E.g., 04/23/2024
E.g., 04/23/2024
Border Security

Border Security

Border Enforcement
Smuggling & Trafficking
Technology & Infrastructure
CBPagent mexborder

In an era when countries are increasingly exposed to the opportunities and risks associated with the rising global movement of people, policymakers are rethinking approaches to border controls and border management. These policies and programs run the gamut—from facilitating legitimate mobility of people and trade to thwarting unauthorized movements, the latter a significant preoccupation in the post-9/11 era and as publics have become ever less accepting of unauthorized immigration. The research offered here examines the management of borders, enforcement policies and initiatives, and border security technologies.

Recent Activity

CBP agents process asylum seeker at El Paso, Texas port of entry
Commentaries
March 2023
Revamping Asylum at the U.S.-Mexico Border: A Workable Rescue?
By  Doris Meissner
President Joe Biden in the White House.
Articles
February 23, 2023
Imminent End of Formal U.S. Pandemic Emergencies Marks New Era in Immigration Realm
By Muzaffar Chishti and Julia Gelatt
President Joe Biden at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Articles
January 26, 2023
Biden at the Two-Year Mark: Significant Immigration Actions Eclipsed by Record Border Numbers
By Muzaffar Chishti and Kathleen Bush-Joseph
Cover image for Using Risk Analysis to Shape Border Management
Reports
January 2023
Using Risk Analysis to Shape Border Management: A Review of Approaches during the COVID-19 Pandemic
By  Kelley Lee, Julianne Piper and Jennifer Fang
A migrant scheduled to be deported from the United States is escorted to a charter flight.
Articles
December 20, 2022
‘Recalcitrant’ and ‘Uncooperative’: Why Some Countries Refuse to Accept Return of Their Deportees
By Erlend Paasche
Multimedia
December 15, 2022
A Century of Climate Migration Upheaval? An Audacious Prediction for the Future
Venezuelan migrants at a reception center in Brazil.
Articles
October 27, 2022
Amid Record Venezuelan Arrivals, Biden Administration Embraces Border Expulsions Policy
By Muzaffar Chishti and Kathleen Bush-Joseph
Cover image for Rebooting the Asylum System?
Reports
October 2022
Rebooting the Asylum System? The Role of Digital Tools in International Protection
By  Hanne Beirens

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coverthumb MPI AsylumSystemInCrisis
Reports
September 2018
The U.S. Asylum System in Crisis: Charting a Way Forward
By  Doris Meissner, Faye Hipsman and T. Alexander Aleinikoff
Coverthumb_TCMTrumpSpring2018
Reports
July 2018
U.S. Immigration Policy under Trump: Deep Changes and Lasting Impacts
By  Sarah Pierce, Jessica Bolter and Andrew Selee
Coverthumb MigrationAndDevelopmentPartnerships
Policy Briefs
July 2018
Mind the Gap: Bringing Migration into Development Partnerships and Vice Versa
By  Kate Hooper and Kathleen Newland
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Reports
June 2018
After the Storm: Learning from the EU Response to the Migration Crisis
By  Elizabeth Collett and Camille Le Coz
vanishing_frontiers_cover
Books
June 2018
Vanishing Frontiers: The Forces Driving Mexico and the United States Together
By  Andrew Selee
Coverthumb TrumpFirstYearImmigrationPolicy
Reports
January 2018
Trump’s First Year on Immigration Policy: Rhetoric vs. Reality
By  Sarah Pierce, Jessica Bolter and Andrew Selee
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Policy Briefs
December 2017
Immigration under Trump: A Review of Policy Shifts in the Year Since the Election
By  Sarah Pierce and Andrew Selee
Building Partnerships to Respond to the Next Decade’s Migration Challenges
Reports
December 2017
Building Partnerships to Respond to the Next Decade’s Migration Challenges (Transatlantic Council Statement)
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Kate Hooper

Pages

U.S. immigration officials walk by a courthouse in Seattle.
Policy Beat
April 27, 2022
For Overwhelmed Immigration Court System, New ICE Guidelines Could Lead to Dismissal of Many Low-Priority Cases

New Biden administration guidelines encourage immigration prosecutors to support dismissing many low-priority deportation cases and focus on criminals, threats to national security, and other priorities. This move could have a major impact on clearing backlogs in the overstretched U.S. immigration court system, resulting in quicker determinations in removal and asylum cases, where wait times can presently stretch for years.

