E.g., 01/28/2023
E.g., 01/28/2023
North America

North America

United States
Canada
Mexico

North America is a dynamic migration region, with the United States home to more immigrants than any other country in the world, the Mexico-U.S. corridor the globe's top migration corridor, and Canada a leading destination for migrants. Research collected here focuses on everything from visa policy and border management to immigrant integration, national identity, the demographics of immigrants in the region and their educational and workforce outcomes, and ways to more effectively use migration policy as a lever for national and regional competitiveness.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other leaders at the 2022 Summit of the Americas
Commentaries

The Los Angeles Declaration Could Represent a Big Step for Real Migration Cooperation across the Americas

The Los Angeles Agreement on Migration and Protection signed by leaders from 20 countries across the Western Hemisphere at the 2022 Summit of the Americas marks a significant step forward in creating a common language and a coherent set of ideas for more cooperatively managing migration movements across a region that has seen very significant mobility in recent years, as this commentary explains.

Recent Activity

Obama KellyKline Flickr
Articles
January 26, 2017
The Obama Record on Deportations: Deporter in Chief or Not?
By Muzaffar Chishti, Sarah Pierce, and Jessica Bolter
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Commentaries
January 2017
Taking Action to Reflect Current Reality: Obama Administration Ends “Wet Foot, Dry Foot” Policies on Cuban Migration
By  Doris Meissner
SyriansDallas CNeukum IRC
Articles
January 12, 2017
Syrian Refugees in the United States
By Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova
ScienceLab MichaelTipton Flickr
Articles
January 4, 2017
To Stay or Not To Stay: The Calculus for International STEM Students in the United States
By Luka Klimaviciute
Briya Public Charter School, Washington, DC, Lauren Stoltzfus
Commentaries
December 2016
New Data Resources Can Help Improve Targeting of State Early Childhood and Parent-Focused Programs
By  Margie McHugh
Trump GageSkidmore Flickr
Articles
December 19, 2016
As Trump Takes Office, Immigration Enforcement and Policy Poised to Undergo Major Changes
By Sarah Pierce and Randy Capps
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Fact Sheets
December 2016
State Sociodemographic Portraits of Immigrant and U.S.-Born Parents of Young Children
By  Maki Park, Margie McHugh and Caitlin Katsiaficas
MarineLePen BlandineLeCain Flickr
Articles
December 13, 2016
As Publics Fear Loss of National Identity, Far-Right Populist Movements Gain Strength
By Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan

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Feature
February 22, 2012
Capitol Verite: Inside Immigration Policymaking

Documentary filmmakers Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini, the team behind the acclaimed How Democracy Works Now series that explores the battle over comprehensive immigration reform in the 2000s, discuss what it was like to experience Washington, DC and the policymaking process from an insider's perspective.

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Feature
February 8, 2012
Backstage Pass: Q&A with Makers of Acclaimed, Fascinating Documentary on U.S. Immigration Debate
In 2001, filmmakers Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini embarked on a journey that took them across the country and into the offices of the U.S. Capitol, local town halls, high-level negotiations, election races, and activist rallies, all to tell one large and complex story: how the U.S. policy process — particularly in immigration reform — really works. Joyce Matthews, editor of the Migration Information Source, recently caught up with Michael and Shari for a candid conversation about their ambitious project and what they took away from their six years filming the U.S. immigration debate. Foreword by Demetrios G. Papademetriou, President of the Migration Policy Institute.
Spotlight
February 1, 2012
Temporary Admissions of Nonimmigrants to the United States

There were more than 46 million nonimmigrant (temporary) admissions to the United States in 2010, the highest number in nearly three decades. MPI's Alicia Lee and Jeanne Batalova outline the definition of nonimmigrants and take a detailed look at admissions data and data limitations.

