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E.g., 04/23/2024
Refugee & Asylum Policy

Refugee & Asylum Policy

Asylum Seekers
Refugees & Resettlement
_RefugeeAsylumPolicy credit

Tens of millions of people around the globe have been forcibly displaced by conflict, natural disaster, or persecution, seeking refuge either within or beyond the borders of their country. Humanitarian protection, whether for refugees, asylum seekers, or internally displaced persons (IDPs), represents a key policy area for many major immigrant-receiving countries as well as nations bordering locations where war, political upheaval, or natural disaster have disrupted daily life. The research offered here relates to the law and practice of protecting refugees and IDPs in areas of conflict as well as in industrialized nations, with a focus on secure solutions and effective institutional arrangements for comprehensive protection.

Recent Activity

An abandoned shoe lies in the mud along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Articles
May 25, 2023
U.S. Border Asylum Policy Enters New Territory Post-Title 42
By Muzaffar Chishti and Kathleen Bush-Joseph
Apuesta por la regularidad migratoria
Reports
May 2023
Apuesta por la regularidad migratoria: Respuestas de América Latina y el Caribe frente a la crisis del desplazamiento venezolano
By  Luciana Gandini and Andrew Selee
Cover image for Betting on Legality
Reports
May 2023
Betting on Legality: Latin American and Caribbean Responses to the Venezuelan Displacement Crisis
By  Luciana Gandini and Andrew Selee
Multimedia
May 18, 2023
The U.S.-Mexico Border Becomes More High-Tech
Paintings of the Algerian and Moroccan flags on a brick wall
Articles
May 18, 2023
Tense Neighbors, Algeria and Morocco Have Divergent Migration Histories
By Mohammed Ouhemmou
Cover image for Displaced Ukrainians in European Labor Markets
Reports
May 2023
Displaced Ukrainians in European Labor Markets: Leveraging Innovations for More Inclusive Integration
By  Maria Vincenza Desiderio and Kate Hooper
People hold flags of Central American nations at a march in San Diego.
Articles
May 10, 2023
Central American Immigrants in the United States
By Nicole Ward and Jeanne Batalova
Photo of a mural at Las Americas, a legal assistance nonprofit in El Paso, Texas
Commentaries
May 2023
Regional Processing Centers: Can This Key Component of the Post-Title 42 U.S. Strategy Work?
By  Andrew Selee

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coverthumb_venezuelan profile sp
Fact Sheets
August 2020
Un perfil regional de los migrantes y refugiados venezolanos en América Latina y el Caribe
By  Diego Chaves-González and Carlos Echeverría-Estrada
coverthumb_venezuelan profile eng
Fact Sheets
August 2020
Venezuelan Migrants and Refugees in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Regional Profile
By  Diego Chaves-González and Carlos Echeverría-Estrada
Dismantling and Reconstructing the U.S. Immigration System: A Catalog of Changes under the Trump Presidency
Reports
July 2020
Dismantling and Reconstructing the U.S. Immigration System: A Catalog of Changes under the Trump Presidency
By  Sarah Pierce and Jessica Bolter
Stethoscope sitting on a medical textbook
Fact Sheets
July 2020
Brain Waste among U.S. Immigrants with Health Degrees: A Multi-State Profile
By  Jeanne Batalova, Michael Fix and Sarah Pierce
Measuring Up? Using Monitoring and Evaluation to Make Good on the Promise of Refugee Sponsorship
Policy Briefs
June 2020
Measuring Up? Using Monitoring and Evaluation to Make Good on the Promise of Refugee Sponsorship
By  Hanne Beirens and Aliyyah Ahad
Using Evidence to Improve Refugee Resettlement: A Monitoring and Evaluation Road Map
Reports
June 2020
Using Evidence to Improve Refugee Resettlement: A Monitoring and Evaluation Road Map
By  Aliyyah Ahad, Camille Le Coz and Hanne Beirens
Coverthumb OneYearAfterUS MexAgreement ES
Policy Briefs
June 2020
Un año después del Acuerdo Estados Unidos-México: La transformación de las políticas migratorias mexicanas
By  Ariel G. Ruiz Soto
Coverthumb OneYearAfterUS MexAgreement EN
Policy Briefs
June 2020
One Year after the U.S.-Mexico Agreement: Reshaping Mexico’s Migration Policies
By  Ariel G. Ruiz Soto

Pages

A refugee receives emergency assistance in Uganda.
Feature
February 2, 2023
Migrants in Need Report Barriers to Assistance and Fragile Trust in Humanitarian Organizations

Many refugees, asylum seekers, and other migrants do not trust humanitarian actors, are unable to access assistance, or did not have support when they needed it. This article, featuring findings from a large-scale survey involving more than 16,000 migrants in countries around the world, provides an overview of these challenges.

President Joe Biden at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Policy Beat
January 26, 2023
Biden at the Two-Year Mark: Significant Immigration Actions Eclipsed by Record Border Numbers

At his term's midpoint, President Joe Biden has relied on executive action to advance his immigration agenda more than his predecessors, including Donald Trump. Yet many of the changes to interior enforcement, humanitarian protection, and other areas have been overshadowed by the record pace of arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border, which has presented the administration with major policy and operational challenges.

A displaced woman walks with a jerrycan of water in Somalia.
Feature
January 18, 2023
Amid Record Drought and Food Insecurity, East Africa’s Protracted Humanitarian Crisis Worsens

Catastrophic drought has thrust tens of millions of people in East Africa into acute food insecurity, raising the specter of famine. The extreme weather crisis, which follows years of conflict and economic disaster, has compounded long-running humanitarian challenges affecting refugees and internally displaced people, as this article explains.

