E.g., 03/26/2023
E.g., 03/26/2023
Illegal Immigration & Interior Enforcement

Illegal Immigration & Interior Enforcement

Deportations/Removals
Employment Verification
State & Local Enforcement
Worksite Enforcement
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lllegal immigration is a phenomenon confronted by many major immigrant-receiving countries, one that vexes policymakers and publics alike. While much of the focus may be on border enforcement, there are an array of interior enforcement policies aimed at identifying unauthorized immigrants for removal, including worksite enforcement, employment verification, jail-house screening, and state and local law enforcement activity. The research below delves into many facets of illegal immigration and enforcement occcuring away from national borders.

Recent Activity

EVENT PHOTO 2017.5.4 Changing Realities at the Borderv3
Multimedia
May 4, 2017
Recognizing Changing Enforcement and Crossing Trends at the U.S.-Mexico Border
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Reports
May 2017
A Revolving Door No More? A Statistical Profile of Mexican Adults Repatriated from the United States
By  Ryan Schultheis and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto
Advances in U.S.-Mexico Border Enforcement: A Review of the Consequence Delivery System
Reports
May 2017
Advances in U.S.-Mexico Border Enforcement: A Review of the Consequence Delivery System
By  Randy Capps, Faye Hipsman and Doris Meissner
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Articles
April 26, 2017
Uptick in Northern Border Crossings Places Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement under Pressure
By Sela Cowger
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Fact Sheets
April 2017
The First 100 Days: Summary of Major Immigration Actions Taken by the Trump Administration
By  Sela Cowger, Jessica Bolter and Sarah Pierce
EVENT PHOTO 2017.4.24 100 Days into Trumps Term and Immigration Action Muz Doris
Multimedia
April 24, 2017
The First 100 Days: Immigration Policy in the Trump Administration
Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the White House briefing room.
Articles
April 20, 2017
Despite Little Action Yet by Trump Administration on Sanctuary Cities, States and Localities Rush to Respond to Rhetoric
By Muzaffar Chishti and Sarah Pierce
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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

Pages

Feature
September 1, 2005
Solving the Unauthorized Migrant Problem: Proposed Legislation in the U.S.

In the most recent session of Congress, four legislative proposals addressing unauthorized immigration and general immigration reform have been introduced. MPI's Eliot Turner and Marc R. Rosenblum compare their provisions for enforcement, employer sanctions, legalization, and guest worker programs.

Feature
September 1, 2005
The Declining Enforcement of Employer Sanctions

The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act made the knowing hiring or employment of unauthorized immigrants illegal in the U.S.. But as Peter Brownell of the University of California Berkeley details, the government has not devoted many resources to enforcing this provision.

Feature
September 1, 2005
Unauthorized Migrants Living in the United States: A Mid-Decade Portrait

An estimated 10.3 million unauthorized migrants were living in the U.S. in 2004. Jennifer Van Hook, Frank Bean, and Jeff Passell report on who they are, where they live, the work they do, and their levels of education and poverty.

Feature
May 22, 2002
New Estimates of the Undocumented Population in the United States
About 8.5 million undocumented immigrants live in the United States according to new estimates. Jeffrey Passel, Principal Research Associate at the Urban Institute, provides new insight into the numbers and the methodology.

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Recent Activity

Commentaries
November 2018

Asylum Reform, Not Troops, Is the Solution to Current Border Reality

Asylum reform, not the "shock-and-awe" deployment of thousands of troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to deal with the migrant caravan, represents the real path to addressing the current realities of mixed economic and humanitarian migration flows, as the person who presided over the last reform of the U.S. asylum system in the mid-1990s explains in this commentary.

Video, Audio
October 1, 2018

15th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

At the 15th annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference, held in October 2018, leading experts and government officials discussed the role that immigration is playing in the mid-term elections; how the courts are handling key immigration questions; and recent changes in the U.S. asylum system, border and interior enforcement, and regulations surrounding legal immigration.   

Policy Briefs
October 2018

Balancing Acts: Policy Frameworks for Migrant Return and Reintegration

In recent years, questions of whether, when, and how to return failed asylum seekers and other migrants to their origin countries have dominated migration debates in many countries. These issues were also taken up in the negotiation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, moving the discussion beyond the typical bilateral one. This policy brief outlines how states might more constructively work together on returns and reintegration programs.

Articles
October 18, 2018

After Revolution, Tunisian Migration Governance Has Changed. Has EU Policy?

In the face of an uptick in unauthorized arrivals in Italy from Tunisia in 2017, the European Union dusted off earlier policy proposals such as funding to increase Tunisia’s border-control capabilities and the creation of disembarkation platforms. This article explores why contemporary developments, including a fragile Tunisian political system, suggest the need for a different approach.

Articles
October 11, 2018

Mexican Immigrants in the United States

For decades, Mexicans have been the largest immigrant group in the United States. While this is still the case, the Mexican immigrant population is no longer growing at the rate it once was. In fact, between 2010 and 2017, the number of Mexicans in the country first leveled off and then began to decline. This article explores the latest data on Mexican immigrants in the United States.

Reports
September 2018

The U.S. Asylum System in Crisis: Charting a Way Forward

The United States has a long tradition of providing asylum to those in need. But in recent years, case backlogs have grown and many asylum seekers now wait years for a decision. This report examines the factors that have brought the U.S. asylum system to this crisis point and proposes common-sense steps that can be taken to restore timeliness and fairness, while deterring abuses.

Articles
September 26, 2018

Trump Administration’s New Indefinite Family Detention Policy: Deterrence Not Guaranteed

As the Trump administration moves to be able to indefinitely detain parents and children intercepted at the U.S.-Mexico border, whether illegal border crossers or asylum seekers, recent apprehension trends and history suggest hardline policies might not be a slam-dunk deterrent with a Central American population often driven by the desire to escape gang or other violence, as this Policy Beat explores.

Commentaries
September 2018

People Leave Footprints: Millions More Unauthorized Immigrants Cannot Be ‘Hidden’ in Data Estimates

In a commentary, MPI and Penn State researchers explain why an academic article suggesting the unauthorized population is significantly higher than previously estimated derives from seriously flawed assumptions. The researchers, who peer-reviewed the analysis, find the authors overestimate successful illegal crossings by misapplying data from the 2000s to the 1990s, when crossing patterns were much different.

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