E.g., 04/24/2024
E.g., 04/24/2024
Border Enforcement

Border Enforcement

Border enforcement is more than its widely perceived role of border guards patrolling external boundaries and inspectors admitting traffic through ports of entry. While those are key components, border enforcement represents a more holistic function, integrating resources and information at and between all ports of entry—whether air, land, or sea—with consular operations abroad and more. The research presented here examines these varied facets.

Recent Activity

A temple in Dharamsala, India.
Articles
February 8, 2024
South Asia’s Tibetan Refugee Community Is Shrinking, Imperiling Its Long-Term Future
By Tenzin Dorjee and Tsewang Rigzin
Cover image for Outmatched: The U.S. Asylum System Faces Record Demands
Reports
February 2024
Outmatched: The U.S. Asylum System Faces Record Demands
By  Kathleen Bush-Joseph
Cover image for Migration at the U.S.-Mexico Border
Reports
January 2024
Migration at the U.S.-Mexico Border: A Challenge Decades in the Making
By  Alan D. Bersin, Nate Bruggeman and Ben Rohrbaugh
President Joe Biden signs an executive order.
Articles
January 19, 2024
Biden at the Three-Year Mark: The Most Active Immigration Presidency Yet Is Mired in Border Crisis Narrative
By Muzaffar Chishti, Kathleen Bush-Joseph, and Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh
Shifting Realities at the U.S.-Mexico Border report
Reports
January 2024
Shifting Realities at the U.S.-Mexico Border: Immigration Enforcement and Control in a Fast-Evolving Landscape
By  Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh and Doris Meissner
Image of EU and Member State flags flapping in wind
Commentaries
December 2023
One Phase Closes for the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. Now Another Begins
By  Hanne Beirens and Camille Le Coz
Cover image for What Role Could Digital Technologies Play...
Policy Briefs
December 2023
What Role Could Digital Technologies Play in the New EU Pact on Migration and Asylum?
By  Lucía Salgado and Hanne Beirens
Aerial photo of the U.S. Capitol
Commentaries
November 2023
The U.S.-Mexico Border Problem Will Not Be “Solved” Until All Parts of the Border Enforcement System Are Properly Resourced
By  Doris Meissner

Pages

Cover image for At the Breaking Point report
Reports
July 2023
At the Breaking Point: Rethinking the U.S. Immigration Court System
By  Muzaffar Chishti, Doris Meissner, Stephen Yale-Loehr, Kathleen Bush-Joseph and Christopher Levesque
Cover image for Migration Narratives in Northern Central America
Reports
June 2023
Migration Narratives in Northern Central America: How Competing Stories Shape Policy and Public Opinion in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador
By  Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, Aaron Clark-Ginsberg, Alejandra Lopez and Alejandro Vélez Salas
Cover image for Rebooting the Asylum System?
Reports
October 2022
Rebooting the Asylum System? The Role of Digital Tools in International Protection
By  Hanne Beirens
Cover image for COVID-19’s Effects on U.S. Immigration and Immigrant Communities
Reports
June 2022
COVID-19’s Effects on U.S. Immigration and Immigrant Communities, Two Years On
By  Julia Gelatt and Muzaffar Chishti
Cover image for COVID-19 and the State of Global Mobility in 2021
Reports
May 2022
COVID-19 and the State of Global Mobility in 2021
By  Meghan Benton, Samuel Davidoff-Gore, Jeanne Batalova, Lawrence Huang and Jie Zong
Cover image for The Central Role of Cooperation in Australia’s Immigration Enforcement Strateg
Reports
March 2022
The Central Role of Cooperation in Australia’s Immigration Enforcement Strategy
By  Henry Sherrell
Cover image for Challenge of Coordinating Border Management Assistance between Europe & the Maghreb
Reports
March 2022
The Challenge of Coordinating Border Management Assistance between Europe and the Maghreb
By  Matt Herbert
Cover image for Four Years of Profound Change: Immigration Policy during the Trump Presidency
Reports
February 2022
Four Years of Profound Change: Immigration Policy during the Trump Presidency
By  Jessica Bolter, Emma Israel and Sarah Pierce

Pages

President Joe Biden signs an executive order.
Policy Beat
January 19, 2024
Biden at the Three-Year Mark: The Most Active Immigration Presidency Yet Is Mired in Border Crisis Narrative

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 U.S. Coast Guard interdicts a vessel with Cuban migrants.
Policy Beat
October 25, 2023
Can the Biden Immigration Playbook Be Effective for Managing Arrivals via Sea?