A woman in Italy is vaccinated before travel in 1951.
Feature
April 6, 2022
Vaccine Requirements Predate the COVID-19 Pandemic by More than a Century

Requirements that international travelers and migrants prove vaccination against certain diseases are about as old as vaccines themselves. In some cases, vaccine certificates predated the existence of government-issued passports. This article explores the history of these requirements, which began with smallpox and have since been applied for diseases including cholera, polio, yellow fever, and, recently, COVID-19.

U.S. Border Patrol agents prepare to transport unauthorized migrants to Mexico under Title 42.
Policy Beat
March 31, 2022
Controversial U.S. Title 42 Expulsions Policy Is Coming to an End, Bringing New Border Challenges

The United States’ controversial Title 42 migrant expulsions policy will come to an end in May 2022, after more than 1.7 million expulsions over two years. The COVID-19-era public-health restriction ushered in an unprecedented period of mass expulsions, including of would-be asylum seekers, at the U.S.-Mexico border. Unwinding the policy will be complicated amid predictions of a significant increase in unauthorized migration.

An image of an immigration boarding line.
Spotlight
March 17, 2022
Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

Need information about U.S. immigration trends or the makeup of the country's immigrant population? This useful, stats-rich article answers the most common questions about the size, shape, and changing nature of the U.S. foreign-born population. It also offers data on immigration enforcement actions, backlogs, and other elements of the U.S. immigration system.

A construction crew works on a wall the U.S.-Mexico border.
Feature
March 2, 2022
The World Is Witnessing a Rapid Proliferation of Border Walls

The number of border walls globally has multiplied at a rapid clip, from fewer than five at the end of World War II to more than six dozen now, with more under construction. Most of the world's border fortifications have been built since the turn of the millennium, and are intended to accomplish a range of functions. This article charts the remarkable growth and normalization of border walls globally.

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MovingBeyondPandemicMattHerbert
Expert Q&A, Audio
October 21, 2020

Human Smuggling in an Age of Pandemic

As COVID-19 chilled global mobility, harmed economies, and sparked border closures and travel bans around the world, the pandemic has had an effect on the shadow migration world.

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Expert Q&A, Audio
October 6, 2020

Is Airport COVID-19 Testing Ready for Takeoff?

Austria’s Vienna airport was an early adopter for in-airport COVID-19 tests, with results turned around within a few hours, sparing those with medical certificates from a mandatory 14-day quarantine. Can this serve as a model for restarting business travel and tourism? In this episode of our Moving Beyond Pandemic podcast, we talk to Vienna airport official Peter Kleemann to learn more.

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Expert Q&A, Audio
September 30, 2020

Australia and the ‘Biosecure Border’ in the Age of COVID-19

Australia has worked to develop a “biosecure” border, using hard travel lockdowns, internal borders, and quarantine to stem spread of the COVID-19 virus. Is it working? In this episode of our Moving Beyond Pandemic podcast, host Meghan Benton talks to Brendan Dowling of the Australian Department of Home Affairs.

Video
September 21, 2020

17th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

This year’s Immigration Law and Policy Conference examines the immigration policy agenda under the Trump administration, including changes in the asylum system; the vast societal upheaval brought on by COVID-19 and the rising racial justice movement; what the future of U.S. immigration may look like; and many other topics related to U.S. immigration policy.

