E.g., 04/23/2024
E.g., 04/23/2024
Deportations/Returns

Deportations/Returns

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Amid a rise in mixed migration to U.S. and European borders, dating back to 1990 in the U.S. case and more recently in Europe, governments have explored ways to increase removals/returns of people found to be resident without authorization. The research gathered here explores the growing U.S. focus over recent decades on deportations, which reached a peak of about 432,000 in a single year, as well as EU governments' policy focus on returns and reintegration.

Recent Activity

Cover image for Four Years of Profound Change: Immigration Policy during the Trump Presidency
Reports
February 2022
Four Years of Profound Change: Immigration Policy during the Trump Presidency
By  Jessica Bolter, Emma Israel and Sarah Pierce
Multimedia
January 19, 2022
Biden at One: Assessing the Administration’s Immigration Record
Photo of U.S. President Joe Biden delivering remarks in front of White House.
Articles
January 19, 2022
Biden at the One-Year Mark: A Greater Change in Direction on Immigration Than Is Recognized
By Muzaffar Chishti and Jessica Bolter
Cover image for Putting Migrant Reintegration Programs to the Test: A Road Map to a Monitoring System
Reports
January 2022
Putting Migrant Reintegration Programs to the Test: A Road Map to a Monitoring System
By  Lucía Salgado, Radu-Mihai Triculescu, Camille Le Coz and Hanne Beirens
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers consult in New York City.
Articles
October 28, 2021
Biden Immigration Enforcement Priorities Emphasize a Multi-Dimensional View of Migrants
By Muzaffar Chishti and Randy Capps
U.S. Border Patrol agents prepare to process migrant encountered near Arizona
Commentaries
October 2021
It Is Too Simple to Call 2021 a Record Year for Migration at the U.S.-Mexico Border
By  Jessica Bolter
Multimedia
September 27, 2021
18th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference
Multimedia
September 2, 2021
From Immigrant Detention to a More Effective U.S. Immigration Custody System

Pages

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Policy Briefs
April 2017
Trump Executive Order and DHS Implementation Memo on Border Enforcement: A Brief Review
By  Faye Hipsman and Doris Meissner
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Policy Briefs
February 2017
Trump Executive Order and DHS Guidance on Interior Enforcement: A Brief Review
By  Sarah Pierce and Randy Capps
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Reports
February 2016
Deferred Action for Unauthorized Immigrant Parents: Analysis of DAPA's Potential Effects on Families and Children
By  Randy Capps, Heather Koball, James D. Bachmeier, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Jie Zong and Julia Gelatt
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Fact Sheets
January 2016
A Profile of U.S. Children with Unauthorized Immigrant Parents
By  Randy Capps, Michael Fix and Jie Zong
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Fact Sheets
January 2016
Trends in Unaccompanied Child and Family Migration from Central America
By  Marc R. Rosenblum and Isabel Ball
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Reports
December 2015
Stopping the Revolving Door: Reception and Reintegration Services for Central American Deportees
By  Victoria Rietig and Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas
Policy Briefs
October 2015
Unaccompanied Child Migrants in U.S. Communities, Immigration Court, and Schools
By  Sarah Pierce
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Reports
September 2015
Implications of Immigration Enforcement Activities for the Well-Being of Children in Immigrant Families: A Review of the Literature
By  Randy Capps, Heather Koball, Andrea Campetella, Krista Perreira, Sarah Hooker and Juan Manuel Pedroza

Pages

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Feature
September 25, 2020
Greece Struggles to Balance Competing Migration Demands

When he was elected prime minister in 2019, Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised what he called “strict but fair” reforms to secure Greece's borders and speed up transfers of asylum seekers crowding Aegean islands. Yet domestic and geopolitical tensions continued to roil the islands, later joined by a global pandemic, culminating in a fire that destroyed most of Lesvos's Moria refugee camp. This article examines Greece's efforts to strike a delicate balance on migration in a complex era.

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Feature
July 9, 2020
COVID-19 Pandemic Profoundly Affects Bangladeshi Workers Abroad with Consequences for Origin Communities

Bangladesh is one of the world’s largest migrant-origin countries, and money sent home by its workers abroad is crucial to an economy that has become one of the more vibrant ones in South Asia. Against this backdrop, the COVID-19 pandemic has injected turmoil into the economy as Bangladeshi migrants have lost their jobs, families are seeing reduced remittances, and would-be migrant workers have had to shelve their plans to work abroad.

Protesters at a rally in Minneapolis call for abolishing ICE
Policy Beat
June 25, 2020
As #DefundThePolice Movement Gains Steam, Immigration Enforcement Spending and Practices Attract Scrutiny

Calls by activists to "defund the police," in the wake of a string of deadly encounters for Black community members, echo earlier demands to "abolish ICE" and reflect broader criticism of enforcement systems perceived as overly aggressive. Budgets have ballooned at federal immigration agencies and within the immigrant detention system as enforcement has become increasingly muscular in the post-9/11 period.

Los manifestantes marchan en un mitin en Minneapolis pidiendo el fin de ICE
Feature
June 25, 2020
Mientras Crece el Movimiento para Desfinanciar a la Policía en EUA, el Gasto y las Prácticas de las Autoridades de Inmigración también se Someten a Escrutinio

Los llamados de los activistas a "desbancar a la policía", a raíz de una serie de encuentros mortales para los miembros de la comunidad negra, hacen eco de las demandas anteriores de "abolir el ICE" y reflejar una crítica más amplia de los sistemas de aplicación percibidos como demasiado agresivo.