Amid the highest Caribbean maritime migration levels in a generation, the Biden administration is relying on a carrot-and-stick strategy it honed amid record unauthorized migration at the U.S.-Mexico border. The approach, combining limits on asylum, expanded legal pathways, and international enforcement partnerships, could be increasingly important if maritime migration rises, as this article explains.

Migrantes en la aldea de Canaán Membrillo, en el Tapón del Darién, Panamá.
Feature
October 9, 2023
Cómo el peligroso Tapón del Darién se convirtió en la encrucijada migratoria de las Américas

El paso por el Tapón del Darién ha transformado la migración en las Américas. Cada día, más de 1.000 personas cruzan lo que no hace mucho era un tramo de selva poco transitado entre Colombia y Panamá, la mayoría con la esperanza de llegar a Estados Unidos o Canadá. Es un viaje increíblemente arriesgado. Los gobiernos se han esforzado por responder al creciente movimiento, que se espera que supere los 500.000 cruces en 2023.

Migrants in the Darien Gap village of Canaan Membrillo, Panama.
Feature
September 20, 2023
How the Treacherous Darien Gap Became a Migration Crossroads of the Americas

Passage through the Darien Gap has transformed migration across the Americas. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken the incredibly perilous journey across the remote jungle between Colombia and Panama, risking exposure to hazardous terrain, criminal groups, and other dangers. As this article outlines, governments have struggled to respond to the growing movement, expected to top 500,000 crossings in 2023.

Protests at a refugee compound in Nauru.
Feature
August 29, 2023
As Nauru Shows, Asylum Outsourcing Has Unexpected Impacts on Host Communities

For two decades, asylum seekers seeking to reach Australia by boat were diverted to Nauru, a small Pacific Island nation that made a hefty profit off the extraterritorial asylum arrangement. But attitudes among local Nauruans have been mixed, with some fearing their economy revolved around Australia and the foreign workers who shuttled in and out of the processing center. As more countries seek to strike offshore asylum deals, this article examines the effects on local communities.

Pages

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other leaders at the 2022 Summit of the Americas
Commentaries
June 2022
La Declaración de Los Ángeles podría representar un gran paso para la cooperación migratoria real en las Américas
By  Andrew Selee
Image of Central American migrant caravan passing through Chiapas, Mexico
Commentaries
April 2022
Beyond the Border: Opportunities for Managing Regional Migration between Central and North America
By  Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and Andrew Selee
Home Secretary Priti Patel & Rwandan Foreign Affairs Minister Vincent Biruta hold asylum accord
Commentaries
April 2022
The UK-Rwanda Agreement Represents Another Blow to Territorial Asylum
By  Hanne Beirens and Samuel Davidoff-Gore
U.S. Border Patrol agents prepare to process migrant encountered near Arizona
Commentaries
October 2021
It Is Too Simple to Call 2021 a Record Year for Migration at the U.S.-Mexico Border
By  Jessica Bolter
Commentaries
August 2021
Biden Administration Asylum Processing Revamp at the U.S. Border Could Be a Game Changer
By  Doris Meissner
Unaccompanied children in CBP custody before being turned over to the Office of Refugee Resettlement
Commentaries
May 2021
U.S. Government Makes Significant Strides in Receiving Unaccompanied Children but Major Challenges Remain
By  Mark Greenberg
CBP_UAC_MPP_processing_resize
Commentaries
March 2021
Hampered by the Pandemic: Unaccompanied Child Arrivals Increase as Earlier Preparedness Shortfalls Limit the Response
By  Mark Greenberg
CBP_SanYsidro_smaller
Commentaries
February 2021
Biden Administration Is Making Quick Progress on Asylum, but a Long, Complicated Road Lies Ahead
By  Doris Meissner and Sarah Pierce
Covid SchengenBorderClosures Falk Lademann Flickr
Commentaries
August 2020
When Emergency Measures Become the Norm: Post-Coronavirus Prospects for the Schengen Zone
By  Hanne Beirens, Susan Fratzke and Lena Kainz
CoronavirusCommentary Art
Commentaries
March 2020
Coronavirus Is Spreading across Borders, But It Is Not a Migration Problem
By  Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, Meghan Benton and Susan Fratzke

Pages

Expert Q&A, Audio
April 15, 2023

Are Orderly Borders Possible in an Era of Rising Climate Migration?

When large numbers of asylum seekers and other migrants arrive at the borders of Western countries without prior authorization to enter, they are often treated as “spontaneous” arrivals. But migration is almost never truly spontaneous. Our podcast Changing Climate, Changing Migration speaks with David Leblang, a professor of politics and public policy at the University of Virginia, who discusses how climate change fits into the migration calculus.