Spotlight
January 31, 2012
Taiwanese Immigrants in the United States

Comprising only a small share of all immigrants in the United States, the foreign born from Taiwan seem to embody the very spirit of the Asian Tiger. As of 2010, Taiwanese immigrants exhibited extremely high levels of educational attainment; a notable tendency toward homeownership; and elevated rates of employment in management, business, information technology, and certain other professional, science, and engineering fields compared to the foreign-born population overall.

Spotlight
January 18, 2012
Chinese Immigrants in the United States

From rather humble beginnings, the Chinese immigrant population in the United States has grown steadily since the 1960s to reach about 1.8 million in 2010. Compared to the foreign born overall, Chinese immigrants report higher levels of educational attainment, are less likely to live in households with an annual income below the poverty line, and are substantially more likely to have naturalized as U.S. citizens.

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Recent Activity

Articles
January 26, 2017

The Obama Record on Deportations: Deporter in Chief or Not?

President Obama faced criticism over his administration's handling of immigration enforcement from both the left and the right, labeled "deporter in chief" even as he was also accused of lax enforcement. A closer examination of his administration's record paints a more nuanced picture. This article explores how immigration enforcement practices shifted to achieve two key goals over the course of the Obama era.

Commentaries
January 2017

Taking Action to Reflect Current Reality: Obama Administration Ends “Wet Foot, Dry Foot” Policies on Cuban Migration

The Obama administration has taken a bold action to end the decades-old "wet foot, dry foot" policies that have for too long drawn Cubans to the United States in dangerous ways and sizeable numbers. The time has come when building a more normal U.S.-Cuba relationship must include updating migration and immigration policies to reflect today's realities, as this commentary by MPI Senior Fellow Doris Meissner explains.

Articles
January 12, 2017

Syrian Refugees in the United States

More than 18,000 Syrian refugees have been resettled in the United States since civil war broke out in Syria in 2011. Nearly half of Syrian refugees are under age 14, and this population is more dispersed geographically across the country than the overall Syrian immigrant population. This article offers a demographic profile of Syrian refugees, including age, gender, language, and religion, as well as top state and city destinations.

Articles
January 4, 2017

To Stay or Not To Stay: The Calculus for International STEM Students in the United States

More than 1 million international students were in the United States in 2015-16, a significant share of them in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) fields. While countries increasingly are vying for this population, these individuals face a complex choice upon graduation: to stay or leave? This article examines international STEM students in the United States and the motivations underlying their postgraduation plans.

Commentaries
December 2016

New Data Resources Can Help Improve Targeting of State Early Childhood and Parent-Focused Programs

As states work to build high-quality early childhood systems and implement the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), having detailed knowledge of the characteristics of immigrant parents can help maximize the effectiveness of programs that seek to improve child and family outcomes, as this commentary explains.

Articles
December 19, 2016

As Trump Takes Office, Immigration Enforcement and Policy Poised to Undergo Major Changes

With the incoming Trump administration pledging a crackdown on illegal immigration, construction of border walls, reductions in refugee and immigrant admissions, and greater screening of newcomers, U.S. immigration policy is likely to significant change. With Republicans holding the White House and both chambers of Congress at least through 2018, conditions may be favorable for a major transformation of the U.S. immigration system, as this Top 10 article explores.

Fact Sheets
December 2016

State Sociodemographic Portraits of Immigrant and U.S.-Born Parents of Young Children

These fact sheets provide a sociodemographic sketch of parents with children ages 0 to 8 in the 30 states with the largest number of immigrant families, offering data and analysis of some of the key parental characteristics to help stakeholders identify populations that could be targets for early childhood and parent-focused programs working to improve child and parent outcomes.

Articles
December 13, 2016

As Publics Fear Loss of National Identity, Far-Right Populist Movements Gain Strength

The success of populist movements on both sides of the Atlantic in 2016, including Donald Trump's victory in the United States and the United Kingdom's vote to quit the European Union, have sparked an identity crisis in the West. Campaigns effectively tapped into the anxieties of voters who feel left behind by societal change and out-of-touch elites, while normalizing anti-immigrant rhetoric in mainstream discourse, as this Top 10 article explores.

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