A gathering in Tel Aviv for asylum seeker rights
Profile
June 5, 2020
A Warm Welcome for Some: Israel Embraces Immigration of Jewish Diaspora, Sharply Restricts Labor Migrants and Asylum Seekers

Israel has a remarkably open immigration system for anyone who can prove Jewish ethnicity. But as this country profile explores, migration is extremely difficult for non-Jews, including asylum seekers. This article describes immigration flows under the Law of Return and examines labor migration and the rise in asylum seekers, reviewing the main challenges that have emerged within the last three decades.

 

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Event PH 2016.4.14 DAPA Supreme Court webinar Rally at Supreme Court majunzk flickr
Video, Audio
April 14, 2016

DAPA in the Balance: Supreme Court Arguments and Potential Impacts on U.S. Families and Communities

Experts provide legal analysis ahead of the April 18th U.S. Supreme Court oral argument on the fate of President Obama’s Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program, explore who makes up the affected population, and examine the potential immediate and long-term implications of this case on immigrant families in the United States.

Event PH 2016.2.17 Demetri at Europe Migration Crisis
Video, Audio
February 17, 2016

Europe’s Migration Crisis: A Status Report and the Way Forward

MPI's Demetrios Papademetriou discusses the current policy responses to the refugee and migration crisis at EU and national levels, and possible options for dealing more effectively with the crisis and longer-term integration challenges.

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Video, Audio
December 15, 2015

Leadership Visions: A Discussion with Mexican Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz-Massieu

An MPI Leadership Visions discussion with the Foreign Minister of Mexico, Claudia Ruiz-Massieu, for her first public appearance in Washington, DC. 

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Webinars
December 11, 2015

Reception and Reintegration Services in Central America: Ending the Deportee Revolving Door

A webinar releasing a report examining deportations to Central America and reception and reintegration services in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

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Video, Audio
October 29, 2015

12th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

This annual discussion offered political and policy analysis on key immigration topics, including family detention, unaccompanied child migrants, executive action, and the presidential campaigns, along with featured keynotes by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres.  

Pages

Recent Activity

Reports
April 2021

Laying the Foundation for Regional Cooperation: Migration Policy & Institutional Capacity in Mexico and Central America

The countries in the region that stretches from Panama to the U.S.-Mexico border face an important opportunity to strengthen cooperation on migration. This report examines key building blocks that can lay the foundation for regional cooperation. In addition to assessing institutional capacity, legal frameworks, and migration policies, it also identifies key areas for capacity-building efforts.

Articles
April 1, 2021

Border Déjà Vu: Biden Confronts Similar Challenges as His Predecessors

The number of unaccompanied child migrants at the U.S. southern border has risen, presenting President Joe Biden with challenges similar to those faced by his predecessors in 2014 and 2019. This article examines the previous episodes and evaluates how Biden is mirroring or deviating from previous presidents' responses.

Commentaries
March 2021

Hampered by the Pandemic: Unaccompanied Child Arrivals Increase as Earlier Preparedness Shortfalls Limit the Response

The increase in unaccompanied child arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border in February and March has led to backups and overcrowding at U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities ill-suited to house children, in part due to earlier significant reductions in Office of Refugee Resettlement shelter capacity during 2020. This commentary explores preparedness shortfalls and the options the Biden administration has moving forward.

Articles
February 25, 2021

Legal Snags and Possible Increases in Border Arrivals Complicate Biden’s Immigration Agenda

President Joe Biden has grand ambitions to reshape the U.S. immigration system, but his administration has run into early stumbling blocks in rolling back the strict enforcement regime of his predecessor. Administrative resistance, a tangled web of legal agreements signed by the Trump administration, and anxieties about a possible uptick in immigrants and asylum seekers at the border have posed early challenges to Biden’s agenda.

Articles
February 11, 2021

Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

Have a question about U.S. immigration trends and the country's immigrant population? This article collects in one place the most sought-after information about the world's largest immigrant population and how it has changed over time. Drawing from a wide array of authoritative data sources, this article provides an up-to-date snapshot of the immigrant population, visa and enforcement statistics, and information on emerging trends, including slowing immigration and changing origins.

Policy Briefs
February 2021

Rewiring Migrant Returns and Reintegration after the COVID-19 Shock

Migrant returns and reintegration have been the subject of intense international debate in recent years, and the COVID-19 pandemic has added an extra layer of complexity as millions of migrants have been expelled or returned voluntarily. This policy brief explores the effects of the pandemic on migrant returns, reception, and reintegration, and how countries of origin and destination can improve their policies and partnerships going forward, with a focus on sustainable reintegration.

Articles
January 27, 2021

Biden Sets the Stage for a Remarkably Active First 100 Days on Immigration

The Biden administration has set the pace for what could be the most active first 100 days on immigration policy by any White House in recent memory—even that of predecessor Donald Trump. The efforts, which represent a dramatic break from the Trump administration's view of immigration as threat, are likely to meet stiff opposition on Capitol Hill and elsewhere. This article evaluates Biden's early actions and what they suggest about the White House's ambitions on immigration.

Commentaries
December 2020

How the Fear of Immigration Enforcement Affects the Mental Health of Latino Youth

The prevalence of mental-health symptoms among Latino high school students, immigrant and U.S. born alike, is closely related to their fears of immigration enforcement. And the situation may have worsened since the researchers sampled this population, given the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic hardship have increased the stress on Latino communities that have been hit disproportionately hard, as this commentary explores.

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