E.g., 06/28/2023
E.g., 06/28/2023
Illegal Immigration & Interior Enforcement

Illegal Immigration & Interior Enforcement

Deportations/Removals
Employment Verification
State & Local Enforcement
Worksite Enforcement
_IllegalImm+IntEnforcement

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

WelcometoUS DanielSzwalkiewicz Flickr
Articles
April 14, 2016
Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States
By Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova
MexicanMasks antifluor Flickr
Articles
March 17, 2016
Mexican Immigrants in the United States
By Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova
coverthumb DAPA Profile
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
GuatemalaDrought ECHO HAvril Flickr
Articles
February 18, 2016
Increased Central American Migration to the United States May Prove an Enduring Phenomenon
By Muzaffar Chishti and Faye Hipsman
coverthumb bordermetrics
Reports
January 2016
Border Metrics: How to Effectively Measure Border Security and Immigration Control
By  Marc R. Rosenblum and Faye Hipsman
Event PH 2016.1.13 Unauthorized Parent Children Profile flickr American Dream BushBollay
Multimedia
January 13, 2016
A Profile of Children with Unauthorized Immigrant Parents in the United States
coverthumb childrenofunauthorized.pdf_
Fact Sheets
January 2016
A Profile of U.S. Children with Unauthorized Immigrant Parents
By  Randy Capps, Michael Fix and Jie Zong
coverthumb uacfacts
Fact Sheets
January 2016
Trends in Unaccompanied Child and Family Migration from Central America
By  Marc R. Rosenblum and Isabel Ball

Pages

Recent Activity

Articles
March 7, 2018

Connecting the Dots: Emerging Migration Trends and Policy Questions in North and Central America

Together, Canada, Mexico, and the United States are home to nearly one-quarter of the world's migrants. Despite shifts in the profile of those who migrate and changing demographic realities across the region, such as population aging, perceptions and policies remain set in earlier eras. This article explores the intersection of migration and population dynamics in North America and the Northern Triangle of Central America.

Articles
February 22, 2018

Trump Administration Ratchets up Pressure on “Sanctuary” Jurisdictions

The Trump administration has been steadily building a case to penalize "sanctuary" cities—those jurisdictions that in some way limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities—after threatening to cut federal funding. Despite court rulings that seemed to strike a blow against these efforts, the Justice Department is moving forward with its strategy, relying on a broad interpretation of a federal statute, as this article explores.

Video
February 14, 2018

The End of TPS: Policy Options, Social Impacts

Experts explore the significance of the Trump administration’s decision not to renew Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for the approximately 263,000 Salvadorans residing in the United States, including the social impact of terminating TPS and the likely effects on the U.S. and Salvadoran economies, migration, and criminal violence, as well as policy options to address the fallout from the decision.

Commentaries
February 2018

A Path to Citizenship for 1.8 Million DREAMERs? Despite Talk, No Proposal Would Do So

Even as the 1.8 million number swirls in the discussion of how many DREAMers would be placed on a path to citizenship, proposals debated in the Senate in February 2018 would have resulted in the legalization of smaller numbers, as this commentary explains. It offers estimates of potential beneficiaries of several Senate proposals, including one backed by the White House, and analysis of key criteria.

Articles
February 8, 2018

Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

The United States is by far the world's top migration destination, home to roughly one-fifth of all global migrants. In 2016, nearly 44 million immigrants lived in the United States, comprising 13.5 percent of the country's population. Get the most sought-after data available on immigrants and immigration trends, including top countries of origin, legal immigration pathways, enforcement actions, health-care coverage, and much more.

Policy Briefs
January 2018

Welcome to Work? Legal Migration Pathways for Low-Skilled Workers

Although in many countries immigrants fill labor gaps in fields such as agriculture and construction, few legal migration pathways exist for low-skilled workers. As states meet to negotiate a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, this policy brief takes stock of the channels available for such workers to move legally and take up work abroad, highlighting promising practices and policy gaps.

Commentaries
January 2018

The Trump Immigration Plan: A Lopsided Proposal

The White House immigration plan offered as a solution to resolve the fate of DREAMers seeks legal immigration cuts unlike any seen since 1924. In addition to a decrease of up to 40 percent in family-sponsored immigration, the proposal demands vast increases in enforcement and a retrenchment in protections for those seeking humanitarian relief. In exchange, one-sixth of the unauthorized population could gain legal status.

Articles
January 24, 2018

Shifting Gears, Trump Administration Launches High-Profile Worksite Enforcement Operations

An unannounced sweep of 98 convenience stores by U.S. immigration authorities—resulting in the arrest of 21 unauthorized workers—may signal a new approach to worksite enforcement under the Trump administration, moving away from a strategy of paper-based audits that resulted in higher employer fines and fewer worker arrests. This article explores worksite enforcement over recent decades.

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