E.g., 09/21/2023
E.g., 09/21/2023
Competitiveness

Competitiveness

_Competitiveness

Immigration represents an indispensible component of any strategy to boost economic growth and prosperity. Immigration policy can contribute directly to innovation, technological progress, and rising human-capital levels alongside investments in education and workforce-training systems, research and development, public infrastructure, and regulatory policies that effectively reduce barriers to employment. When done right, immigration policymaking offers employers access to the workers they require to build their firms' competitiveness and can increase availability of vital services.

Recent Activity

Group of students studying at a library
Commentaries
August 2023
Investing in the Future: Higher Ed Should Give Greater Focus to Growing Immigrant-Origin Student Population
By  Jeanne Batalova and Miriam Feldblum
Graphic image of man's hand touching screen with word skills
Commentaries
July 2023
Canada's New Tech Talent Strategy Takes Aim at High-Skilled Immigrants in the United States
By  Kate Hooper, Jeanne Batalova and Julia Gelatt
A busy street in Old Montreal
Articles
June 6, 2023
In Canada’s French-Speaking Quebec, Immigration Sparks Anxieties about Language and Identity
By François Rocher
Image of USCIS Director Ur Jaddou
Multimedia
April 11, 2023
Meeting Global Skills and Talent Needs in Changing Labor Markets
Cover image for the brief What Role Can Immigration Play...
Policy Briefs
April 2023
What Role Can Immigration Play in Addressing Current and Future Labor Shortages?
By  Kate Hooper
Multimedia
March 30, 2023
New Avenues to Help Refugees Get to Safety and Restart Their Lives
Cover image for Unblocking the U.S. Immigration System
Policy Briefs
February 2023
Unblocking the U.S. Immigration System: Executive Actions to Facilitate the Migration of Needed Workers
By  Julia Gelatt
Cover image for The Skills and Economic Outcomes of Immigrant and U.S.-Born College Graduates
Fact Sheets
December 2022
The Skills and Economic Outcomes of Immigrant and U.S.-Born College Graduates
By  Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix

Pages

Cover image for the brief What Role Can Immigration Play...
Policy Briefs
April 2023
What Role Can Immigration Play in Addressing Current and Future Labor Shortages?
By  Kate Hooper
Cover image for Unblocking the U.S. Immigration System
Policy Briefs
February 2023
Unblocking the U.S. Immigration System: Executive Actions to Facilitate the Migration of Needed Workers
By  Julia Gelatt
Cover image for The Skills and Economic Outcomes of Immigrant and U.S.-Born College Graduates
Fact Sheets
December 2022
The Skills and Economic Outcomes of Immigrant and U.S.-Born College Graduates
By  Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
Cover image for Diverging Pathways
Policy Briefs
October 2022
Diverging Pathways: Immigrants’ Legal Status and Access to Postsecondary Credentials
By  Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
Cover image for The Future of Remote Work
Reports
June 2022
The Future of Remote Work: Digital Nomads and the Implications for Immigration Systems
By  Kate Hooper and Meghan Benton
Cover image for Rethinking the U.S. Legal Immigration System: A Policy Road Map
Policy Briefs
May 2021
Rethinking the U.S. Legal Immigration System: A Policy Road Map
By  Muzaffar Chishti, Julia Gelatt and Doris Meissner
coverthumb_hogarth covid 19 labour
Policy Briefs
February 2021
COVID-19 and the Demand for Labor and Skills in Europe: Early Evidence and Implications for Migration Policy
By  Terence Hogarth
coverthumb_biden starting gate
Policy Briefs
November 2020
At the Starting Gate: The Incoming Biden Administration’s Immigration Plans
By  Doris Meissner and Michelle Mittelstadt

Pages

A busy street in Old Montreal
Feature
June 6, 2023
In Canada’s French-Speaking Quebec, Immigration Sparks Anxieties about Language and Identity

Canada's ambitions to dramatically increase immigration have met resistance in Quebec, the country's only majority-French province, where many worry their identity is under threat. Provincial officials have sought to fortify the role of the French language in society through academic, immigration, and linguistic policies, but the language nonetheless faces demographic threats, as this article explains.