Video, Audio
June 8, 2020

Beyond the Border: U.S.-Mexican Migration Accord Has Ushered in Sweeping Change in Mexico in Its First Year

Amid rising Central American migration to the United States, the U.S. and Mexican governments in June 2019 signed a joint declaration pledging to work together to manage and reduce irregular migration. At the agreement’s one-year anniversary, MPI researchers engaged in discussion with former U.S. and Mexican Ambassadors and a veteran journalist about the changes sparked. 

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Recent Activity

Commentaries
October 2023

Shifting Patterns and Policies Reshape Migration to U.S.-Mexico Border in Major Ways in 2023

There is a deeper story behind the U.S. government's fiscal 2023 border encounters numbers than that the year marked a new record high. The pivot from the pandemic-era Title 42 expulsions policy and sharp diversification in nationalities have reshaped migrant arrivals unlike any year before. This commentary goes beyond the headlines to focus on the more enduring—and challenging—realities occuring at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Articles
October 9, 2023

Cómo el peligroso Tapón del Darién se convirtió en la encrucijada migratoria de las Américas

El paso por el Tapón del Darién ha transformado la migración en las Américas. Cada día, más de 1.000 personas cruzan lo que no hace mucho era un tramo de selva poco transitado entre Colombia y Panamá, la mayoría con la esperanza de llegar a Estados Unidos o Canadá. Es un viaje increíblemente arriesgado. Los gobiernos se han esforzado por responder al creciente movimiento, que se espera que supere los 500.000 cruces en 2023.

Articles
September 20, 2023

How the Treacherous Darien Gap Became a Migration Crossroads of the Americas

Passage through the Darien Gap has transformed migration across the Americas. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken the incredibly perilous journey across the remote jungle between Colombia and Panama, risking exposure to hazardous terrain, criminal groups, and other dangers. As this article outlines, governments have struggled to respond to the growing movement, expected to top 500,000 crossings in 2023.

Commentaries
September 2023

A Turning Point for the Unauthorized Immigrant Population in the United States

The unauthorized immigrant population in the United States stood at approximately 11.2 million people in mid-2021, with larger annual growth than at any point since 2015, according to MPI's latest estimates. Even as the Mexican unauthorized immigrant population continued its decade-long decline, there were new entrants from a growing array of other countries.

Articles
August 29, 2023

As Nauru Shows, Asylum Outsourcing Has Unexpected Impacts on Host Communities

For two decades, asylum seekers seeking to reach Australia by boat were diverted to Nauru, a small Pacific Island nation that made a hefty profit off the extraterritorial asylum arrangement. But attitudes among local Nauruans have been mixed, with some fearing their economy revolved around Australia and the foreign workers who shuttled in and out of the processing center. As more countries seek to strike offshore asylum deals, this article examines the effects on local communities.

Articles
August 2, 2023

In the Twilight Zone: Record Number of U.S. Immigrants Are in Limbo Statuses

An estimated 1.9 million migrants are in the United States or have been authorized to enter with a twilight immigration status that does not automatically lead to to permanent residence but temporarily shields them from deportation for at least one year. Use of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and immigration parole has been a hallmark of the Biden administration as it seeks to address record border arrivals and protection needs.

Articles
July 27, 2023

Technology Can Be Transformative for Refugees, but It Can Also Hold Them Back

While smartphones and other technologies can assist decision-making, they do not always improve migrants’ journeys or lives. Forcibly displaced populations can face barriers in the form of limited internet access and low levels of digital literacy. Digital tools may also expose them to government surveillance and raise anxiety about social relations with loved ones. This article underscores refugees' complex relationships with technology.

Video, Webinars
July 20, 2023

Straining under the Backlog: Fixing a U.S. Immigration Court System in Crisis

As the U.S. immigration court system struggles with record case backlogs, decisions take years, immigration enforcement is delayed, and wait times incentivize unauthorized arrivals. This discussion examines the factors that have driven the system to the point of crisis and possible fixes.

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