E.g., 04/19/2024
E.g., 04/19/2024
Employment & the Economy

Employment & the Economy

Competitiveness
Recession & Employment
Fiscal Impacts
Labor Market Impacts
Recruitment
Sectoral Employment
Skills
Temporary Workers
_Employment+Economy

As workers and consumers, immigrants play a role in the labor markets and economies of the countries in which they settle. The research collected here examines how immigrants fare in the labor market, whether they are affected differently than native-born workers during cycles of boom and bust, the role of migration policymaking as a lever of competitiveness, employment of the foreign born by sector and skill, and the fiscal impacts of immigration. MPI's research also assesses the role of temporary workers and the labor recruitment process.

Recent Activity

2019.5.17EVENTPHOTO
Multimedia
May 17, 2019
"Merit-Based" Immigration: Designing Successful Selection Systems
2019.5.17 EVENT PHOTO Mexicans in Texas
Multimedia
May 9, 2019
A Mirror for the Nation? The Changing Profile of Mexican Immigrants in Texas
Coverthumb HighlySkilledMexicans TX
Fact Sheets
May 2019
A Profile of Highly Skilled Mexican Immigrants in Texas and the United States
By  Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and Andrew Selee
Flags from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania on display
Articles
May 8, 2019
Can Return Migration Revitalize the Baltics? Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania Engage Their Diasporas, with Mixed Results
By Ieva Birka
Coverthumb ImmigrationChangesTrumpAdministration
Reports
May 2019
Immigration-Related Policy Changes in the First Two Years of the Trump Administration
By  Sarah Pierce
Coverthumb MPI ImmigrationIssues2019
Reports
May 2019
Eight Key U.S. Immigration Policy Issues: State of Play and Unanswered Questions
By  Doris Meissner and Julia Gelatt
Canal in Amsterdam
Articles
May 1, 2019
Migration in the Netherlands: Rhetoric and Perceived Reality Challenge Dutch Tolerance
By Joanne van Selm
Explainer_LegalImmigrationSystem Legal Immigration Pie_small
Explainers
April 2019
Explainer: How the U.S. Legal Immigration System Works
By  Julia Gelatt

Pages

cover CBI thomas
Reports
April 2012
A Demographic Profile of Black Caribbean Immigrants in the United States
By  Kevin J. A. Thomas
cover_cbi_diversestreams
Reports
April 2012
Diverse Streams: African Migration to the United States
By  Randy Capps, Kristen McCabe and Michael Fix
cover_campos
Reports
April 2012
The Development and Fiscal Effects of Emigration on Mexico
By  Raymundo Campos-Vazquez and Horacio Sobarzo
cover_centrality_europe
Reports
February 2012
The Centrality of Employment in Immigrant Integration in Europe
By  Randall Hansen
cover_rethinking_nationalidentity
Reports
February 2012
Rethinking National Identity in the Age of Migration (Transatlantic Council Statement)
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou
cover_upforgrabs
Reports
November 2011
Up for Grabs: The Gains and Prospects of First- and Second-Generation Young Adults
By  Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
Screen Shot 2013 04 03 at 4.35.30 PM
Reports
October 2011
Shared Challenges and Opportunities for EU and U.S. Immigration Policymakers
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Madeleine Sumption
cover WefareBook
Books
September 2011
Immigrants and Welfare: The Impact of Welfare Reform on America's Newcomers

Pages

MoreSoftwareEngineers1 SaadAkhtar Flickr
Policy Beat
May 21, 2015
In Historic Shift, New Migration Flows from Mexico Fall Below Those from China and India
Mexico has lost its long-held status as the top source country of new immigrants to the United States, dropping to third place behind China and India. This historic shift is remarkable for the rapid decline in Mexican inflows combined with a steady rise in Asian immigration, largely through high-skilled visa programs. This Policy Beat explores the reasons behind these trends and their potential impact on U.S. demographics.
DiwaliinCupertino JitzeCouperus Flickr
Spotlight
May 6, 2015
Indian Immigrants in the United States

Indian immigrants represent the second-largest origin group in the United States, accounting for 4.7 percent of the total foreign-born population. Generally high-skilled and highly educated, more than half of Indian immigrants have arrived since 2000 and largely attain green cards through employment-based pathways. Indians account for 70 percent of H-1B petitions and are the second-largest group of international students in the United States.

