Illegal Immigration & Interior Enforcement

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

Articles April 11, 2024 South American Immigrants in the United States By Julian Montalvo and Jeanne Batalova	Commentaries March 2024 As Europe and the United States Face Similar Migration Challenges, Spain Can Act as a Bridge By Anna Terrón Cusí and Andrew Selee
Articles March 27, 2024 The Limits of the Go-It-Alone Approach: U.S. Migration Management Increasingly Requires Other Countries’ Cooperation By Muzaffar Chishti and Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh	Articles March 13, 2024 Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States By Jeanne Batalova
Reports March 2024 Diverging Paths: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in the Middle East and North Africa By Samuel Davidoff-Gore	Reports March 2024 Converging Crises: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in South America By Luisa Feline Freier, Andrea Kvietok and Leon Lucar Oba
Reports March 2024 Coordination Breakdown: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in Europe By Frey Lindsay	Articles March 6, 2024 Iran Faces Dwindling Water and Escalating Climate Pressures, Aggravating Displacement Threats By Javid Rostami and Arash Asad Paski

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Reports March 2024 Diverging Paths: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in the Middle East and North Africa By Samuel Davidoff-Gore	Reports March 2024 Converging Crises: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in South America By Luisa Feline Freier, Andrea Kvietok and Leon Lucar Oba
Reports March 2024 Coordination Breakdown: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in Europe By Frey Lindsay	Reports February 2024 Outmatched: The U.S. Asylum System Faces Record Demands By Kathleen Bush-Joseph
Reports January 2024 Migration at the U.S.-Mexico Border: A Challenge Decades in the Making By Alan D. Bersin, Nate Bruggeman and Ben Rohrbaugh	Reports January 2024 Shifting Realities at the U.S.-Mexico Border: Immigration Enforcement and Control in a Fast-Evolving Landscape By Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh and Doris Meissner
Policy Briefs December 2023 What Role Could Digital Technologies Play in the New EU Pact on Migration and Asylum? By Lucía Salgado and Hanne Beirens	Reports November 2023 Immigration and Integration in the Ever More Diverse Houston Area By Valerie Lacarte, Michael Fix and Jeanne Batalova

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Spotlight

April 11, 2024

South American Immigrants in the United States

The South American immigrant population in the United States has grown at a faster rate than that of the overall foreign-born population, amid crises in Venezuela, Colombia, and elsewhere. Yet South Americans still account for only about one in ten U.S. immigrants. While they mirror the overall U.S. immigrant population in several demographic characteristics, there are some notable differences, as this article details.

Policy Beat

March 27, 2024

The Limits of the Go-It-Alone Approach: U.S. Migration Management Increasingly Requires Other Countries’ Cooperation

The U.S. immigration enforcement system increasingly depends on other countries to help halt irregular movements through the Americas and accept the return of unauthorized migrants. Foreign governments play a crucial and yet underappreciated role in migration management, and can either aid or frustrate U.S. border-control aims, as this article explores.

A naturalization ceremony at the White House.

Spotlight

March 13, 2024

Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

Immigration touches on many facets of life in the United States. Get the facts with this useful resource, which compiles in one place answers to some of the most often-asked questions about immigration and immigrants in the United States now and historically. This article contains essential data on the immigrant population, immigration levels, trends in immigration enforcement, and much more.

Afghan refugees in Iran's Semnan refugee settlement.

Feature

March 6, 2024

Iran Faces Dwindling Water and Escalating Climate Pressures, Aggravating Displacement Threats

Floods, heatwaves, and other extreme weather events have displaced hundreds of thousands of people in Iran, with repercussions for residents including the 3.4 million refugees and other forced migrants, who are restricted to climate-affected areas. Environmental challenges may also be pushing some people to move internationally. This article offers a rare look at the climate and migration dynamics in Iran.

A member of the Texas National Guard faces migrants in Eagle Pass, Texas.

Policy Beat

February 28, 2024

Standoff at Eagle Pass: A High-Stakes U.S. Border Enforcement Showdown Comes to a Small Texas Park

Rising tensions between Texas and the federal government have sparked fears of a constitutional crisis after the state deployed its National Guard to prevent the U.S. Border Patrol from conducting operations in a city park in Eagle Pass, with Texas Governor Greg Abbott saying the “invasion” of migrants triggered the need for action. This article provides an overview of the standoff and the larger context of current and past state-federal tensions over immigration enforcement.

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Explainers

April 2019

Explainer: Illegal Immigration in the United States

How has the size of the unauthorized population in the United States changed over time? How is illegal immigration changing, and where do unauthorized immigrants come from? This explainer answers basic questions about illegal immigration, the changing patterns from Mexico, and more.

