Border Security
Recent Activity
The U.S. immigrant population—estimated at 40.8 million in 2012 — is the nation’s historical numerical high, and it is also the largest foreign-born population in the world. About 20 percent of all international migrants reside in the United States, even as the country accounts for less than 5 percent of global population. This article presents the latest, most sought-after data on immigrants in the United States—by origin, residence, legal status, deportations, languages spoken, and more—in one easy-to-use resource.
MPI has released a major study that describes and analyzes today’s immigration enforcement programs, as they have developed and grown in the 25 years since IRCA launched the current enforcement era.
The U.S. government has increased its attention to public security issues in Mexico and Central America since 2007. This report suggest the policy emphasis has begun to shift away from the earlier focus on combating drug trafficking and transnational crime toward addressing the citizen security crisis.
Over the past two decades, governing institutions in Mexico and parts of Central America have proven too primitive to cope with the volatility of democratic transitions. Organized crime has taken over key activities of various levels of government and corruption has become more entrenched. These regions must face the challenge of building democratic institutions capable of engaging in good governance.
The U.S. government spends more on federal immigration enforcement than on all other principal federal criminal law enforcement agencies combined, allocating nearly $187 billion since 1986. This report traces the evolution of the immigration enforcement system, analyzing how programs and policies resulted in a complex, interconnected, cross-agency system.
Crime and insecurity are undermining economic and social prosperity in Mexico and Central America, eroding public trust in government institutions. This report examines current economic, social, and political costs resulting from insecurity, and future implications.
The growth of organized crime in Mexico and Central America has dramatically increased the risks that migrants crossing the region face. As this report outlines, migrants increasingly are forced to seek the assistance of intermediaries, and those unable to afford one are more likely to be abused along the way.
This report outline the long-standing pattern of northern Central American governments' inattention to their borders – probing root causes that range from institutional, economic, and resource challenges to corruption and weak government structures.