Historically a nation of immigrants, the United States is home to nearly 45 million immigrants, who represent 13.7 percent of the total population and play a key role in the economic, civic, and cultural life of the country. The research collected here covers many facets of immigration to the United States, by the numbers and how immigrants fare in the country's classrooms and workplaces, the policies and regulations that shape the admission of new immigrants, the enforcement programs and polices in place at U.S. borders and within the interior, and integration policies and efforts taking place in local communities, in states, and at the federal level.
Immigration touches on many facets of life in the United States. Get the facts with this useful resource, which compiles in one place answers to some of the most often-asked questions about immigration and immigrants in the United States now and historically. This article contains essential data on the immigrant population, immigration levels, trends in immigration enforcement, and much more.
U.S. employment-based visa policies, last updated in 1990, are not aligned with the country’s current and future labor market needs. This policy brief outlines MPI’s proposal for a new visa pathway that could help the United States better leverage immigration to meet its labor market needs, boost protections for both U.S.- and foreign-born workers, and flexibly adapt to future economic and demographic changes.
The U.S. humanitarian protection system, known for its long history of assisting those in need, has come under incredible pressure in recent years. The asylum adjudications system, which is under-resourced, is struggling to keep up with record asylum seeker arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border. This report examines the state of the asylum system, including changes under the Biden administration and potential lessons for other countries.
In three years, President Joe Biden has surpassed the number of immigration-focused executive actions taken by the Trump administration throughout its entire four-year term, making his the most active U.S. presidency ever on immigration. Yet the Biden administration has been repeatedly accused of inaction at the U.S.-Mexico border, where record levels of migrant encounters have occurred. This article reviews the Biden track record on immigration.
The 1.7 million Filipino immigrants in the United States made them the countrys second-largest immigrant group in 2008. MPIs Aaron Terrazas and Jeanne Batalova use the latest federal data to explore the population's size, geographic distribution, and socioeconomic characteristics.
MPI's Muzaffar Chishti and Claire Bergeron report on the decreasing size of the unauthorized immigrant population, a ruling against immigration provisions in an Oklahoma law, the rise in detained immigrants with criminal convictions, and more.
Mexican immigrants have claimed the top spot among all immigrant groups in the United States since the 1980 census. In 2008, the country's 11.4 million Mexican immigrants accounted for 30.1 percent of all U.S. immigrants and 10 percent of all Mexicans. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines their socioeconomic characteristics, where they live, and the size of the Mexican-born unauthorized population.
MPI's Muzaffar Chishti and Claire Bergeron report on immigration measures for Haitian nationals, the new Supreme Court decision on motions to reopen deportation cases, delays in the implementation of the Secure Border Initiative, and more.
Immigration to the United States continued steadily from the 1970s until the recent recession, which also diminished a sense of urgency to enact immigration reform legislation. MPI's Kristen McCabe and Doris Meissner provide a comprehensive look at major legislation and events affecting U.S. immigration, the size and attributes of the immigrant population, and policy changes under the Obama administration.
The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled to maintain an injunction on President Obama's signature deferred action programs and the timing of the administration's Supreme Court appeal will prove critical amid the 2016 election campaign. This Policy Beat also explores a federal judge's decision not to block a Texas policy refusing to issue birth certificates to the U.S.-born children of unauthorized parents. Should the policy be upheld, it could open the door for further limitations on birthright citizenship.
As flows of young migrant and refugee children increase on both sides of the Atlantic, the demands placed on education systems by newcomer students have never been greater. This commentary addresses the challenges school systems face in building teacher capacity to address the diverse linguistic, academic, and socioemotional needs for newly arrived youth, many of whom have experienced significant disruption.
In June 2015, MPI's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy convened a symposium in Brussels bringing together policymakers, teacher educators, and researchers from the United States and Europe to explore the imperative of improving educational outcomes for students from migrant and language-minority backgrounds. This report synthesizes themes and central questions raised during the presentations and discussions.
This annual discussion offered political and policy analysis on key immigration topics, including family detention, unaccompanied child migrants, executive action, and the presidential campaigns, along with featured keynotes by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres.
In this webinar, the authors of three papers on the experiences of refugee children present their findings, with a focus on how such experiences affect their mental health and education.
The United States is the largest refugee resettlement country in the world, with 69,933 newly arrived refugees granted protection in 2015. This article delves into the most recent refugee and asylum data in the United States, including top countries of origin, states of settlement, age, gender, and more for humanitarian arrivals.
The pre-resettlement experiences of refugee children can have significant ramifications on their relationships with teachers and peers and on their academic advancement once resettled. This report explores the educational histories of young refugee children in first-asylum countries and identifies elements that are relevant to postresettlement education in the United States.
This webinar examines the challenges facing educators and policymakers in Europe and the United States as they attempt to meet the needs of immigrant and refugee students who arrive during their middle and high school years.
Meeting the Education Needs of Rising Numbers of Newly Arrived Migrant Students in Europe and the United States