Expert Q&A, Audio
December 15, 2022

A Century of Climate Migration Upheaval? An Audacious Prediction for the Future

As the planet’s temperature warms, award-winning environmental journalist Gaia Vince thinks humanity is facing a chaotic century of mass migration spurred by climate change? In this episode of Changing Climate, Changing Migration, she contemplates a future in which hundreds of millions of people move from one part of the globe to another.

Video
September 20, 2022

19th Annual Immigration Law & Policy Conference

Focusing on top immigration policy issues at federal and state levels, this 2022 Immigration Law and Policy Conference featured keynotes by Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson exploring the growing role states are taking in the national immigration debate.

Seeking the US border, many Central American migrants begin their journey in Mexico on 'La Bestia'
Video, Audio
May 24, 2022

En Busqueda de Seguridad: Opciones de protección regional para personas de Centroamérica

Con motivo de la publicación de un informe del Instituto de Política Migratoria sobre posibles vías de protección para las personas centroamericanas, este webcast ofrece un análisis sobre las vías humanitarias y de reasentamiento que ya se utilizan en la región así como las oportunidades y los obstáculos para expandir estos programas. 

Video, Audio
January 19, 2022

Biden at One: Assessing the Administration’s Immigration Record

This MPI discussion with leading experts, advocates, and a top official from the administration examines the Biden track record on immigration and what lays ahead

Pages

Recent Activity

Expert Q&A, Audio
October 27, 2023

Is Climate Migration a Homeland Security Threat?

Former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff talks about the security implications of climate change and migration in this episode of the podcast Changing Climate, Changing Migration.

Video
September 18, 2023

20th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

The 20th annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference, organized by MPI, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., and Georgetown University Law Center, features fresh, thoughtful policy and legal analysis, and discussion of some of the top immigration issues by leading government officials, attorneys, researchers, advocates, and other experts. 

Articles
October 25, 2023

Can the Biden Immigration Playbook Be Effective for Managing Arrivals via Sea?

Amid the highest Caribbean maritime migration levels in a generation, the Biden administration is relying on a carrot-and-stick strategy it honed amid record unauthorized migration at the U.S.-Mexico border. The approach, combining limits on asylum, expanded legal pathways, and international enforcement partnerships, could be increasingly important if maritime migration rises, as this article explains.

Commentaries
October 2023

Shifting Patterns and Policies Reshape Migration to U.S.-Mexico Border in Major Ways in 2023

There is a deeper story behind the U.S. government's fiscal 2023 border encounters numbers than that the year marked a new record high. The pivot from the pandemic-era Title 42 expulsions policy and sharp diversification in nationalities have reshaped migrant arrivals unlike any year before. This commentary goes beyond the headlines to focus on the more enduring—and challenging—realities occuring at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Articles
October 9, 2023

Cómo el peligroso Tapón del Darién se convirtió en la encrucijada migratoria de las Américas

El paso por el Tapón del Darién ha transformado la migración en las Américas. Cada día, más de 1.000 personas cruzan lo que no hace mucho era un tramo de selva poco transitado entre Colombia y Panamá, la mayoría con la esperanza de llegar a Estados Unidos o Canadá. Es un viaje increíblemente arriesgado. Los gobiernos se han esforzado por responder al creciente movimiento, que se espera que supere los 500.000 cruces en 2023.

Articles
September 20, 2023

How the Treacherous Darien Gap Became a Migration Crossroads of the Americas

Passage through the Darien Gap has transformed migration across the Americas. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken the incredibly perilous journey across the remote jungle between Colombia and Panama, risking exposure to hazardous terrain, criminal groups, and other dangers. As this article outlines, governments have struggled to respond to the growing movement, expected to top 500,000 crossings in 2023.

Commentaries
September 2023

A Turning Point for the Unauthorized Immigrant Population in the United States

The unauthorized immigrant population in the United States stood at approximately 11.2 million people in mid-2021, with larger annual growth than at any point since 2015, according to MPI's latest estimates. Even as the Mexican unauthorized immigrant population continued its decade-long decline, there were new entrants from a growing array of other countries.

Articles
August 29, 2023

As Nauru Shows, Asylum Outsourcing Has Unexpected Impacts on Host Communities

For two decades, asylum seekers seeking to reach Australia by boat were diverted to Nauru, a small Pacific Island nation that made a hefty profit off the extraterritorial asylum arrangement. But attitudes among local Nauruans have been mixed, with some fearing their economy revolved around Australia and the foreign workers who shuttled in and out of the processing center. As more countries seek to strike offshore asylum deals, this article examines the effects on local communities.

Pages