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 August 2, 2023 In the Twilight Zone: Record Number of U.S. Immigrants Are in Limbo Statuses By Muzaffar Chishti and Kathleen Bush-Joseph	Multimedia July 25, 2023 Improving Communications in the Voluntary Return and Reintegration Network
Multimedia July 20, 2023 Straining under the Backlog: Fixing a U.S. Immigration Court System in Crisis	Reports July 2023 At the Breaking Point: Rethinking the U.S. Immigration Court System By Muzaffar Chishti, Doris Meissner, Stephen Yale-Loehr, Kathleen Bush-Joseph and Christopher Levesque
Articles July 11, 2023 Inmigrantes colombianos en los Estados Unidos By Diego Chaves-González y Jeanne Batalova	Articles July 11, 2023 Colombian Immigrants in the United States By Diego Chaves-González and Jeanne Batalova
Articles July 5, 2023 Haitians Flee a Nation Nearing Collapse By Emmanuela Douyon	Articles June 28, 2023 Activism on Immigration by U.S. States Is Back, with New Tactics and Different Targets By Muzaffar Chishti and Julia Gelatt

Pages

Reports October 2021 African Migration through the Americas: Drivers, Routes, and Policy Responses By Caitlyn Yates and Jessica Bolter	Reports October 2021 Toward a Better Immigration System: Fixing Immigration Governance at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security By Doris Meissner and Ruth Ellen Wasem
Policy Briefs September 2021 Migration Management and Border Security: Lessons Learned By Alan D. Bersin	Reports August 2021 From Jailers to Case Managers: Redesigning the U.S. Immigration Detention System to Be Effective and Fair By Randy Capps and Doris Meissner
Reports July 2021 Integración socioeconómica de los migrantes y refugiados venezolanos: Los casos de Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador y Perú By Diego Chaves-González, Jordi Amaral and María Jesús Mora	Reports July 2021 Socioeconomic Integration of Venezuelan Migrants and Refugees: The Cases of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru By Diego Chaves-González, Jordi Amaral and María Jesús Mora
Reports July 2021 Future Scenarios for Global Mobility in the Shadow of Pandemic By Meghan Benton	Policy Briefs May 2021 EU Strategy on Voluntary Return and Reintegration: Crafting a Road Map to Better Cooperation with Migrants’ Countries of Origin By Camille Le Coz

Pages

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at a conference in Tampa.

Policy Beat

June 28, 2023

Activism on Immigration by U.S. States Is Back, with New Tactics and Different Targets

Renewed U.S. state activism on immigration has echoes of the early 2010s, when Arizona’s SB 1070 defined a Republican-led push to increase enforcement that was ultimately muted by the courts and public backlash. Newer strategies rely on a novel array of tactics including migrant busing, litigation, and lawmaking. States are also moving in opposite directions, with some expanding rights for unauthorized immigrants, as this article details.

Feature

June 6, 2023

In Canada’s French-Speaking Quebec, Immigration Sparks Anxieties about Language and Identity

Canada's ambitions to dramatically increase immigration have met resistance in Quebec, the country's only majority-French province, where many worry their identity is under threat. Provincial officials have sought to fortify the role of the French language in society through academic, immigration, and linguistic policies, but the language nonetheless faces demographic threats, as this article explains.

Banderas de las naciones centroamericanas en una marcha en San Diego.

Spotlight

June 2, 2023

Inmigrantes centroamericanos en los Estados Unidos

Los centroamericanos representan menos de una décima parte de la población de inmigrantes en Estados Unidos. Pero su número se ha multiplicado por diez desde 1980. Este artículo proporciona una mirada integral a esta población.

A double border wall leads to a boat launch in Yuma, Arizona.

Feature

May 31, 2023

Global Spending on Immigration Enforcement Is Higher than Ever and Rising

Budgets for border security and interior immigration enforcement have been on the rise in places including the United States and the European Union. The spending is a result of the heightened focus on securitization by the Global North and has led to a ballooning private industry. This article explains the trend.

An abandoned shoe lies in the mud along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Policy Beat

May 25, 2023

U.S. Border Asylum Policy Enters New Territory Post-Title 42

The United States entered a new era with the end of the pandemic-era Title 42 expulsions policy. The government’s hopes of maintaining order at the U.S.-Mexico border post-Title 42 may be complicated by factors including authorities’ limited capacity, ongoing litigation, and cooperation from other countries. This article reviews the Biden administration's changing border policies and possible challenges ahead.

Pages

Video

September 21, 2020

17th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

This year’s Immigration Law and Policy Conference examines the immigration policy agenda under the Trump administration, including changes in the asylum system; the vast societal upheaval brought on by COVID-19 and the rising racial justice movement; what the future of U.S. immigration may look like; and many other topics related to U.S. immigration policy.

