Education

From early childhood through postsecondary education, immigrants and their children face unique challenges and barriers in educational attainment and access to college compared to their native-born peers. The research here analyzes myriad facets of this topic—from the factors influencing early childhood development through the challenges confronted by students who are not proficient in the host-country language, the gaps that can re-emerge in postsecondary education, and capacity issues and needs for language programs and workforce and vocational training.

Recent Activity

Articles January 26, 2024 Aging Societies Rely on Immigrant Health-Care Workers, Posing Challenges for Origin Countries By Heidi Bludau	Articles January 11, 2024 European Immigrants in the United States By Feyisayo Oyolola and Jeanne Batalova
Multimedia November 15, 2023 A Passport to Opportunity: The Importance of Refugee Access to Travel Documents	Articles November 8, 2023 Haitian Immigrants in the United States By Beatrice Dain and Jeanne Batalova
Fact Sheets October 2023 Recent Immigrant Children: A Profile of New Arrivals to U.S. Schools By Julie Sugarman	Articles October 11, 2023 Vietnamese Immigrants in the United States By Jeanne Batalova
Policy Briefs October 2023 Leveraging Data to Ensure Equitable and Effective Adult Skills Programming for Immigrants By Jacob Hofstetter and Margie McHugh	Policy Briefs October 2023 Shared Gains: Immigrant-Origin Students in U.S. Colleges By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix

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Reports May 2023 Apuesta por la regularidad migratoria: Respuestas de América Latina y el Caribe frente a la crisis del desplazamiento venezolano By Luciana Gandini and Andrew Selee	Reports May 2023 Betting on Legality: Latin American and Caribbean Responses to the Venezuelan Displacement Crisis By Luciana Gandini and Andrew Selee
Reports May 2023 Displaced Ukrainians in European Labor Markets: Leveraging Innovations for More Inclusive Integration By Maria Vincenza Desiderio and Kate Hooper	Reports April 2023 Unlocking Opportunities: Supporting English Learners’ Equitable Access to Career and Technical Education By Julie Sugarman
Policy Briefs April 2023 What Role Can Immigration Play in Addressing Current and Future Labor Shortages? By Kate Hooper	Policy Briefs March 2023 Recommendations for the Task Force on New Americans By Margie McHugh, Jacob Hofstetter, Jeanne Batalova, Michael Fix, Valerie Lacarte, Maki Park, Delia Pompa and Julie Sugarman
Reports March 2023 Migration, Integration, and Diaspora Engagement in the Caribbean: A Policy Review By Valerie Lacarte, Jordi Amaral, Diego Chaves-González, Ana María Sáiz and Jeremy Harris	Fact Sheets December 2022 The Skills and Economic Outcomes of Immigrant and U.S.-Born College Graduates By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix

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A celebration for the Feast of San Gennaro in New York's Little Italy

Spotlight

January 11, 2024

European Immigrants in the United States

One-tenth of all immigrants in the United States come from Europe, a vast decline from the mid-20th century, as migration within Europe has grown and more U.S. immigrants arrive from other destinations. This article provides an overview of contemporary European immigration to the United States, as a region and by top European countries of origin.

A Haitian-American book fair in Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood

Spotlight

November 8, 2023

Haitian Immigrants in the United States

The United States is the world’s top destination for Haitian migrants, who in recent years have fled an array of disasters and crises. Compared to other immigrant groups in the United States, the nearly 731,000 Haitians are more likely to be naturalized citizens, arrive through family-based pathways, and work in the service industry, as this data-rich article details.

Spotlight

October 11, 2023

Vietnamese Immigrants in the United States

The more than 1.3 million Vietnamese immigrants in the United States are the result of nearly 50 years of migration that began with the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. While early generations of Vietnamese immigrants tended to arrive as refugees, the vast majority of recent green-card holders obtained their status through family reunification channels. This article takes a look at the sixth-largest U.S. immigrant population.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams meeting with asylum seekers.

Policy Beat

September 27, 2023

New York and Other U.S. Cities Struggle with High Costs of Migrant Arrivals

U.S. cities have spent billions of dollars to provide shelter, health care, and other resources to migrants recently arrived from the U.S.-Mexico border. The exceptional costs, which the New York mayor has described as existential, are due to a unique combination of factors, this article explains, including the large numbers of migrants arriving without local connections and long waits for work permits.

Calle Ocho en el barrio de la Pequeña Habana de Miami.

Spotlight

September 21, 2023

Inmigrantes cubanos en los Estados Unidos

Los cubanos constituyen el mayor grupo de inmigrantes caribeños en Estados Unidos. La población está creciendo, ya que en los últimos años se ha producido la mayor oleada de emigración de la historia moderna de Cuba. Este artículo ofrece estadísticas clave sobre los 1.3 millones de inmigrantes cubanos en Estados Unidos.

