United States

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.

A naturalization ceremony at the White House.

Articles

Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

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.

A man in a high-visibility jacket and gloves at work

Policy Briefs

A New Way Forward for Employment-Based Immigration: The Bridge Visa

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.

Inadmissible migrants, some seeking asylum, are processed by CBP officers

Reports

Outmatched: The U.S. Asylum System Faces Record Demands

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.

President Joe Biden signs an executive order.

Articles

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.

Recent Activity

Reports March 2018 The Language of the Classroom: Dual Language Learners in Head Start, Public Pre-K, and Private Preschool Programs By Megina Baker and Mariela Páez	Reports March 2018 Supporting Dual Language Learner Success in Superdiverse PreK-3 Classrooms: The Sobrato Early Academic Language Model By Anya Hurwitz and Laurie Olsen
Multimedia March 19, 2018 Immigration Data Matters: How to Find the Most Accurate Resources	Reports November 2020 Immigration Data Matters By Jeanne Batalova, Andriy Shymonyak and Michelle Mittelstadt
Multimedia March 15, 2018 State and Local Labor Standards Enforcement in Immigrant-Dense Industries	Reports March 2018 Strategic Leverage: Use of State and Local Laws to Enforce Labor Standards in Immigrant-Dense Occupations By Andrew Elmore and Muzaffar Chishti
Articles March 14, 2018 Filipino Immigrants in the United States By Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova	Articles March 7, 2018 Connecting the Dots: Emerging Migration Trends and Policy Questions in North and Central America By Claudia Masferrer, Víctor M. García-Guerrero, and Silvia E. Giorguli-Saucedo

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Reports January 2004 NAFTA's Promise and Reality: Lessons from Mexico for the Hemisphere By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, John J. Audley, Sandra Polaski and Scott Vaughan	Policy Briefs December 2003 Rediscovering Resettlement By Gregor Noll and Joanne van Selm
Fact Sheets November 2003 U.S.-Canada-Mexico Fact Sheet on Trade and Migration By Deborah W. Meyers and Maia Jachimowicz	Fact Sheets October 2003 Unauthorized Immigration to the United States By Elizabeth Grieco
Fact Sheets September 2003 Immigration Since September 11, 2001 By Elizabeth Grieco, Deborah W. Meyers and Kathleen Newland	Policy Briefs June 2003 Does 'Smarter' Lead to Safer? An Assessment of the Border Accords with Canada and Mexico By Deborah W. Meyers
Policy Briefs April 2003 Reconciling Refugee Protection and Security Concerns in Wartime: The Case of Iraq By Monette Zard and Erin Patrick	Policy Briefs April 2003 Immigration Policy and the Homeland Security Act Reorganization: An Early Agenda for Practical Improvements By David A. Martin

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Feature

June 28, 2013

Diasporas and Development in Post-Communist Eurasia

The region encompassing Central and Eastern Europe as well as the former Soviet Union is the source of a sizeable share of international migrants today, yet many of these countries' development efforts do not benefit from strong diaspora ties.

Policy Beat

June 19, 2013

As Senate Debates Immigration Reform, CBO and New Studies Examine Effects of Immigration on Nation's Fiscal Health

As the U.S. Senate continues its debate over a bill to overhaul the nation's immigration system, the fiscal impacts associated with enactment of such legislation have emerged as a divisive issue. Following the release of an official congressional cost estimate on Tuesday, this article examines the crucial question of how immigrants' contributions to the tax base compare to the public benefits they would receive under S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013.

Spotlight

June 5, 2013

Filipino Immigrants in the United States

Immigrants from the Philippines made up 4.5 percent of the 40.4 million immigrants in the United States in 2011. Although this population—1.8 million strong in 2011—has grown 17 times its size since 1960, its share among Asian immigrants overall has decreased since that year. This article examines the latest data on Filipino immigrants in the United States, including population size, geographic distribution, admission categories, and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.