Expert Q&A, Audio

October 19, 2023

Documenting the Migration Journey: African Kinship Dynamics in Europe

African migrants turn to the strength of kinship-based support systems in pursuit of stability as they settle in a European landscape that is sometimes made precarious by their legal status and shifting policies. This episode discusses use of the kinship networks, including to exchange or broker identity documents between migrants along the migration journey and at destination.

Video

September 18, 2023

20th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

The 20th annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference, organized by MPI, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., and Georgetown University Law Center, features fresh, thoughtful policy and legal analysis, and discussion of some of the top immigration issues by leading government officials, attorneys, researchers, advocates, and other experts.

Video, Audio

July 25, 2023

Improving Communications in the Voluntary Return and Reintegration Network

This webinar explores the goals and target audiences for public-facing information campaigns on voluntary return and reintegration, how to evaluate dissemination gaps, and the risks associated with inadvertently issuing messages that are not trusted or are misunderstood.

Video

July 20, 2023

Straining under the Backlog: Fixing a U.S. Immigration Court System in Crisis

As the U.S. immigration court system struggles with record case backlogs, decisions take years, immigration enforcement is delayed, and wait times incentivize unauthorized arrivals. This discussion examines the factors that have driven the system to the point of crisis and possible fixes.

Expert Q&A, Audio

June 27, 2023

A Mixed Welcome: Haitian Migration within the Caribbean

MPI Senior Policy Analyst Valerie Lacarte speaks with experts Bridget Wooding and Louby George about migration of Haitians to the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.

Recent Activity

Reports

August 2015

An Analysis of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States by Country and Region of Birth

This report profiles the approximately 11 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States, examining population growth trends over time by country or region of origin as well as geographic distribution by state and top county destinations. (See related interactive map here.) The report also assesses eligibility and application rates for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, analyzing differences in application rates by national origin.

Articles

August 13, 2015

Origin and Community: Asian and Latin American Unauthorized Youth and U.S. Deportation Relief

This article explores differences in application and renewal rates for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program among unauthorized immigrants from Latin America and Asia. Based on interviews with immigrant advocates and service providers, it appears participation in the deportation relief program may be different among origin groups based on varying perceptions of lack of trust in government and shame over legal status, as well as political barriers.

Policy Briefs

August 2015

DACA at the Three-Year Mark: High Pace of Renewals, But Processing Difficulties Evident

With August 2015 marking the three-year anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, this issue brief examines the status of DACA renewal applications and adjudications, the consequences of failing to renew on time, and issues affecting renewal rates. As of March 2015, 83 percent of those eligible to renew their initial DACA grant had applied to do so—proof of the program's high value to recipients, the authors find.

Reports

August 2015

In-Country Processing in Central America: A Piece of the Puzzle

The in-country refugee processing program launched in Central America by the Obama administration in December 2014 as a response to rising unaccompanied child migration may provide a legal, safe alternative to undertaking dangerous, unauthorized journeys to the United States, albeit a limited one. This report examines the Central American Minors Refugee/Parole Program, as well as the history and track record of prior U.S. in-country processing programs.

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.

Commentaries

July 2015

Federal-Local Cooperation on Immigration Enforcement Frayed; Chance for Improvement Exists

Long-simmering tensions over federal-local cooperation in immigration enforcement were exposed in the days after the shooting death of a young woman in San Francisco by an unauthorized immigrant who had been deported five times from the United States. This commentary explores the rift over Secure Communities, with more than 360 jurisdictions limiting their cooperation, and the possibility of a reset in federal-local relations.

Policy Briefs

July 2015

Irregular Maritime Migration in the Bay of Bengal: The Challenges of Protection, Management, and Cooperation

Irregular maritime migration across the Bay of Bengal to Southeast Asia entered a period of crisis in spring 2015 as a wave of migrants and refugees crossed, most departing from ports in Myanmar and Bangladesh, with many facing critical danger along the way. This MPI-IOM Issue in Brief puts the crisis into context and offers a consideration of what recent history has to teach about responses to maritime migration crises.

Reports

July 2015

Understanding the Potential Impact of Executive Action on Immigration Enforcement

This report analyzes how many unauthorized immigrants fall within Department of Homeland Security priority enforcement categories unveiled in November 2014 and how implementation of these priorities could affect the number of deportations from within the United States. The report also examines the replacement of the controversial Secure Communities with a new Priority Enforcement Program, and what PEP could mean for immigration enforcement.

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