E.g., 08/19/2022
E.g., 08/19/2022
Border Security

Border Security

Border Enforcement
Smuggling & Trafficking
Technology & Infrastructure
CBPagent mexborder

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

Recent Activity

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Articles
February 14, 2020
Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States
By Jeanne Batalova, Brittany Blizzard, and Jessica Bolter
Source Smugglers 2020
Articles
February 5, 2020
Ally or Exploiter? The Smuggler-Migrant Relationship Is a Complex One
By Jasper Gilardi
EVENT PHOTO 2019.10.7.2 Law and Policy Conference
Multimedia
October 7, 2019
16th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference
EVENT PHOTO 2019.10.29 Latin American Response to Venuzuealan and Nicaraguan Migration Crises
Multimedia
October 29, 2019
Respuestas latinoamericanas a las crisis migratorias venezolanas y nicaragüenses
EVENT PHOTO 2019.10.29 Latin American Response to Venuzuealan and Nicaraguan Migration Crises
Multimedia
October 29, 2019
Latin American Responses to the Venezuelan and Nicaraguan Migration Crises
Protesters outside GEO Group detention facility
Articles
October 30, 2019
“Cubicle Activism”: Companies Face Growing Demands from Workers to Cut Ties with ICE and Others in Immigration Arena
By Muzaffar Chishti and Jessica Bolter
DarienMigrantBoats
Articles
October 22, 2019
As More Migrants from Africa and Asia Arrive in Latin America, Governments Seek Orderly and Controlled Pathways
By Caitlyn Yates
Asylum seekers cross into Canada
Articles
October 16, 2019
Changing U.S. Policy and Safe-Third Country “Loophole” Drive Irregular Migration to Canada
By Craig Damian Smith

Pages

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Books
April 2010
Securing Human Mobility in the Age of Risk: New Challenges for Travel, Migration, and Borders
By  Susan Ginsburg
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Reports
January 2010
Transatlantic Information Sharing: At a Crossroads
By  Rocco Bellanova, Susan Ginsburg, Paul De Hert and Hiroyuki Tanaka
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Reports
October 2009
Memo to President Obama Regarding Immigration Policy
By  Frank Sharry
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Reports
February 2009
DHS and Immigration: Taking Stock and Correcting Course
By  Doris Meissner and Donald M. Kerwin
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Fact Sheets
December 2007
Europe's Disappearing Internal Borders
By  Hiroyuki Tanaka
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Reports
October 2007
Room for Progress: Reinventing Euro-Atlantic Borders for a New Strategic Environment
By  Deborah W. Meyers, Rey Koslowski and Susan Ginsburg
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Reports
September 2006
Immigration and America's Future: A New Chapter
By  Doris Meissner, Deborah W. Meyers, Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Michael Fix
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Reports
September 2006
America's Human Rights Challenge: International Human Rights Implications of U.S. Immigration Enforcement Actions Post-September 11
By  Susan Gzesh

Pages

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents take a man into custody.
Policy Beat
July 19, 2017
The Trump Administration at Six Months: A Sea Change in Immigration Enforcement

Making good on campaign promises to toughen immigration enforcement, the Trump administration has acted swiftly to cast a wider net in the U.S. interior. The actions represent a sea change in enforcement practice, moving from a tight focus on high-priority individuals to an era in which all unauthorized immigrants may be subject to deportation. This article explores the shifts undertaken during President Trump's first six months.

CanadaBorder ckowalik Flickr
Feature
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.

WatchingCity ICE
Policy Beat
March 22, 2017
Muscular Public Relations Strategy to Paint Immigrants and Immigration as Negatives Embedded Deep Within Trump Executive Orders

Beyond representing first steps on key campaign promises, President Trump's executive orders on immigration mandate sweeping data collection and reporting in ways that seek to underscore societal and economic costs with no countervailing attention to positive effects from immigration. This article explores the news-making machinery embedded in the orders and how the reporting requirements might help further the administration's agenda.

Naturalization OldSalemInc Flickr
Spotlight
March 8, 2017
Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

In 2015, 43.3 million immigrants lived in the United States, comprising 13.5 percent of the population. The foreign-born population grew more slowly than in prior years, up 2 percent from 2014. Get sought-after data on U.S. immigration trends, including top countries of origin, Mexican migration, refugee admissions, illegal immigration, health-care coverage, and much more in this Spotlight article.

BorderBus AntAndCarrieColeman Flickr
Feature
February 16, 2017
The Evolving and Diversifying Nature of Migration to the U.S.-Mexico Border

Two significant migration shifts at the U.S.-Mexico border have been obscured by talk of walls and further border security: Mexicans no longer represent the top unauthorized crossers, replaced by Central Americans seeking protection, and flows are diversifying with increased arrivals of Cubans, Haitians, Asians, and Africans. This article sketches the evolving trends, which have key implications for U.S. and regional migration policy.