Video, Audio

August 26, 2020

Excluding Millions: How Trump Administration Changes to the Decennial Census Could Leave Out U.S. Citizens and Immigrants

This conversation, featuring a former U.S. Census Bureau director and other top experts, examines how the many challenges facing the 2020 Census could affect the count and representation of immigrant communities, the difficulties inherent in data matching to determine legal status, and the legal and constitutional issues surrounding the administration’s actions.

Flickr IOM Arrival of Returnees from Khartoum 7201505076_4a40649469_c

Video, Audio

June 25, 2020

Rethinking and Restarting: What Should the Returns Process Look Like Post-Pandemic?

This MPI Europe webinar showcases speakers from Belgium's Fedasil, the French Office of Immigration and Integration, and IOM discussing the counselling of (potential) returnees to increase the uptake of voluntary return—a return option that is generally seen as more humanitarian, practical, and less expensive.

Video, Audio

June 8, 2020

Beyond the Border: U.S.-Mexican Migration Accord Has Ushered in Sweeping Change in Mexico in Its First Year

Amid rising Central American migration to the United States, the U.S. and Mexican governments in June 2019 signed a joint declaration pledging to work together to manage and reduce irregular migration. At the agreement’s one-year anniversary, MPI researchers engaged in discussion with former U.S. and Mexican Ambassadors and a veteran journalist about the changes sparked.

Video

April 22, 2020

Immigration and the U.S.-Mexico Border during the Pandemic: A Conversation with Members of Congress

In this bipartisan discussion, two border-state members of Congress—Rep. Veronica Escobar and Rep. Dan Crenshaw—discuss the response to the coronavirus outbreak, how it is affecting the interconnected border region, and what the future might hold.

Recent Activity

Policy Briefs

December 2023

What Role Could Digital Technologies Play in the New EU Pact on Migration and Asylum?

With EU migration systems under strain, many observers have high hopes that the New Pact on Migration and Asylum will be able to help Europe address pressing challenges. This policy brief explores how digital technologies could support the implementation of the pact, should it be approved, as well as areas where caution is merited.

Articles

December 6, 2023

Often Shut Out of the Financial System, Refugees and Other Migrants Face Economic Integration Challenges

Credit cards, bank accounts, and other financial services are often critical in order to fully participate in the modern world. Yet many refugees and other forced migrants have trouble obtaining these seemingly simple tools, preventing them from full integration. This article outlines humanitarian migrants’ needs for financial services and the barriers that can arise.

Reports

November 2023

Immigration and Integration in the Ever More Diverse Houston Area

Nearly one-quarter of residents of the Houston metro area are immigrants. These foreign-born Houstonians come from an ever-wider range of countries and are well represented in high-demand industries, and make up a sizeable share of parents. This report sketches a profile of the Houston area’s immigrant population overall, and takes a closer look at the number and characteristics of those eligible to naturalize.

Articles

November 8, 2023

Haitian Immigrants in the United States

The United States is the world’s top destination for Haitian migrants, who in recent years have fled an array of disasters and crises. Compared to other immigrant groups in the United States, the nearly 731,000 Haitians are more likely to be naturalized citizens, arrive through family-based pathways, and work in the service industry, as this data-rich article details.

Commentaries

November 2023

The U.S.-Mexico Border Problem Will Not Be “Solved” Until All Parts of the Border Enforcement System Are Properly Resourced

The $13.6 billion border emergency supplemental spending bill the Biden administration is seeking lays out the elements for resourcing immigration functions to full capacity across the entire border enforcement system. Without resourcing the system across all its parts, including adjudications and management, no administration, present or future, will be able to effectively manage spontaneous border arrivals, this commentary argues.

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.

Articles

October 25, 2023

Can the Biden Immigration Playbook Be Effective for Managing Arrivals via Sea?

Amid the highest Caribbean maritime migration levels in a generation, the Biden administration is relying on a carrot-and-stick strategy it honed amid record unauthorized migration at the U.S.-Mexico border. The approach, combining limits on asylum, expanded legal pathways, and international enforcement partnerships, could be increasingly important if maritime migration rises, as this article explains.

Commentaries

October 2023

Shifting Patterns and Policies Reshape Migration to U.S.-Mexico Border in Major Ways in 2023

There is a deeper story behind the U.S. government's fiscal 2023 border encounters numbers than that the year marked a new record high. The pivot from the pandemic-era Title 42 expulsions policy and sharp diversification in nationalities have reshaped migrant arrivals unlike any year before. This commentary goes beyond the headlines to focus on the more enduring—and challenging—realities occuring at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Programs

Topics see all >

Regions see all >

Data

Featured Publication

Programs

You are here

Illegal Immigration & Interior Enforcement

Recent Activity

Pages

Pages

Pages

Pages

Pages

Recent Activity

Pages