A collage of Ukrainians in Poland.
Feature
November 2, 2022
Living in Limbo: Displaced Ukrainians in Poland

Poland hosts millions of Ukrainians who fled Russia’s invasion. While the new arrivals have tended to have been greeted warmly, many have questions about the future. As the months pass, many displaced Ukrainians wonder when and if they will return to their native country. This article, based on interviews with dozens of displaced Ukrainians in Poland, examines their experiences.

Venezuelan migrants at a reception center in Brazil.
Policy Beat
October 27, 2022
Amid Record Venezuelan Arrivals, Biden Administration Embraces Border Expulsions Policy

The Biden administration’s policy to expel some Venezuelan border arrivals to Mexico marks a significant reversal. For the first time, the U.S. government is invoking the controversial Title 42 expulsions policy not on public-health grounds but as an explicit immigration enforcement measure. The expulsions are being paired with a new humanitarian parole program for up to 24,000 Venezuelans. This article assesses the policy and the uneven treatment of humanitarian migrants by nationality.

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Video, Audio
December 1, 2021

The Importance of Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care for Immigrant and Dual Language Learner Families

In this webinar, speakers examine the critical role of child care provided by family, friends, and neighbors (FFN) for immigrant families and program and policy approaches to more equitably serve and support FFN caregivers.

Video, Audio
November 30, 2021

Changing Migration to Costa Rica and Implications for Immigrant Integration Policy

This webinar marks the release of a report examining the state of Costa Rica’s institutional framework and initiatives supporting the integration of migrants and refugees, a particularly critical policy area as the immigrant population continues to grow. The event was in Spanish and this is the live English interpretation.

Video, Audio
November 30, 2021

Cambios migratorios en Costa Rica e implicaciones para la política de integración de migrantes

Este webinar marca la publicación de un informe que examina el marco institucional y las iniciativas del estado de Costa Rica que apoyan la integración de migrantes y refugiados, un área de política particularmente crítica a medida que la población inmigrante continúa creciendo. 

 

Expert Q&A, Audio
November 24, 2021

Thinking Regionally to Act Locally in Immigration Policy

With migration a dynamic phenomenon in the Americas, the U.S. government increasingly is realizing that migration management should be viewed in a regional context. This requires a new set of policies and ways of engagement with countries in North and Central America, and beyond, as MPI President Andrew Selee discusses with colleague Andrea Tanco in this episode of our World of Migration podcast.

Video
November 15, 2021

MPI 20th Anniversary Conference: Migration & Humanitarian Protection in a Rapidly Evolving World

MPI’s 20th Anniversary Conference featured the Director-General of the International Organization for Migration, António Vitorino, in an armchair conversation with MPI co-founder and President Emeritus Demetrios G. Papademetriou, as well as a panel discussion with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and MPI co-founder Kathleen Newland and KIND President Wendy Young.

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Recent Activity

Video, Audio, Webinars
July 10, 2020

Enhancing the Social and Economic Inclusion of Refugees through Local Development Strategies

This discussion explores how development and humanitarian actors in low- and middle-income countries can engage with local institutions to promote the social and economic inclusion of refugees and how this inclusion can enhance engagement with other traditionally marginalized groups.

Video, Audio, Webinars
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.

Policy Briefs
June 2020

Measuring Up? Using Monitoring and Evaluation to Make Good on the Promise of Refugee Sponsorship

A growing number of countries, particularly in Europe, have piloted or implemented refugee sponsorship programs in recent years. Yet there is limited evidence of how well these programs, which tap community members and civil society to take key roles in refugee resettlement, are working and how they can be improved. This issue brief explores how building monitoring and evaluation activities into sponsorship programs can help answer these and other critical questions.

Articles
June 11, 2020

Cuban Immigrants in the United States

Cuban immigration to the United States has slowed in recent years, rising by 2 percent from 2017 to 2018. Overall, Cubans represent 3 percent of all immigrants in the United States. Compared to the overall foreign- and U.S.-born populations, Cuban immigrants are less likely to be proficient in English, have lower educational attainment, and earn lower household incomes. Learn more about the 1.3 million Cuban immigrants in the United States with this data-rich article.

Video, Audio, Webinars
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. 

Reports
June 2020

Using Evidence to Improve Refugee Resettlement: A Monitoring and Evaluation Road Map

There has been a flurry of activity around refugee resettlement in recent years, with countries in Europe and elsewhere piloting or scaling up operations. To support the sustainability of these programs, particularly in light of the hiatus forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, strong evidence of what works and under what conditions is essential. This report explores how countries can launch or expand their monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities, and the value this can bring.

Articles
June 5, 2020

A Warm Welcome for Some: Israel Embraces Immigration of Jewish Diaspora, Sharply Restricts Labor Migrants and Asylum Seekers

Israel has a remarkably open immigration system for anyone who can prove Jewish ethnicity. But as this country profile explores, migration is extremely difficult for non-Jews, including asylum seekers. This article describes immigration flows under the Law of Return and examines labor migration and the rise in asylum seekers, reviewing the main challenges that have emerged within the last three decades.

 

Policy Briefs
June 2020

Un año después del Acuerdo Estados Unidos-México: La transformación de las políticas migratorias mexicanas

El acuerdo de cooperación migratoria firmado por los gobiernos de México y Estados Unidos en junio de 2019 marcó el comienzo de un intenso período de cambio en las políticas mexicanas, con efectos en su frontera compartida. Un año después, el informe examina cambios en los sistemas de control migratorio y protección humanitaria de México. También explora cómo la pandemia del COVID-19 ha afectado la frontera y destaca oportunidades para el desarrollo de políticas en el futuro.

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