Pages

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Video, Audio
September 3, 2015

Regional Enforcement: A Profile of Migrants Deported from the United States and Mexico to the Northern Triangle

This webinar includes an overview of regional immigration enforcement trends, including U.S. and Mexican apprehensions and deportations of Central American migrants, along with a demographic, socioeconomic, and criminal profile of child and adult deportees.

2015.7.23 EventPH TargetedEnforcement MaryGiovagnoli&JulieMyersWood
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.

SupportforSyrianRefugees Flickr
Audio
July 8, 2015

Addressing Crisis at Europe’s Borders: Are Policymakers Moving in the Right Direction?

This teleconference, the first in a series from MPI Europe on the future of asylum policy in the European Union, focuses on the politics and mechanics of asylum seeker relocation and whether a recent contentious European Summit represents a new phase of intra-EU cooperation on asylum.

EventPH 2015.3.31 Unaccompanied Child Migration to the United States Flickr CBP Processing Unaccompanied Children
Video, Audio
March 31, 2015

Child and Family Migration to the United States: Continuing Flows and Evolving Responses

A webinar examining the shifting pattern of Central American child and family migration between 2011 and 2014 and expectations for 2015, the policy challenges presented by the rising inflow, and how states, localities, the U.S. government, and other countries in the region are responding to this recent trend.

EVENTPH 2014.12.3 Executive Action Webinar Flickr The Speaker flickr com photos thespeakernews 15660310918
Video, Audio
December 3, 2014

Digging Deeper Into Executive Action: A Further Examination of the Impacts

A discussion with MPI experts of the less-examined aspects of President Obama's executive actions on immigration, with respect to immigration enforcement, legal immigration, and immigrant integration.

Pages

Recent Activity

Articles
February 14, 2020

Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

Interested in answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about immigration and immigrants in the United States? This incredible resource collects in one place top statistics from authoritative government and nongovernmental sources, offering a snapshot of the immigrant population, visa and enforcement statistics, and data on emerging trends, including the slowing of growth of the foreign-born population, changing origins, and increasing educational levels.

Articles
February 5, 2020

Ally or Exploiter? The Smuggler-Migrant Relationship Is a Complex One

As highly industrialized countries ramp up their border controls, human smugglers are playing a central role in moving migrants through key migration corridors around the world. Despite the illicit nature of their work and being cast as villains in the public eye, smugglers have complex, multifaceted relationships with their clients. At times, the relationship can be mutually beneficial or even lifesaving; at others, it can be predatory and dangerous, as this article explores.

Video, Audio
October 7, 2019

16th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

With immigration a central plank of the Trump administration, the 16th annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference, held in October 2019, featured analysis by top experts regarding changing policies at the U.S.-Mexico border, narrowing of asylum, cooperation with migrant-transit countries, and actions that could reduce legal immigration, including revisions to the public-charge rule.

Video, Audio
October 29, 2019

Respuestas latinoamericanas a las crisis migratorias venezolanas y nicaragüenses

Responsables de políticos principales y partes interesadas de América Latina, así como representantes de instituciones internacionales claves, ofrecen sus puntos de vista sobre los desafíos futuros mientras gobiernos latinoamericanos buscan establecer las estrategias para responder a flujos migratorios forzados a gran escala, como los de Venezuela y Nicaragua.

Video, Audio
October 29, 2019

Latin American Responses to the Venezuelan and Nicaraguan Migration Crises

Leading policymakers and key stakeholders from Latin America, as well as representatives of major international institutions, offer their views on the challenges ahead as Latin American governments seek to chart strategies for responding to large-scale forced migration flows, such as those from Venezuela and Nicaragua. Spanish and English versions of the remarks are available.

Articles
October 30, 2019

“Cubicle Activism”: Companies Face Growing Demands from Workers to Cut Ties with ICE and Others in Immigration Arena

From online petitions to organized walkouts, corporate America is facing increasing employee activism over its business involvement with agencies implementing the federal government's immigration policies. This "cubicle activism," seen at companies ranging from Amazon and Google to Bank of America and Wayfair, has garnered mixed success to date, forcing divestiture from private prison contractors but fewer results in other contexts, as this article explores.

Articles
October 22, 2019

As More Migrants from Africa and Asia Arrive in Latin America, Governments Seek Orderly and Controlled Pathways

Growing numbers of African and Asian migrants are moving through Latin America, many hoping to reach the United States or Canada after expensive, arduous, and often dangerous journeys that can take months or even years. As more extracontinental migrants transit through South and Central America, Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica have developed the most comprehensive policies to manage these flows, sometimes working in coordination with the U.S. government.

Articles
October 16, 2019

Changing U.S. Policy and Safe-Third Country “Loophole” Drive Irregular Migration to Canada

Nearly 50,000 asylum seekers have entered Canada irregularly via land crossing from the United States since spring 2017—contributing to a doubling in the overall number of asylum requests seen in 2016. Based on interviews with asylum claimants, this article analyzes their motivations for making the journey and the political implications of rising irregular migration to Canada.

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