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

Cover image for Four Years of Profound Change: Immigration Policy during the Trump Presidency
Reports
February 2022
Four Years of Profound Change: Immigration Policy during the Trump Presidency
By  Jessica Bolter, Emma Israel and Sarah Pierce
Multimedia
January 19, 2022
Biden at One: Assessing the Administration’s Immigration Record
Photo of U.S. President Joe Biden delivering remarks in front of White House.
Articles
January 19, 2022
Biden at the One-Year Mark: A Greater Change in Direction on Immigration Than Is Recognized
By Muzaffar Chishti and Jessica Bolter
Cover image for Putting Migrant Reintegration Programs to the Test: A Road Map to a Monitoring System
Reports
January 2022
Putting Migrant Reintegration Programs to the Test: A Road Map to a Monitoring System
By  Lucía Salgado, Radu-Mihai Triculescu, Camille Le Coz and Hanne Beirens
A Dutch family at Ellis Island between 1915 and 1920.
Articles
January 6, 2022
Immigration Has Been a Defining, Often Contentious, Element Throughout U.S. History
By Jessica Bolter
Migrants enrolled in the Migrant Protection Protocols are processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.
Articles
December 2, 2021
Court-Ordered Relaunch of Remain in Mexico Policy Tweaks Predecessor Program, but Faces Similar Challenges
By Muzaffar Chishti and Jessica Bolter
Cover image for El estado de la política migratoria y de integración de Costa Rica
Reports
November 2021
El estado de la política migratoria y de integración de Costa Rica
By  Diego Chaves-González and María Jesús Mora
Cover image for The State of Costa Rican Migration and Immigrant Integration Policy
Reports
November 2021
The State of Costa Rican Migration and Immigrant Integration Policy
By  Diego Chaves-González and María Jesús Mora

Pages

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Reports
January 2016
Border Metrics: How to Effectively Measure Border Security and Immigration Control
By  Marc R. Rosenblum and Faye Hipsman
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Fact Sheets
January 2016
A Profile of U.S. Children with Unauthorized Immigrant Parents
By  Randy Capps, Michael Fix and Jie Zong
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Fact Sheets
January 2016
Trends in Unaccompanied Child and Family Migration from Central America
By  Marc R. Rosenblum and Isabel Ball
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Reports
December 2015
Stopping the Revolving Door: Reception and Reintegration Services for Central American Deportees
By  Victoria Rietig and Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas
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Policy Briefs
October 2015
Unaccompanied Child Migrants in U.S. Communities, Immigration Court, and Schools
By  Sarah Pierce
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Reports
September 2015
Implications of Immigration Enforcement Activities for the Well-Being of Children in Immigrant Families: A Review of the Literature
By  Randy Capps, Heather Koball, Andrea Campetella, Krista Perreira, Sarah Hooker and Juan Manuel Pedroza
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Reports
September 2015
Health and Social Service Needs of U.S.-Citizen Children with Detained or Deported Immigrant Parents
By  Heather Koball, Randy Capps, Sarah Hooker, Krista Perreira, Andrea Campetella, Juan Manuel Pedroza, William Monson and Sandra Huerta
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Reports
September 2015
Migrants Deported from the United States and Mexico to the Northern Triangle: A Statistical and Socioeconomic Profile
By  Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas and Victoria Rietig

Pages

President Joe Biden speaks to journalists at the White House.
Policy Beat
April 26, 2021
Border Challenges Dominate, But Biden’s First 100 Days Mark Notable Under-the-Radar Immigration Accomplishments

During his first 100 days in office, U.S. President Joe Biden took more than three times as many executive actions on immigration as predecessor Donald Trump. While rising encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border have captured major attention, Biden has been remarkably active in areas that have received far less attention, including interior enforcement. This article explores the administration's actions during its first three months.

Migrants arrive in Greece on a crowded boat from Turkey.
Feature
April 8, 2021
The EU-Turkey Deal, Five Years On: A Frayed and Controversial but Enduring Blueprint

The European Union’s landmark 2016 migration deal with Turkey offered aid and other benefits in exchange for Turkey's assistance in helping reduce arrivals of asylum seekers and other migrants. At its fifth anniversary, the EU-Turkey deal remains one criticized by human-rights advocates and has met frustration from Turkey, but in many ways created a blueprint for other externalization arrangements, as this article outlines.

Unaccompanied minors undergo processing at a temporary facility in Texas.
Policy Beat
April 1, 2021
Border Déjà Vu: Biden Confronts Similar Challenges as His Predecessors

The number of unaccompanied child migrants at the U.S. southern border has risen, presenting President Joe Biden with challenges similar to those faced by his predecessors in 2014 and 2019. This article examines the previous episodes and evaluates how Biden is mirroring or deviating from previous presidents' responses.

President Joe Biden signs executive orders on immigration in the White House.
Policy Beat
February 25, 2021
Legal Snags and Possible Increases in Border Arrivals Complicate Biden’s Immigration Agenda

President Joe Biden has grand ambitions to reshape the U.S. immigration system, but his administration has run into early stumbling blocks in rolling back the strict enforcement regime of his predecessor. Administrative resistance, a tangled web of legal agreements signed by the Trump administration, and anxieties about a possible uptick in immigrants and asylum seekers at the border have posed early challenges to Biden’s agenda.

