E.g., 12/06/2023
E.g., 12/06/2023
Immigration Policy & Law

Immigration Policy & Law

Civil Liberties
Comprehensive Immigration Reform
DREAM Act/Deferred Action
Employment-Based Immigration
Family Reunification
Integration Policy
International Students
Legalization/Regularization
Selection Systems
Visa Policy
_ImmigrationPolicy+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

Event PH 2018.6.5 Andrew Selee
Multimedia
June 5, 2018
Vanishing Frontiers: The Forces Driving Mexico and the United States Together
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Books
June 2018
Vanishing Frontiers: The Forces Driving Mexico and the United States Together
By  Andrew Selee
Canadian family on Canada Day
Articles
June 7, 2018
Canadian Immigrants in the United States
By Elijah Alperin and Jeanne Batalova
A boy peers through fencing at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Articles
May 24, 2018
Family Separation and “Zero-Tolerance” Policies Rolled Out to Stem Unwanted Migrants, But May Face Challenges
By Muzaffar Chishti and Jessica Bolter
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Multimedia
May 8, 2018
The Changing Landscape of Interior Immigration Enforcement Under Trump
Eloy Detention Center
Articles
May 2, 2018
Profiting from Enforcement: The Role of Private Prisons in U.S. Immigration Detention
By Livia Luan
Coverthumb_ImmigrationEnforcement FullReport
Reports
May 2018
Revving Up the Deportation Machinery: Enforcement under Trump and the Pushback
By  Randy Capps, Muzaffar Chishti, Julia Gelatt, Jessica Bolter and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto
Troops at the border
Articles
April 25, 2018
National Guard Heads to Southern Border Amid Differing Reality from Earlier Deployments
By Muzaffar Chishti, Sarah Pierce, and Austin Rose

Pages

cover euroAtlanticBorders
Reports
October 2007
Room for Progress: Reinventing Euro-Atlantic Borders for a New Strategic Environment
By  Deborah W. Meyers, Rey Koslowski and Susan Ginsburg
cover CrulEducation
Policy Briefs
September 2007
Pathways to Success for the Children of Immigrants
By  Maurice Crul
cover christensenEducation
Policy Briefs
September 2007
Language Policies and Practices for Helping Immigrants and Second-Generation Students Succeed
By  Gayle Christensen and Petra Stanat
cover gainingMigration
Reports
September 2007
Gaining from Migration: Towards a New Mobility System
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Gregory A. Maniatis
cover FS18 FamilyImmigration
Fact Sheets
June 2007
How Changes to Family Immigration Could Affect Source Countries' Sending Patterns
By  Julia Gelatt
cover PointsSystem
Policy Briefs
May 2007
Proposed Points System and Its Likely Impact on Prospective Immigrants
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Jeanne Batalova and Julia Gelatt
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Policy Briefs
May 2007
Immigration and the 2007 French Elections
By  Hiroyuki Tanaka
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Policy Briefs
March 2007
Trends in the Low-Wage Immigrant Workforce
By  Randy Capps, Michael Fix and Karina Fortuny

Pages

Feature
March 1, 2005
Promise and Prospects of the UN's Convention on Migrant Workers
MPI's Jennifer Yau explains the convention's main points and why so few countries have signed it.
Feature
August 1, 2004
U.S. Supreme Court Affirms Rights of Non-Citizen Detainees
MPI Senior Policy Analyst Muzaffar Chishti looks at the wider implications of the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the rights of "enemy combatants."
Feature
June 1, 2004
Temporary Movement of Labor Fuels GATS Debate
Oonagh Sands of the Center for Strategic and International Studies tackles the Mode 4 aspect of global trade talks, under which individuals enter another country’s job market to provide services.
Feature
November 1, 2003
Germany's High Court Allows Teacher to Wear Muslim Headscarf
Veysel Oezcan of Humboldt University Berlin reports on a key ruling affecting integration, religious freedom, and educators.
Feature
September 1, 2002
German Immigration Law Clears Final Hurdle
Following a bitterly contested vote in Parliament, Germany's president has signed the nation's first immigration law.

Pages

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Recent Activity

Video, Audio
June 5, 2018

Vanishing Frontiers: The Forces Driving Mexico and the United States Together

Marking the release of MPI President Andrew Selee's latest book, speakers explore emerging trends in migration, economic interdependence, technology innovation, and cultural exchange that are transforming the relationship between the United States and Mexico, and the policy implications of these changes for the future.

Books
June, 2018

Vanishing Frontiers: The Forces Driving Mexico and the United States Together

Wall or no wall, deeply intertwined social, economic, business, cultural, and personal relationships mean the U.S.-Mexico border is more like a seam than a barrier, weaving together two economies and cultures, as MPI President Andrew Selee sketches in this book, which draws from his travels and discussions with people from all walks of life in Mexico and the United States.

Articles
June 7, 2018

Canadian Immigrants in the United States

Though small, the population of Canadians in the United States is quite diverse, and includes students, highly skilled professionals on H-1B or NAFTA visas, family migrants, and retirees. Canadian immigrants have much higher educational attainment and incomes than the native- and overall foreign-born populations. This article offers an interesting data snapshot of Canadians in the United States.

Articles
May 24, 2018

Family Separation and “Zero-Tolerance” Policies Rolled Out to Stem Unwanted Migrants, But May Face Challenges

Frustrated by an uptick in migrant apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border in recent months, the Trump administration unveiled a set of sweeping changes, aiming to prosecute for federal immigration crimes every migrant apprehended crossing illegally. The policy will likely be hindered by legal challenges and capacity limitations, as this article explores.

Video, Audio
May 8, 2018

The Changing Landscape of Interior Immigration Enforcement Under Trump

Discussion at this event focused on findings from MPI's report examining the interior immigration enforcement system in the United States, including ICE data on deportations and arrests, and the responses of state and local governments, civil society, and consulates.  

Articles
May 2, 2018

Profiting from Enforcement: The Role of Private Prisons in U.S. Immigration Detention

Nearly 2.5 million immigrants have passed through the U.S. immigration detention system since 2003. As the United States has expanded detention in recent decades, it has increasingly relied on contracts with facilities run by for-profit companies to house large numbers of detainees. This article traces the growing involvement of the private prison industry in U.S. immigration enforcement.

Reports
May 2018

Revving Up the Deportation Machinery: Enforcement under Trump and the Pushback

The Trump administration has significantly cranked up the immigration enforcement machinery in the U.S. interior. Yet even as arrests and deportations are up in the early Trump months, they remain less than half their peaks. This report demonstrates how pushback from California and other "sanctuary" locations makes it quite unlikely that ICE will be able to match record enforcement levels.

Articles
April 25, 2018

National Guard Heads to Southern Border Amid Differing Reality from Earlier Deployments

Seizing on reports of a migrant “caravan” making its way northward through Mexico, President Donald Trump called for up to 4,000 National Guard troops to deploy to the Southern border. Although previous presidents took similar action in response to upticks in violence and apprehensions, the picture at the border today differs on several metrics. This article examines how the deployment compares to those under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

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