast speaks with John Aoga, a postdoctoral researcher at UCLouvain in Belgium.

World of Migration Ep 18 - Adhieu Achuil Kueth and Jackie Keegan.p
Expert Q&A, Audio
November 15, 2023

Travel documents play an important role in international mobility, and for refugees serve as an essential gateway to a world of opportunities, from pursuing education and employment to reuniting with family. This episode unpacks the complexities around travel documents and their pivotal role in refugees' livelihoods. 

Expert Q&A, Audio
May 18, 2023

MPI President Andrew Selee and two colleagues who joined him at the U.S.-Mexico border to examine increasingly sophisticated U.S. Customs and Border Protection operations discuss the evolution of policies and procedures to address asylum seekers and other migrants arriving at official ports of entry.

Expert Q&A, Audio
April 24, 2023

How are U.S. border operations and policies evolving at the U.S.-Mexico border to address rising and diversifying flows? And what is driving increasing immigration from across Latin America, the Caribbean, and beyond? MPI President Andrew Selee speaks with two colleagues who traveled from one end of the nearly 2,000-mile boundary to the other, touring U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities and interviewing U.S. and Mexican officials, NGO leaders, and others.

Expert Q&A, Audio
August 2, 2022

Digital innovations—including automatic verification of health and vaccination results—are reopening economies and global mobility while setting the standard for new ways of managing mobility and health that will outlast the pandemic. Dr. Pramod Varma, chief architect of India's COVID pass system, DIVOC; Dr. Edem Adzogenu, founder of the Afro Champions Initiative; and MPI's Lawrence Huang discuss these innovations on this episode of Moving Beyond Pandemic.

Recent Activity

Expert Q&A, Audio
May 29, 2025

Does AI have a role to play in mapping and predicting climate migration trends? This episode of the Changing Climate, Changing Migration podcast speaks with John Aoga, a postdoctoral researcher at UCLouvain in Belgium.

Articles

In its bid to ramp up deportations, the Trump administration is granting ICE access to a swath of government databases that were previously off limits for immigration enforcement, including sensitive tax and Social Security records. This article details the growing digital arsenal of government and commercial databases that ICE can tap to identify and arrest removable noncitizens, and how this unprecedented data sharing has its roots in the post-9/11 era.

Articles

Passports are powerful documents that can either open the world to international mobility or signify the limits of one's citizenship. Yet passports are relatively recent inventions, and often operate with a nuance that is rarely appreciated. This article examines the international law of passports and the legal framework for issuing and recognizing travel documents.

Explainers
October 2024

A significant and growing body of research at U.S., state, and local levels demonstrates that immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than the U.S.-born population. This explainer delves into the key takeaways and also looks at the screening process for new arrivals.

Articles

A quiet political realignment has taken place in the United States. As unauthorized crossings of the U.S.-Mexico border have reached record levels in recent years, Democrats have begun to embrace restrictions at the border that they once reviled, including limits to asylum and expansion of the border wall. This article examines the pivot and how it might affect future U.S. immigration politics and policy.

Articles

Turkey is engaged in wide-ranging efforts to halt irregular migration and break up migrant smuggling networks. In recent years, the government has installed a three-meter-high wall along much of its borders with Syria and Iran, arrested thousands of smugglers, and engaged in agreements and cooperation with the European Union. This article explains the motivations behind the enforcement and how the strategy is evolving.

Reports
July 2024

Over the last decade, the international community has been roiled by crisis after crisis—from Syria and Rohingya displacement, to Venezuela, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Sudan. Territorial asylum, the backbone of the international protection regime, has been unable to keep pace. This report explores what an evolved protection system could look like, one that is orderly, highly efficient, and leverages regional cooperation.

Reports
July 2024

Border management is complex, and particularly so amid high levels of mixed migration. It entails rapidly determining new arrivals’ identity, screening for security risks and protection needs, and moving cases into the appropriate procedural pipelines, such as asylum or return processes. This report explores the key elements of an effective and protection-sensitive border system.