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Video, Audio

February 24, 2022

Bridging the Digital Divide for U.S. Children in Immigrant Families

Marking the release of an MPI report, this webinar takes stock of lessons learned about remote learning during the pandemic and examines how governments, schools, and service providers can advance digital equity for children in immigrant families.

Video, Audio

December 1, 2021

The Importance of Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care for Immigrant and Dual Language Learner Families

In this webinar, speakers examine the critical role of child care provided by family, friends, and neighbors (FFN) for immigrant families and program and policy approaches to more equitably serve and support FFN caregivers.

Expert Q&A, Audio

November 5, 2021

Immigrant Integration: Essential to the Success of Immigration Policy

In this World of Migration podcast episode, Margie McHugh, director of MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, chats with Ivana Tú Nhi Giang about the important role of integration, for immigrants themselves and the broader society, and the varying degrees of intentionality in integration policy design around the world.

Video, Audio

November 2, 2021

Effects of the Pandemic on High School English Learners and Ways to Help Them Recover

This webinar examines how the pandemic upended school life, the challenges for high school English Learners (ELs), state- and district-level efforts that can help ELs recover academically and address mental health needs, and the results of new research on the postsecondary aspirations of immigrant-background Latina/o students following the pandemic.

Video, Audio

July 21, 2021

Supporting Unaccompanied Children in the U.S. Communities Where They Live

Featuring findings from a recent MPI report, speakers examined the process of releasing unaccompanied children to sponsors, the current structure of federal post-release services, and the most significant needs these children and their U.S. sponsors experience.

Recent Activity

Commentaries

September 2017

All Eyes Turn to Congress, Following Trump Decision to Terminate DACA Program

By winding down DACA over six months, President Trump may have addressed a short-term political dilemma. But this action ensures debate will rage on in search of a lasting solution, as many in Congress and beyond recognize the loss of work authorization and deportation relief will affect not only DACA recipients and their families, but also employers, universities, and communities alike, as this commentary explores.

Policy Briefs

August 2017

Analyzing State ESSA Plans for English Learner Accountability: A Framework for Community Stakeholders

This issue brief offers community stakeholders a framework to evaluate state education accountabiilty plans to determine if they meet required English Learner (EL) accountability elements. The information that community stakeholders collect using this framework may be used to monitor implementation and adherence to state plans and to evaluate the efficacy of policies chosen by the state.

Reports

August 2017

Quality for Whom? Supporting Diverse Children and Workers in Early Childhood Quality Rating and Improvement Systems

For children in U.S. homes where a language other than English is spoken, early childhood programs that are responsive to their needs can be key to later academic success. But as states refine their Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) to assess such programs, immigrant early childhood workers with in-demand language and cultural skills may be left behind. This report examines the challenges these workers face and promising practices to serve diverse communities.

Policy Briefs

August 2017

The Education and Work Profiles of the DACA Population

The future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is uncertain, amid skepticism from the Trump administration about its merits and the promise of legal challenge from ten state attorneys general. This issue brief presents a profile of young adults eligible for DACA in terms of their educational attainment and labor force participation, as well as what is at stake should the program be terminated.

Reports

June 2017

Weathering Crisis, Forging Ahead: Swedish Asylum and Integration Policy

As the number of asylum seekers arriving in Sweden each month climbed to the tens of thousands in late 2015, the Swedish asylum system reached a breaking point. Arrivals have since slowed, but the challenge is far from over. This report examines Swedish policymakers’ efforts to manage future flows and support integration of newcomers through changes to housing, employment, education, and health services.

Commentaries

June 2017

Immigrants and the New Brain Gain: Ways to Leverage Rising Educational Attainment

A recent MPI study reveals that 48 percent of recent immigrants to the United States were college graduates, a sharp increase over earlier periods. How can the United States better leverage this brain gain? This commentary outlines some policies that could allow the United States to more fully utilize the professional and academic credentials that highly skilled immigrants have, for their benefit and that of the U.S. economy.

Fact Sheets

June 2017

New Brain Gain: Rising Human Capital among Recent Immigrants to the United States

Nearly half of immigrant adults arriving in the U.S. since 2011 have a college degree—a far higher share than a quarter-century ago, when just 27 percent did. This striking but little noted shift in the composition of recent immigrant flows, driven in part by rising migration from Asia, comes as some policymakers press for a "merit-based" immigration system. This fact sheet examines rising human capital at U.S. and state levels.

Reports

March 2017

Rebuilding after Crisis: Embedding Refugee Integration in Migration Management Systems (Council Statement)

This Transatlantic Council Statement explores the integration questions that the recent refugee and migration crisis in Europe has brought to the fore and their effect on broader governance structures for managing migration. As the immediate pressures have abated, policymakers have refocused their energies on preventing the next crisis and ensuring that newcomers—and the communities in which they settle—have the tools to thrive.

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