ShrimpProcessing PaulGoyette Flickr
Policy Beat
April 23, 2015
Recent Court Decisions Put a Sharp Spotlight on U.S. H-2B Temporary Worker Visa Program
The H-2B visa allows U.S. employers to bring in foreign workers to temporarily fill low-skill nonagricultural jobs across a wide range of states and industries. A series of recent legal challenges has exposed the presence of fraud and abuse, while stripping the program of its regulations and raising uncertainty about its future. This Policy Beat examines the implications in the debate surrounding temporary worker programs.
UKIP graphicmug FB
Feature
April 2, 2015
Assessing the Political Impact of Immigration as the United Kingdom Heads to the Polls
The United Kingdom has faced changing immigration patterns over the last two decades driven largely by EU migration, and political upheaval caused by the rise of the United Kingdom Independence Party and the Scottish National Party. Upcoming general elections in May 2015 will have a significant impact not only on immigration policies but the United Kingdom's place in the European Union.
KoreanCenterinChina wwian flickr
Feature
March 4, 2015
Destination China: The Country Adjusts to its New Migration Reality

Faced with rising numbers of foreign entries (long- and short-term), China in 2012 adopted new legislation to manage its migration flows—the first reform to the country's immigration law since 1985. With an underlying tension in the legal framework between restricting immigrants deemed unwanted and welcoming those viewed as desirable, this feature examines the exit-entry law's key points.

Pages

archive >

Recent Activity

Video, Audio
May 17, 2019

"Merit-Based" Immigration: Designing Successful Selection Systems

With the U.S. administration calling for the United States to adopt a more “merit-based” immigrant selection system, this conversation focused on what policymakers should consider in designing—and managing—immigrant selection systems in a time of intense labor-market and demographic change.

Video, Audio, Webinars
May 9, 2019

A Mirror for the Nation? The Changing Profile of Mexican Immigrants in Texas

At this discussion, experts from MPI and Southern Methodist University’s Texas-Mexico Center offer an overview of trends and key characteristics of highly skilled Mexican adults at the national level and for Texas, including educational levels by legal status and top industries of employment across Texas metro areas. They also discuss the policy implications of these findings.

Fact Sheets
May 2019

A Profile of Highly Skilled Mexican Immigrants in Texas and the United States

U.S. debates about immigration from Mexico often center on the low skilled, but this analysis shows a population in change. Nearly one in five Mexican immigrants arriving between 2013-17 had a college degree, compared to slightly more than 1 in 20 during the 1996-2000 period. Mexicans now make up the fourth-largest group of highly skilled immigrants. This fact sheet explores their characteristics at U.S. and Texas levels.

Articles
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.

Reports
May 2019

Immigration-Related Policy Changes in the First Two Years of the Trump Administration

In the two years since President Trump entered office, U.S. immigration policy has changed in many ways. Some actions have received significant media attention and public scrutiny, and others have been implemented with little fanfare. This document chronicles these wide-reaching policy changes, covering immigration enforcement, the immigration courts, humanitarian admissions, visa processing, and more.

Reports
May 2019

Eight Key U.S. Immigration Policy Issues: State of Play and Unanswered Questions

Amid a significant reshaping of immigration policy by the Trump administration, a range of immigration topics that have not been at the forefront of debate merit further information sharing with the public and policymakers. This report examines eight issues areas that are deserving of additional review and could form the basis for future action by Congress, including H-1B reform and treatment of unaccompanied minors.

Articles
May 1, 2019

Migration in the Netherlands: Rhetoric and Perceived Reality Challenge Dutch Tolerance

The Netherlands has witnessed a rise in far-right populism, challenging its reputation as a humanitarian haven. Yet, public fears equating immigration with a rise in religious extremism do not necessarily reflect the facts. This profile explores historical and contemporary migration in a country where population growth relies largely on immigration, and analyzes to what extent policymaking has been shaped by rising populism.

Explainers
April 2019

Explainer: How the U.S. Legal Immigration System Works

Through which visa categories can immigrants move temporarily or permanently to the United States? What are the main channels by which people come, and who can sponsor them for a green card? Are there limits on visa categories? And who is waiting in the green-card backlog? This explainer answers basic questions about temporary and permanent immigration via family, employment, humanitarian, and other channels.

Pages