Scaffolding surrounds a mosque in Iran.
Feature
April 22, 2021
Iran Loses Highly Educated and Skilled Citizens during Long-Running “Brain Drain”

Large numbers of well-educated Iranians have left their country of birth since its 1979 revolution, in a “brain drain” that has held back Iran’s economy and cultural institutions. Iran’s isolation from the world has worsened in recent years, and a stuttering economy, currency freefall, and widespread impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have contributed to the underlying factors encouraging emigration, as this article examines.

President Trump's May 2019 Rose Garden speech
Policy Beat
May 30, 2019
“Merit-Based” Immigration: Trump Proposal Would Dramatically Revamp Immigrant Selection Criteria, But with Modest Effects on Numbers

The Trump administration’s plan to create a "merit-based" U.S. immigration system, lessening the longstanding focus on family reunification in favor of more economic migrants, has met with a lackluster response from Democrats and Republicans alike. This Policy Beat article explores how the Trump proposal would reshape immigration to the United States, and how it compares to selection systems in other countries and past debates about changing the U.S. system.

Flags from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania on display
Feature
May 8, 2019
Can Return Migration Revitalize the Baltics? Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania Engage Their Diasporas, with Mixed Results

Faced with high emigration rates and shrinking, aging populations, the Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—are exploring different ways to lure back nationals who have emigrated and establish or solidify ties with members of the diaspora. Of the three countries, Estonia is proving the most successful, while Latvia appears to be ignoring the looming demographic crisis and lacks an immigration plan.

SwedenImmigrants
Profile
December 6, 2018
Sweden: By Turns Welcoming and Restrictive in its Immigration Policy

Swedish asylum policy has taken a restrictionist turn since the country received a record-breaking number of asylum seekers in 2015 and after electoral gains by the nationalist, anti-immigration Sweden Democrats pushed the governing coalition to a harder line. Still, other aspects of the country’s migration policy remain welcoming, as this country profile explores.

Pages

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Group of students studying at a library
Commentaries
August 2023
Investing in the Future: Higher Ed Should Give Greater Focus to Growing Immigrant-Origin Student Population
By  Jeanne Batalova and Miriam Feldblum
Graphic image of man's hand touching screen with word skills
Commentaries
July 2023
Canada's New Tech Talent Strategy Takes Aim at High-Skilled Immigrants in the United States
By  Kate Hooper, Jeanne Batalova and Julia Gelatt
Photo of woman walking around a school campus.
Commentaries
November 2021
Narrowing the Skills Gap: Equipping Immigrant-Origin Workers with Postsecondary Credentials
By  Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
unsplash headway tech workers
Commentaries
October 2020
Broad and Blunt, the Trump Administration’s H-1B Changes Miss the Opportunity for Real Reform
By  Sarah Pierce
BrexitDay January2020
Commentaries
January 2020
Brexit Day—Is This the Dawning of the Age of Immobility?
By  Meghan Benton
_DACAterminate
Commentaries
September 2017
All Eyes Turn to Congress, Following Trump Decision to Terminate DACA Program
By  Julia Gelatt
_ImmigrantBusinessLeader2
Commentaries
June 2017
Immigrants and the New Brain Gain: Ways to Leverage Rising Educational Attainment
By  Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
EUflags EUParliament Flickr
Commentaries
June 2016
Blue Card Redux: European Commission Plan to Recast Work Permit for Highly Skilled Holds Question Marks
By  Maria Vincenza Desiderio
Brexit ThreeFishSleeping Flickr
Commentaries
June 2016
When the Dust Settles: Migration Policy after Brexit
By  Will Somerville
graeme_hugo_highres
Commentaries
January 2015
The Field of Migration Studies Loses a Giant: Graeme Hugo
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou
Image of USCIS Director Ur Jaddou
Video, Audio
April 11, 2023

Meeting Global Skills and Talent Needs in Changing Labor Markets

Marking the launch of MPI’s Global Skills and Talent Initiative, this webcast features senior policymakers and other experts discussing the extent to which labor market needs should shape future immigration policy decisions, and how countries are adjusting—and could adjust—their immigration systems to meet human capital and competitiveness needs.

Expert Q&A, Audio
March 30, 2023

New Avenues to Help Refugees Get to Safety and Restart Their Lives

How could humanitarian migrants with skills and experience use existing work or study visa pathways to fill labor market needs in destination countries? MPI’s Susan Fratzke speaks with Betsy Fisher, U.S. Director of the nonprofit Talent Beyond Boundaries, about complementary pathways as an innovative addition to refugee resettlement and asylum.

