E.g., 04/18/2024
E.g., 04/18/2024
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.

Graphic image of man's hand touching screen with word skills
Commentaries

Canada's New Tech Talent Strategy Takes Aim at High-Skilled Immigrants in the United States

Canada’s Tech Talent Strategy is highly unusual for its explicit targeting of visa holders in another country. Opening a dedicated stream specifically for high-skilled immigrants in the United States who hold an H-1B visa is the latest salvo in a growing global competition for talent—one in which some countries are racing ahead of the United States in terms of policy dynamism, as this commentary explores.

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

New Brain Gain: Rising Human Capital among Recent Immigrants to the United States
Fact Sheets
June 2017
New Brain Gain: Rising Human Capital among Recent Immigrants to the United States
By  Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
Protesters demonstrate against immigration proposals outside the Texas State Capitol.
Articles
May 25, 2017
Texas Leads Resurgence in Restrictive State Actions on Immigration Enforcement
By Muzaffar Chishti, Sarah Pierce, and Sela Cowger
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Articles
May 10, 2017
Strife Abroad, Responses at Home: Muslims in the West and Conflict Spillover
By Juris Pupcenoks
EVENT PHOTO 2017.5.4 Changing Realities at the Borderv3
Multimedia
May 4, 2017
Recognizing Changing Enforcement and Crossing Trends at the U.S.-Mexico Border
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Articles
May 3, 2017
Sub-Saharan African Immigrants in the United States
By Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova
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Reports
May 2017
A Revolving Door No More? A Statistical Profile of Mexican Adults Repatriated from the United States
By  Ryan Schultheis and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto
Advances in U.S.-Mexico Border Enforcement: A Review of the Consequence Delivery System
Reports
May 2017
Advances in U.S.-Mexico Border Enforcement: A Review of the Consequence Delivery System
By  Randy Capps, Faye Hipsman and Doris Meissner
CanadaBorder ckowalik Flickr
Articles
April 26, 2017
Uptick in Northern Border Crossings Places Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement under Pressure
By Sela Cowger

Pages

Feature
April 12, 2012
The Under-Registration of Births in Mexico: Consequences for Children, Adults, and Migrants

An estimated 7 percent of people in Mexico were not registered with the government at birth and thus lack official record of their name, age, parentage, and citizenship. Without a birth certificate, unregistered Mexican children lack access to education, health care, and basic social services, while unregistered adults face significant economic and civic-integration challenges. Both groups are more vulnerable to being trafficked, exploited, or recruited into criminal groups. This article provides a primer on this important issue, with insight into the experiences of unregistered, unauthorized Mexican immigrants in the United States.

Spotlight
March 21, 2012
Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

Interested in information on annual naturalization trends, illegal immigration, the geographical distribution of immigrants in the United States, current and historical shares, and a host of other topics? MPI's Jeanne Batalova and Alicia Lee have assembled the latest, most interesting data on immigrants and immigration into one easy-to-use resource.

Policy Beat
March 15, 2012
Bipartisan Measures Urge Use of a Temporary Worker Program to Admit Irish Immigrants

MPI's Muzaffar Chishti and Claire Bergeron report on new proposals to amend the E-3 visa program to admit Irish nationals, decisions blocking implementation of more provisions of SB 1070 and HB 56, the Supreme Court's recent decision holding two tax evasion crimes are aggravated felonies, and more.

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Policy Beat
February 29, 2012
Questions Arise with Implementation of Obama Administration's New Prosecutorial Discretion Policy
MPI's Muzaffar Chishti and Claire Bergeron report on the Obama administration's new prosecutorial discretion policy and proposed new rule for unlawful presence waivers, a new plan to promote US tourism, the newly designated H-2A and H-2B countries, and more.
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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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Recent Activity

Fact Sheets
June 2017

New Brain Gain: Rising Human Capital among Recent Immigrants to the United States

Nearly half of immigrant adults arriving in the U.S. since 2011 have a college degree—a far higher share than a quarter-century ago, when just 27 percent did. This striking but little noted shift in the composition of recent immigrant flows, driven in part by rising migration from Asia, comes as some policymakers press for a "merit-based" immigration system. This fact sheet examines rising human capital at U.S. and state levels.

Articles
May 25, 2017

Texas Leads Resurgence in Restrictive State Actions on Immigration Enforcement

A new hardline immigration law in Texas marks the resurgence of state-level restrictionist activism that had stalled in 2012 amid adverse federal court rulings. The Texas law, SB 4, is designed to end sanctuary policies in jurisdictions across the state, and closely mirrors aspects of Arizona's controversial 2010 law, SB 1070. This article explores the parallels and new state momentum to crack down on illegal immigration.

Articles
May 10, 2017

Strife Abroad, Responses at Home: Muslims in the West and Conflict Spillover

A number of high-profile terrorist attacks in the West have raised questions about why geopolitical events sometimes trigger strong, violent reactions in certain diaspora communities, but not in others. What could be behind this divergence in responses? This article examines how Muslim communities in London and Detroit have reacted to conflict abroad, as well as the factors that drive reactive conflict spillover.

Video, Audio
May 4, 2017

Recognizing Changing Enforcement and Crossing Trends at the U.S.-Mexico Border

In the midst of efforts to further ramp up enforcement at the U.S.-Mexico border even as illegal crossings are a fraction of what they were at their peak in 2000, MPI research sketches the changing realities at the border and offers data that should help inform the policy debate. As the Trump administration and Congress consider constructing a border wall, adding thousands of Border Patrol agents, and other policies and measures, this discussion evaluates the state of the border, the effectiveness of various enforcement strategies, current trends in apprehensions and the flows of unauthoriz

Articles
May 3, 2017

Sub-Saharan African Immigrants in the United States

The population of sub-Saharan African immigrants in the United States has grown rapidly in recent decades, from 130,000 in 1980 to 1.7 million in 2015. The current flow of immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa consists of skilled professionals, individuals seeking reunification with relatives, and refugees from war-torn countries. This article provides the latest data on immigrants from the region in the United States.

Reports
May 2017

A Revolving Door No More? A Statistical Profile of Mexican Adults Repatriated from the United States

The revolving door of return migration is slowing significantly for Mexican adults deported or voluntarily returned by the U.S. government, with the number intending to attempt re-entry dropping 80 percent between 2005 and 2015. Drawing from an official survey of Mexican returnees, this report explores the years of residence repatriated Mexican adults spent in the United States, time in detention, and minor children left behind.

Reports
May 2017

Advances in U.S.-Mexico Border Enforcement: A Review of the Consequence Delivery System

In its first systematic attempt to track the effectiveness of different removal and enforcement strategies that migrants face after being apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border, the Border Patrol in fiscal 2011 launched the Consequence Delivery System (CDS). This report examines the strengths and limitations of CDS, and finds that as stricter measures have been implemented, attempted re-entries have fallen.

Articles
April 26, 2017

Uptick in Northern Border Crossings Places Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement under Pressure

Amid a sense of declining welcome in the United States, growing numbers of asylum seekers have crossed into Canada in recent months, entering illegally to take advantage of a loophole in the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement. The result? Refugee advocates and politicians in Canada are issuing growing calls to change or suspend the treaty. This article examines the treaty's history, effects, and current challenges.

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