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Spotlight
February 11, 2021
Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

Have a question about U.S. immigration trends and the country's immigrant population? This article collects in one place the most sought-after information about the world's largest immigrant population and how it has changed over time. Drawing from a wide array of authoritative data sources, this article provides an up-to-date snapshot of the immigrant population, visa and enforcement statistics, and information on emerging trends, including slowing immigration and changing origins.

Pages

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2015.7.23 EventPH TargetedEnforcement MaryGiovagnoli&JulieMyersWood
Video, Audio
July 23, 2015

Targeted Enforcement: Projecting the Effects of Executive Action on Deportations

Marking the release of an MPI report, this briefing explores the effects of recent revisions in DHS immigration enforcement priorities on deportations within the U.S. interior.

EventPH 2015.3.31 Unaccompanied Child Migration to the United States Flickr CBP Processing Unaccompanied Children
Video, Audio
March 31, 2015

Child and Family Migration to the United States: Continuing Flows and Evolving Responses

A webinar examining the shifting pattern of Central American child and family migration between 2011 and 2014 and expectations for 2015, the policy challenges presented by the rising inflow, and how states, localities, the U.S. government, and other countries in the region are responding to this recent trend.

EventPH 2015.1.15 The County Level View of Unauthorized Immigrants and Implications for Executive Action Implementation
Video, Audio
January 15, 2015

The County-Level View of Unauthorized Immigrants and Implications for Executive Action Implementation

A webinar showcasing MPI's data profiles of unauthorized immigrants in the 94 U.S. counties with the largest such populations, as well as the implications of the data for implementation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) programs.

EVENTPH 2015.1.05 Lessons from DACA Flickr Educators Training Connie Ma
Video, Audio
January 7, 2015

Lessons from DACA’s Implementation and its Impact on Education and Training

A webinar examining the outreach and initiatives by educational institutions and other community stakeholders seeking to support the education and training success of grantees of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

EVENTPH 2014.12.3 Executive Action Webinar Flickr The Speaker flickr com photos thespeakernews 15660310918
Video, Audio
December 3, 2014

Digging Deeper Into Executive Action: A Further Examination of the Impacts

A discussion with MPI experts of the less-examined aspects of President Obama's executive actions on immigration, with respect to immigration enforcement, legal immigration, and immigrant integration.

Pages

Recent Activity

Reports
February 2022

Four Years of Profound Change: Immigration Policy during the Trump Presidency

The Trump administration set an unprecedented pace for executive action on immigration, reshaping many aspects of the U.S. immigration system through changes large and small. This report chronicles the 472 administrative changes enacted during this four-year period—ranging from COVID-19 response measures and immigration enforcement, to humanitarian protection, travel bans, legal immigration and DACA changes, and more.

Video, Audio, Webinars
January 19, 2022

Biden at One: Assessing the Administration’s Immigration Record

This MPI discussion with leading experts, advocates, and a top official from the administration examines the Biden track record on immigration and what lays ahead

Articles
January 19, 2022

Biden at the One-Year Mark: A Greater Change in Direction on Immigration Than Is Recognized

While Donald Trump’s presidency is perceived as being the most active on immigration, touching nearly every aspect of the U.S. immigration system, President Joe Biden’s administration has far outpaced his predecessor in the number of executive actions taken during his first year in office—even as the pace of change has gone largely unnoticed, as this article explores.

Reports
January 2022

Putting Migrant Reintegration Programs to the Test: A Road Map to a Monitoring System

The European push to increase migrant returns has led to new investments in assisted voluntary return and reintegration (AVRR) programs. Yet it is hard to tell whether these investments are paying off. This report explores what is and is not known about returnee reintegration, and how improved monitoring and evaluation would help bridge knowledge gaps and inform future decisions about programming, funding, and strategy.

Articles
January 6, 2022

Immigration Has Been a Defining, Often Contentious, Element Throughout U.S. History

As host to more immigrants than any other country, the United States has been shaped and reshaped by immigration over the centuries, with the issue at times becoming a flashpoint. This article covers the history of U.S. immigration and the major laws governing immigration, and provides a comprehensive overview of the present-day immigrant population.

Articles
December 2, 2021

Court-Ordered Relaunch of Remain in Mexico Policy Tweaks Predecessor Program, but Faces Similar Challenges

The Biden administration's court-ordered restart of the controversial Migrant Protection Protocols, known informally as the Remain in Mexico policy, puts it in the awkward position of reviving a program it is simultaneously still trying to end. The Trump-era program forced tens of thousands of migrants to wait out the duration of their U.S. immigration court hearings in Mexico and was only questionably successful at deterring unauthorized arrivals.

Reports
November 2021

El estado de la política migratoria y de integración de Costa Rica

Dentro de América Latina, Costa Rica es uno de los principales destinos para migrantes y refugiados de una amplia gama de países y con características e intencionalidades migratorias diferentes. Este informe examina el marco institucional y la capacidad del sistema migratorio del país, con un enfoque en la integración de inmigrantes en cuatro áreas de políticas: registro y regularización, salud, empleo y educación.
Reports
November 2021

The State of Costa Rican Migration and Immigrant Integration Policy

Within Latin America, Costa Rica is a top destination for migrants and refugees from a range of countries and with different characteristics and migration intentions. This report examines the institutional framework and capacity of the country’s migration system, with a focus on immigrant integration in four policy areas: regularization and registration, health, employment, and education.

Pages