Moving Beyond Pandemic episode 8 tile
Expert Q&A, Audio
December 9, 2021

The Corporate World’s Response to COVID-19 Pandemic, its Omicron Variant, Digital Nomad Visas & More

How has the business world responded to disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic? In this episode of Moving Beyond Pandemic, we speak with two former government officials who are now in the private sector—Ian Robinson of the immigration law firm Fragomen and Brendan Ryan, CEO of Nomadic, about the trends and policy environment shaping business mobility decisions.

World of Migration episode 6 tile
Expert Q&A, Audio
November 12, 2021

Leveraging the Benefits That Immigration Can Bring

In this World of Migration podcast episode, MPI Senior Fellow Michael Fix speaks with Senior Policy Analyst Julia Gelatt about the fiscal impacts of immigration, the importance of immigrant integration, how a greater focus on credential recognition could allow immigrants to more fully utilize the academic and professional skills they bring with them, and much more.

World of Migration podcast episode 3 tile
Expert Q&A, Audio
October 20, 2021

Building a Modern U.S. Immigration and Asylum System in the National Interest

People on all sides of the policy debate largely agree that the U.S. immigration system is broken. What should a 21st century system that works in the national interest look like? And is this vision achievable amid current political realities?

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Recent Activity

Commentaries
August 2023

Investing in the Future: Higher Ed Should Give Greater Focus to Growing Immigrant-Origin Student Population

Eighty percent of the increase in U.S. college enrollment between 2000 and 2021 came from U.S.-born students with immigrant parents or first-generation immigrant students. This population, often overlooked, should receive significantly more focus as leaders in higher education and workforce development seek to deliver a skilled workforce for a rapidly changing U.S. labor market, this commentary argues.

Commentaries
July 2023

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.

Articles
June 6, 2023

In Canada’s French-Speaking Quebec, Immigration Sparks Anxieties about Language and Identity

Canada's ambitions to dramatically increase immigration have met resistance in Quebec, the country's only majority-French province, where many worry their identity is under threat. Provincial officials have sought to fortify the role of the French language in society through academic, immigration, and linguistic policies, but the language nonetheless faces demographic threats, as this article explains.

Video, Audio, Webinars
April 11, 2023

Meeting Global Skills and Talent Needs in Changing Labor Markets

Marking the launch of MPI’s Global Skills and Talent Initiative, this webcast features senior policymakers and other experts discussing the extent to which labor market needs should shape future immigration policy decisions, and how countries are adjusting—and could adjust—their immigration systems to meet human capital and competitiveness needs.

Policy Briefs
April 2023

What Role Can Immigration Play in Addressing Current and Future Labor Shortages?

The labor shortages many countries are grappling with have reignited debates over the role immigration can and should play in meeting workforce needs—and how to balance this approach with investments in education and training, labor, and social policy. This brief explores these questions, plus opportunities for governments to refine how they factor shortages into economic immigration policies.

Expert Q&A, Audio
March 30, 2023

New Avenues to Help Refugees Get to Safety and Restart Their Lives

How could humanitarian migrants with skills and experience use existing work or study visa pathways to fill labor market needs in destination countries? MPI’s Susan Fratzke speaks with Betsy Fisher, U.S. Director of the nonprofit Talent Beyond Boundaries, about complementary pathways as an innovative addition to refugee resettlement and asylum.

Policy Briefs
February 2023

Unblocking the U.S. Immigration System: Executive Actions to Facilitate the Migration of Needed Workers

Inefficiencies in the U.S. immigration system and case backlogs are preventing individuals eligible for immigration to the United States from filling some of the millions of job vacancies. This policy brief outlines executive actions that could facilitate the migration of needed workers, retain immigrants already in the U.S. workforce, and ease challenges experienced by U.S. employers and their foreign-born workers.

Fact Sheets
December 2022

The Skills and Economic Outcomes of Immigrant and U.S.-Born College Graduates

College-educated immigrants are more likely to have advanced degrees than their U.S.-born peers with college degrees. But their educational levels have not always translated into similar occupational gains: They are more likely to be overeducated for their positions. Drawing on PIAAC data, this fact sheet sketches educational characteristics, monthly earnings, skill underutilization, and job quality for immigrant and U.S.-born college graduates alike.

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