Immigrant Integration

Immigrant integration is the process of economic mobility and social inclusion for newcomers and their children. As such, integration touches upon the institutions and mechanisms that promote development and growth within society, including early childhood care; elementary, postsecondary, and adult education systems; workforce development; health care; provision of government services to communities with linguistic diversity; and more. Successful integration builds communities that are stronger economically and more inclusive socially and culturally.

Recent Activity

Reports June 2019 Social Innovation for Refugee Inclusion: From Bright Spots to System Change By Liam Patuzzi, Meghan Benton and Alexandra Embiricos	Policy Briefs June 2019 Legal Protections for K-12 English Learner and Immigrant-Background Students By Julie Sugarman
Policy Briefs May 2019 Noncitizens in the U.S. Military: Navigating National Security Concerns and Recruitment Needs By Muzaffar Chishti, Austin Rose and Stephen Yale-Loehr	Multimedia May 17, 2019 "Merit-Based" Immigration: Designing Successful Selection Systems
Articles May 16, 2019 Immigrant Veterans in the United States By Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova	Multimedia May 9, 2019 A Mirror for the Nation? The Changing Profile of Mexican Immigrants in Texas
Fact Sheets May 2019 A Profile of Highly Skilled Mexican Immigrants in Texas and the United States By Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and Andrew Selee	Articles May 8, 2019 Can Return Migration Revitalize the Baltics? Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania Engage Their Diasporas, with Mixed Results By Ieva Birka

Pages

Policy Briefs November 2014 Developing School Capacity for Diversity By Sabine Severiens	Policy Briefs November 2014 Mentoring: What Can Support Projects Achieve That Schools Cannot? By Maurice Crul and Jens Schneider
Policy Briefs November 2014 Enhancing EU Education Policy: Building a Framework to Help Young People of Migrant Background Succeed By Miquel Àngel Essomba	Reports October 2014 Investing in the Future: Labor Market Integration Policies for New Immigrants in Germany By Carola Burkert and Anette Haas
Reports October 2014 Turning a Corner? How Spain Can Help Immigrants Find Middle-Skilled Work By Raúl Ramos	Reports October 2014 Shifting Focus: Policies to Support the Labor Market Integration of New Immigrants in France By Mirna Safi
Reports October 2014 Benign Neglect? Policies to Support Upward Mobility for Immigrants in the United Kingdom By Rachel Marangozov	Reports October 2014 Selling Visas and Citizenship: Policy Questions from the Global Boom in Investor Immigration By Madeleine Sumption and Kate Hooper

Pages

Feature

October 1, 2006

The Second Generation in Early Adulthood: New Findings from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study

A decade-long panel survey conducted in San Diego, California, and Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, reveals different outcomes among members of the second generation in education, employment, acculturation, incarceration, and family formation. Rubén G. Rumbaut of the University of California, Irvine and Alejandro Portes of Princeton University provide an overview of the latest results.

Feature

October 1, 2006

Becoming American/Becoming New Yorkers: The Second Generation in a Majority Minority City

The second generation in New York City largely comes from non-European ethnic origins. Philip Kasinitz, Mary C. Waters, John Mollenkopf, and Jennifer Holdaway look at how growing up in a “majority minority” city has affected their experiences in school and on the job, how they feel about their progress, and where they think they fit within American society.

Feature

September 1, 2006

Why Immigrants Lack Adequate Access to Health Care and Health Insurance

Leighton Ku of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities explores the key issues and research concerning immigrants' access to private health insurance, public health insurance, and to health care in general.

Feature

May 1, 2006

Another Way to Assess the Second Generation: Look at the Parents

In seeking to explain why some second-generation children in the United States have higher levels of educational attainment than others, most arguments center on either cultural values or structural differences, such as class background and access to quality schools. Cynthia Feliciano of the University of California, Irvine shows that parents' status, relative to nonmigrants from their home country, is a factor.

Feature

January 1, 2006

Citizenship in a Globalized World

At its most basic, citizenship refers to membership conferred by a state. Greta Gilbertson of Fordham University outlines the many citizenship models and looks at the recent growth of multiple, supranational, and quasi-citizenship.

Pages

Video

September 24, 2013

Mexicans in Hawaiʻi: Challenges and Prospects

This briefing at the State Capitol in Honolulu, organized in conjunction with the University of Hawaii at Manoa, marked the formal release of a Migration Policy Institute report that presents key demographic and socioeconomic information about the Mexican-origin population in Hawai’i.

