E.g., 04/16/2024
E.g., 04/16/2024
Illegal Immigration & Interior Enforcement

Illegal Immigration & Interior Enforcement

Deportations/Returns
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

Supporters of the DREAM Act at a September 2017 march in Los Angeles.
Articles
September 15, 2017
Trump Administration Rescinds DACA, Fueling Renewed Push in Congress and the Courts to Protect DREAMers
By Muzaffar Chishti and Jessica Bolter
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Commentaries
September 2017
All Eyes Turn to Congress, Following Trump Decision to Terminate DACA Program
By  Julia Gelatt
EVENT PHOTO 2017.8.31 flickr cesar bojorquez Un dia sin migrantes (Tijuana B.C. Mexico)
Multimedia
August 31, 2017
La Situación de Cambio Constante entre EE UU y México: Tendencias y Políticas de Migración, Incluyendo Menores No Acompañados
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Commentaries
August 2017
Juan Osuna: A Tribute to an Indispensable Person
By  Doris Meissner
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Policy Briefs
August 2017
The Education and Work Profiles of the DACA Population
By  Randy Capps, Michael Fix and Jie Zong
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Policy Briefs
August 2017
Immigration and Farm Labor: From Unauthorized to H-2A for Some?
By  Philip Martin
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Reports
July 2017
Strengthening Mexico’s Protection of Central American Unaccompanied Minors in Transit
By  Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents take a man into custody.
Articles
July 19, 2017
The Trump Administration at Six Months: A Sea Change in Immigration Enforcement
By Muzaffar Chishti and Jessica Bolter

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Feature
October 1, 2007
Mujeres Migrantes en Tránsito y Detenidas en México

Click here to read the article in English.

México es uno de los principales países de tránsito de migrantes en el mundo, particularmente para los miles de centroamericanos que viajan cada año por el país con el objetivo de alcanzar los Estados Unidos.

Feature
March 8, 2007
Arizona Hosts Groups on Both Sides of the Immigration Debate

In no state is the immigration debate more polarized than in Arizona. Malia Politzer examines the proimmigrant and border watch groups active in the state and how they seek to influence policy.

Feature
March 1, 2007
Women Migrants in Transit and Detention in Mexico

Since 2000, Mexico has further intensified efforts to detain and deport irregular migrants. Gabriela Diaz and Gretchen Kuhner investigate the experiences of women migrants, the majority of them from Latin America, who have been detained in Mexico en route to the United States.

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Feature
May 1, 2006
American Immigration Reform from a Scandinavian Perspective
After watching the immigration reform debate intensify in the last few months, Thor Arne Aaas, Norway's Director General of the Department of Migration and a Visiting Fellow at MPI, characterizes the debate as "unfocused, unstructured, and very emotional." More on his views in this interview with Migration Information Source Editor Kirin Kalia.
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.

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Recent Activity

Video, Audio
April 10, 2019

International vs. National Protection for Refugees: Diverging Trends?

MPI's Kathleen Newland, Refugee Council USA's Mary Giovagnoli, and David Scott FitzGerald, author of Refuge beyond Reach, discuss how and why international and national responses to the rising challenge of refugee displacement are diverging. They examine what lies ahead for the Global Compact on Refugees and how adjustments to asylum policies in many high-income democracies are narrowing the paths to protection.

Reports
April 2019

Spain’s Labor Migration Policies in the Aftermath of Economic Crisis

A relatively new destination for immigrants, Spain has developed a labor migration system that builds on longstanding relationships with countries outside the European Union and that actively involves employers, trade unions, and regional governments. This report examines how this legal framework has evolved in recent decades, and how it could serve as a model for EU policymakers in admitting non-EU workers.

Policy Briefs
April 2019

Mitigating the Effects of Trauma among Young Children of Immigrants and Refugees: The Role of Early Childhood Programs

The first years of a child’s life are a time of immense growth, and exposure to trauma—if left unaddressed—can have significant, lifelong effects. This issue brief examines how young children of refugees and other immigrants may be affected by trauma, and what early childhood education and care programs, health-care providers, and others can do to mitigate its adverse effects.

Commentaries
April 2019

Policy Solutions to Address Crisis at Border Exist, But Require Will and Staying Power to Execute

Closing the U.S.-Mexico border and cutting off aid to Central America would only feed the crisis unfolding at key points along the U.S.-Mexico border. This commentary outlines a range of immediate and long-term policy responses that would more effectively address the complex mix of factors fueling rising Central American migration to the United States.

Articles
March 28, 2019

Remain in Mexico Plan Echoes Earlier U.S. Policy to Deter Haitian Migration

Remain in Mexico—the Trump administration policy aimed at deterring the rising numbers of migrants from Central America by requiring them to stay in Mexico through most of their U.S. asylum adjudication process—bears striking similarities to U.S. policy in the 1980s and 1990s that sought to discourage Haitians from making the sea journey to the United States. This article explores the parallels and differences between Remain in Mexico and the earlier narrowing of asylum for Haitians.

Commentaries
March 2019

More Than a DREAM (Act), Less Than a Promise

The first bill introduced in the 116th Congress to offer a path to legal status to DREAMers, the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019, could legalize nearly 2.7 million unauthorized immigrants brought to the United States as children, as well as those eligible for Temporary Protected Status or Deferred Enforced Departure, as this commentary explains.

Articles
March 14, 2019

Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

Immigrant arrivals to the United States and the makeup of the foreign-born population have been changing in significant ways: Recent immigrants are more likely to be from Asia than from Mexico and the overall immigrant population is growing at a slower rate than before the 2008-09 recession. This useful article collects in one place some of the most sought-after statistics on immigrants in the United States.

Articles
March 7, 2019

Protection and Reintegration: Mexico Reforms Migration Agenda in an Increasingly Complex Era

Mexico is facing a new reality: Rising migration from Central America, the reintegration of returning migrants, and protection of Mexicans in the United States. As President Andrés Manuel López Obrador seeks to shift the country’s migration policy from enforcement to protection, his task is complicated by changing U.S. border policy and the need to avoid domestic backlash over Central American migration to and through Mexico.

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