E.g., 04/11/2021
E.g., 04/11/2021

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.

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Reports

Building a New Regional Migration System: Redefining U.S. Cooperation with Mexico and Central America

Addressing regional cooperation around migration will be among the immigration challenges and opportunities facing the incoming Biden administration. This report examines how movement between the United States, Mexico, and Central America has evolved in recent decades, and lays out a four-part strategy to expand opportunities for legal migration, address humanitarian protection needs, improve enforcement, and mitigate some of the forces driving people to emigrate.

Recent Activity

2015.7.23 EventPH TargetedEnforcement MaryGiovagnoli&JulieMyersWood
Multimedia
July 23, 2015
Targeted Enforcement: Projecting the Effects of Executive Action on Deportations
2013inauguration KarenAxelrad Flickr
Articles
July 29, 2015
Americans Abroad: A Disillusioned Diaspora?
By Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels
FilipinoHeritageNight MarianneMasculino Flickr
Articles
July 21, 2015
Filipino Immigrants in the United States in 2013
By Keith McNamara and Jeanne Batalova
SecureCommunities CASA Flickr
Commentaries
July 2015
Federal-Local Cooperation on Immigration Enforcement Frayed; Chance for Improvement Exists
By  Marc R. Rosenblum
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Reports
July 2015
Understanding the Potential Impact of Executive Action on Immigration Enforcement
By  Marc R. Rosenblum
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Articles
July 8, 2015
The Limited English Proficient Population in the United States in 2013
By Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova
RefugeeIntegration ViktoriyaAleksandrov WorldReliefSpokane
Multimedia
June 26, 2015
Resettling Increasingly Diverse Refugee Populations in the United States: Integration Challenges and Successes
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Articles
June 25, 2015
Quick Resolution of Challenge over Obama Administration Deportation Relief Programs Is Ever Less Likely
By Muzaffar Chishti, Faye Hipsman, and Sarah Pierce

Pages

Spotlight
April 7, 2011
Caribbean Immigrants in the United States in 2009

Immigrants from the Caribbean accounted for about 9 percent of the total U.S. foreign-born population in 2009. MPI's Kristen McCabe examines the social and economic profiles of the foreign born from this region.

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Policy Beat
March 15, 2011
Unanswered Questions Surround ICE's Secure Communities Program
MPI's Muzaffar Chishti, Claire Bergeron, and Lang Hoyt report on the Secure Communities program, a new State Department initiative allowing the same-sex partners of U.S. diplomats to apply for J-1 visas, additional funding for immigration agencies in the proposed 2012 Homeland Security budget, and more.
Spotlight
March 8, 2011
Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants in the United States in 2009

Immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa are more likely than the overall foreign-born population to be proficient in English, to have a college degree, and to be naturalized U.S. citizens. MPI's Aaron Terrazas uses the latest federal data to explore the population's size, geographic distribution, and socioeconomic characteristics.

Feature
February 28, 2011
Re-envisioning Security and the Movement of People

In the post-9/11 era, U.S. policymakers have increasingly used migration policy tools to strengthen national security. This piece highlights civil rights and liberties issues that point to the need to re-envision the relationship between security and mobility, and discusses a proposal to "secure human mobility."

Feature
February 23, 2011
Filling Labor Shortages through Immigration: An Overview of Shortage Lists and their Implications

Many governments use shortage lists to either facilitate or discourage economically-motivated immigration into particular occupations or fields, but the practice of doing so raises a variety of practical and philosophical questions. MPI's Madeleine Sumption discusses the challenges of maintaining shortage lists and developing immigration policies around them.

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Recent Activity

Video, Audio
July 23, 2015

Targeted Enforcement: Projecting the Effects of Executive Action on Deportations

Marking the release of an MPI report, this briefing explores the effects of recent revisions in DHS immigration enforcement priorities on deportations within the U.S. interior.

Articles
July 29, 2015

Americans Abroad: A Disillusioned Diaspora?

While many countries are increasing engagement with their diasporas, U.S. policy has chiefly focused on U.S.-based diasporas from other countries, despite its own estimated overseas population of 7.6 million. This feature explores results from a survey of more than 1,400 U.S. citizens and 140 former citizens living abroad, many of whom are critical of limited U.S. government engagement with them even as restrictive financial reporting regulations have been imposed.
Articles
July 21, 2015

Filipino Immigrants in the United States in 2013

With more than 1.8 million immigrants living in the United States, the Philippines was the fourth largest country of origin in 2013. Filipino immigrants stand out from other top immigrant groups with their unique historical experience as former nationals due to U.S. annexation of the Philippines in 1899, close historic ties to the U.S. military, and prevalence in health-care professions.

Commentaries
July 2015

Federal-Local Cooperation on Immigration Enforcement Frayed; Chance for Improvement Exists

Long-simmering tensions over federal-local cooperation in immigration enforcement were exposed in the days after the shooting death of a young woman in San Francisco by an unauthorized immigrant who had been deported five times from the United States. This commentary explores the rift over Secure Communities, with more than 360 jurisdictions limiting their cooperation, and the possibility of a reset in federal-local relations.
Reports
July 2015

Understanding the Potential Impact of Executive Action on Immigration Enforcement

This report analyzes how many unauthorized immigrants fall within Department of Homeland Security priority enforcement categories unveiled in November 2014 and how implementation of these priorities could affect the number of deportations from within the United States. The report also examines the replacement of the controversial Secure Communities with a new Priority Enforcement Program, and what PEP could mean for immigration enforcement.

Articles
July 8, 2015

The Limited English Proficient Population in the United States in 2013

In 2013, more than 25 million people in the United States reported limited English proficiency (LEP), an 80 percent increase since 1990. The LEP population, the majority of which is immigrant, is generally less educated and more likely to live in poverty than the English-proficient population. This Spotlight explores key indicators of the LEP population, both U.S. and foreign born, including geographic distribution, language diversity, and employment.

Video, Audio
June 26, 2015

Resettling Increasingly Diverse Refugee Populations in the United States: Integration Challenges and Successes

A discussion of the findings of a new MPI report examining refugee characteristics at arrival for the ten largest national-origin groups resettled between 2002-2013, as well as their integration outcomes with respect to employment and incomes, English proficiency and education levels, and public benefit use.

Articles
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.

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