Video, Audio

August 14, 2013

A Year In: A Review of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

During this online chat, MPI researchers discuss their findings in an MPI brief, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals at the One-Year Mark: A Profile of Currently Eligible Youth and Applicants, that provides the most up-to-date estimates of the current and prospective DACA population by educational attainment, English proficiency, state of residence, country of origin, age, gender, labor force participation, poverty, and parental status.

Video

July 23, 2013

Margie McHugh Testimony Video: Illegal Immigration and Children

Testimony of Margie McHugh, Co-Director of MPI's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, U.S. House of Representatives.

Video, Audio

May 6, 2013

Thinking Regionally to Compete Globally: A New View on Migration and Human Capital for the United States, Mexico, and Central America

A panel discussion on the release of the Regional Migration Study Group's final report, Thinking Regionally to Compete Globally: Leveraging Migration & Human Capital in the U.S., Mexico, and Central America, outlining its findings and offering recommendations to policymakers in the region.

Video

March 26, 2013

The Fundamentals of Immigration Reform

MPI's President, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, and the Editor-in-Chief of The American Prospect, Kit Rachlis, engage in a lively Google Hangout discussion about the policies and politics that have created the United States' antiquated, inflexible immigration system and how to create a modern-day, flexible immigration system suited for the competitiveness of the 21st century.

Recent Activity

Reports

June 2019

Social Innovation for Refugee Inclusion: From Bright Spots to System Change

In the three years since the European migration and refugee crisis vividly captured public attention, a wave of innovative initiatives has emerged to help newcomers settle into receiving societies. Now, as the sense of crisis abates, this report explores what these initiatives will need to do to outlast the hype and produce lasting change on key integration issues such as housing, economic inclusion, and community building.

Policy Briefs

June 2019

Legal Protections for K-12 English Learner and Immigrant-Background Students

A complicated web of laws, policy guidance, and court rulings affect how English Learner (EL) and immigrant-background students are educated across the United States. This EL Insight sorts through them to highlight seven key ways the U.S. government protects the rights of these students to a K-12 education. It also highlights who can enforce these rules and how they can be seen in action.

Policy Briefs

May 2019

Noncitizens in the U.S. Military: Navigating National Security Concerns and Recruitment Needs

Noncitizens have long served in the U.S. military, often encouraged by the promise of a fast track to U.S. citizenship. In recent years, however, Congress and the Defense Department have made it more difficult for noncitizens to enlist. This brief give context to these policy changes and explores ways the military could better balance concerns about national security and the need for recruits with key cultural and professional skills.

Video, Audio

May 17, 2019

"Merit-Based" Immigration: Designing Successful Selection Systems

With the U.S. administration calling for the United States to adopt a more “merit-based” immigrant selection system, this conversation focused on what policymakers should consider in designing—and managing—immigrant selection systems in a time of intense labor-market and demographic change.

Articles

May 16, 2019

Immigrant Veterans in the United States

Approximately 530,000 foreign-born veterans of the U.S. armed forces resided in the United States in 2018, accounting for 3 percent of the 18.6 million veterans nationwide. Immigrant veterans tend to have higher education levels and household incomes compared to native-born veterans, and the vast majority are naturalized citizens, as this data-rich article explores.

Video, Audio, Webinars

May 9, 2019

A Mirror for the Nation? The Changing Profile of Mexican Immigrants in Texas

At this discussion, experts from MPI and Southern Methodist University’s Texas-Mexico Center offer an overview of trends and key characteristics of highly skilled Mexican adults at the national level and for Texas, including educational levels by legal status and top industries of employment across Texas metro areas. They also discuss the policy implications of these findings.

Fact Sheets

May 2019

A Profile of Highly Skilled Mexican Immigrants in Texas and the United States

U.S. debates about immigration from Mexico often center on the low skilled, but this analysis shows a population in change. Nearly one in five Mexican immigrants arriving between 2013-17 had a college degree, compared to slightly more than 1 in 20 during the 1996-2000 period. Mexicans now make up the fourth-largest group of highly skilled immigrants. This fact sheet explores their characteristics at U.S. and Texas levels.

Articles

May 8, 2019

Can Return Migration Revitalize the Baltics? Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania Engage Their Diasporas, with Mixed Results

Faced with high emigration rates and shrinking, aging populations, the Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—are exploring different ways to lure back nationals who have emigrated and establish or solidify ties with members of the diaspora. Of the three countries, Estonia is proving the most successful, while Latvia appears to be ignoring the looming demographic crisis and lacks an immigration plan.

Programs

Topics see all >

Regions see all >

Data

Featured Publication

Programs

You are here

Immigrant Integration

Recent Activity

Pages

Pages

Pages

Pages

Recent Activity

Pages