Immigration Policy & Law

Immigration legislative and administrative policies, legal statutes and court decisions, and regulations collectively shape nations' immigration systems—from visa allotments and immigrant-selection mechanisms to immigrant integration programs, border controls, and more. As international migration has increased in size and spread and as a number of nations are more flexibly adjusting their immigration systems, the research offered here examines the many permutations of immigration policy and law, often with a comparative lens.

Recent Activity

Multimedia September 5, 2018 Homelands: Four Friends, Two Countries and the Fate of the Great Mexican-American Migration	Policy Briefs September 2018 Reimagining Skilled Migration Partnerships to Support Development By Kate Hooper
Fact Sheets August 2018 English Learners in Select States: Demographics, Outcomes, and State Accountability Policies By Julie Sugarman and Courtney Geary	Articles August 29, 2018 El Salvador: Civil War, Natural Disasters, and Gang Violence Drive Migration By Cecilia Menjívar and Andrea Gómez Cervantes
Commentaries August 2018 Through the Back Door: Remaking the Immigration System via the Expected “Public-Charge” Rule By Jeanne Batalova, Michael Fix and Mark Greenberg	Policy Briefs August 2018 Deciding Which Road to Take: Insights into How Migrants and Refugees in Greece Plan Onward Movement By Katie Kuschminder
Articles August 22, 2018 Once Relatively Obscure, ICE Becomes a Lightning Rod in Immigration Debate By Muzaffar Chishti and Jessica Bolter	Articles August 15, 2018 Connecting Across Nationalities: Inter-Ethnic Relationships in a Kuwaiti Workplace By Batul K. Sadliwala

Pages

Reports March 2009 Immigration and the Labour Market: Theory, Evidence and Policy By Madeleine Sumption and Will Somerville	Reports March 2009 Immigration in the United Kingdom: The Recession and Beyond By Madeleine Sumption and Will Somerville
Reports February 2009 DHS and Immigration: Taking Stock and Correcting Course By Doris Meissner and Donald M. Kerwin	Reports January 2009 Talent, Competitiveness, and Migration (Transatlantic Council Statement) By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Annette Heuser
Reports January 2009 Migration and the Economic Downturn: What to Expect in the European Union By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Madeleine Sumption and Will Somerville	Reports January 2009 America's Views of Immigration: The Evidence from Public Opinion Surveys By Roberto Suro
Reports November 2008 The Growing Global Demand for Students as Skilled Migrants By Lesleyanne Hawthorne	Policy Briefs October 2008 Managing Temporary Migration: Lessons from the Philippine Model By Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza

Pages

Policy Beat

December 17, 2007

USCIS Faces Criticism over Visa Backlog

MPI's Gretchen Reinemeyer, Aaron Matteo Terrazas, and Claire Bergeron report on USCIS backlogs, actions to limit access to driver's licenses in Oregon and Maine, the latest on "no-match" letters, and more.

Feature

November 12, 2007

Canada's Temporary Migration Program: A Model Despite Flaws

In response to an agricultural worker shortage over 40 years ago, Canada initiated a temporary migration program to brings workers from the Caribbean and later Mexico. But this "model" program also has its drawbacks, as Tanya Basok of the University of Windsor explains.

Feature

October 1, 2007

Mujeres Migrantes en Tránsito y Detenidas en México

Click here to read the article in English.

México es uno de los principales países de tránsito de migrantes en el mundo, particularmente para los miles de centroamericanos que viajan cada año por el país con el objetivo de alcanzar los Estados Unidos.

Feature

September 11, 2007

Unauthorized Youths and Higher Education: The Ongoing Debate

Dawn Konet provides an overview of the arguments for and against granting in-state tuition rates to the unauthorized in the United States, and looks at relevant legislation at the state and federal levels.

Feature

May 18, 2007

Selecting Economic Stream Immigrants through Points Systems

The U.S. Congress is considering a bill that includes a points system for permanent immigration. MPI's Demetrios G. Papademetriou outlines how points systems work, which countries have used them, their political benefits, and trends in points-system use.

Recent Activity

Video

September 5, 2018

Homelands: Four Friends, Two Countries and the Fate of the Great Mexican-American Migration

A book discussion with author and veteran journalist Alfredo Corchado, MPI President Andrew Selee, and other experts on the nature of U.S.-Mexico immigration and the role of Mexican immigrants in the United States.

Policy Briefs

September 2018

Reimagining Skilled Migration Partnerships to Support Development

While partnerships to facilitate skilled migration have had mixed success in the past, the Global Compact for Migration is advancing a new approach that may change this. This policy brief compares this new partnership model with the traditional one, highlighting the questions policymakers will need to answer if they are to encourage mobility, sustain employer engagement, and see development benefits in countries of origin.

Fact Sheets

August 2018

English Learners in Select States: Demographics, Outcomes, and State Accountability Policies

States are in the midst of designing new policies to hold schools accountable for the education of English Learner (EL) students, as mandated by the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This series of fact sheets sketches the characteristics of immigrant and EL students in 25 states, the gaps between their educational outcomes and those of their peers, and the accountability policies each state is developing.

Articles

August 29, 2018

El Salvador: Civil War, Natural Disasters, and Gang Violence Drive Migration

El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America yet the most densely populated. A stagnant economy, high levels of crime and violence, and natural disasters have pushed growing numbers of people to migrate without authorization or seek asylum abroad, mostly in the United States. This article explores historical and contemporary emigration from El Salvador.

Commentaries

August 2018

Through the Back Door: Remaking the Immigration System via the Expected “Public-Charge” Rule

A Trump administration “public-charge” rule expected to be unveiled soon could create the potential to significantly reshape family-based legal immigration to the United States—and reduce arrivals from Asia, Latin America, and Africa—by imposing a de facto financial test that 40 percent of the U.S. born themselves would fail, as this commentary explains.

Policy Briefs

August 2018

Deciding Which Road to Take: Insights into How Migrants and Refugees in Greece Plan Onward Movement

EU policy debates about moving asylum seekers from overburdened frontline countries, such as Greece and Italy, to other Member States rarely consider how migrants form and act on preferences for certain destinations—and how difficult it may be to change these views. This issue brief explores decision-making among migrants in Greece, including how living conditions, jobs, and legal status factor in.

Articles

August 22, 2018

Once Relatively Obscure, ICE Becomes a Lightning Rod in Immigration Debate

With the #AbolishICE movement catching fire among some on the left, critics of the Trump administration's immigration policies have seized on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as their main target—even condemning it for actions taken by other agencies. This article explores the evolution of ICE and resistance to it, as well as actions taken by the agency itself that have made its mission even more controversial.

Articles

August 15, 2018

Connecting Across Nationalities: Inter-Ethnic Relationships in a Kuwaiti Workplace

In Kuwait and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries, migrants make up a significant share of the private-sector workforce. While mainstream narratives commonly focus on the exploitation and abuse some of these migrant workers experience, their lives and relationships with the native born are much more complex and less unequal than is often perceived, as this article explores.

Programs

Topics see all >

Regions see all >

Data

Featured Publication

Programs

You are here

Immigration Policy & Law

Recent Activity

Pages

Pages

Pages

Recent Activity

Pages