Policy Beat

May 23, 2013

As Congress Tackles Immigration Legislation, State Lawmakers Retreat from Strict Measures

State-level immigration laws have gradually softened in tone since the Supreme Court in 2012 affirmed federal primacy in immigration enforcement in a landmark Arizona case — a trend further solidified by a changed post-election political calculus on immigration reform. This article examines this unanticipated shift away from restrictive state immigration actions as well as the recent new trend in the passage of immigrant-friendly laws regarding in-state tuition and the granting of driver's licenses to unauthorized immigrants.

Feature

May 17, 2013

Counting the Uncountable: Overseas Americans

The immigration debate in the United States often focuses on how many foreign born enter and reside in the country. Much less attention is paid to Americans who live abroad—a population estimated at anywhere from 2 million to 7 million. This article examines the challenges of enumerating this population and also explores top destinations for American expats, their livelihoods, and motivations for leaving the United States.

Recent Activity

Reports

March 2018

The Language of the Classroom: Dual Language Learners in Head Start, Public Pre-K, and Private Preschool Programs

As preschools across the United States enroll Dual Language Learners who speak a wide variety of languages at home, it is crucial that early childhood education and care providers have the tools to effectively support this superdiverse population. This report examines how teachers in different preschool programs use English and their students’ home languages to support their development and future academic success.

Reports

March 2018

Supporting Dual Language Learner Success in Superdiverse PreK-3 Classrooms: The Sobrato Early Academic Language Model

In early education and care programs where children come from a variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds, superdiversity is challenging providers to look beyond traditional approaches to supporting Dual Language Learners. This report examines a well-regarded model for preK-3 professional development. The report highlights promising practices and key adaptations of the model for use in in multilingual, multicultural classrooms.

Video, Audio

March 19, 2018

Immigration Data Matters: How to Find the Most Accurate Resources

With immigration increasingly visible in the news and the political space in the United States and internationally, getting access to accurate, high-quality data is essential to understand immigration’s demographic effects and impacts on the economy, education and labor systems, and communities. This event marks the release of the Immigration Data Matters guide.

Reports

November 2020

Immigration Data Matters

This useful online guide links users directly to the most credible, high-quality data on immigrants and immigration in the United States and internationally. The easy-to-use guide includes more than 250 data resources compiled by governmental and nongovernmental sources, covering topics ranging from population stock and flow numbers to statistics on enforcement, public opinion, religious affiliation, and much more.

Audio

March 15, 2018

State and Local Labor Standards Enforcement in Immigrant-Dense Industries

This discussion, featuring California's Labor Commissioner and the head of the Tennessee Bureau of Workers' Compensation, launched a report that examines state innovations in labor standards enforcement in low-wage, immigrant-dense industries. With wage underpayment, payroll fraud, and other violations widespread in industries such as construction and car-washing, the discussion focused on how targeted enforcement can deter practices that hurt native-born and immigrant workers alike, cost state tax revenue, and disadvantage law-abiding employers.

Reports

March 2018

Strategic Leverage: Use of State and Local Laws to Enforce Labor Standards in Immigrant-Dense Occupations

In low-wage industries, from construction to food service, labor-standards violations have become widespread—with major consequences for law-abiding employers, state tax revenue, and native-born and immigrant workers. As the federal government steps back from workplace regulation, this report examines the innovative approaches conservative and liberal states alike are using to enforce labor standards more strategically.

Articles

March 14, 2018

Filipino Immigrants in the United States

More than 1.9 million Filipinos lived in the United States in 2016, making them the fourth-largest immigrant group. Compared to the foreign-born population overall, Filipinos are more likely to get green cards through family immigration channels and have higher education and naturalization rates. This Spotlight offers key information on Filipinos' demographics, employment, geographic distribution, health coverage, and more.

Articles

March 7, 2018

Connecting the Dots: Emerging Migration Trends and Policy Questions in North and Central America

Together, Canada, Mexico, and the United States are home to nearly one-quarter of the world's migrants. Despite shifts in the profile of those who migrate and changing demographic realities across the region, such as population aging, perceptions and policies remain set in earlier eras. This article explores the intersection of migration and population dynamics in North America and the Northern Triangle of Central America.

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