Archive
Relief from Deportation: Demographic Profile of the DREAMers Potentially Eligible under the Deferred Action Policy
Source: Migration Policy Institute
As many as 1.76 million unauthorized immigrants under the age of 31 who were brought to the United States as children could gain a two-year grant of relief from deportation, according to updated Migration Policy Institute (MPI) estimates that take into account the more detailed eligibility guidelines outlined by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on August 3, 2012.
The estimates are up from the 1.39 million figure that MPI released on June 15 — reflecting the updated DHS guidelines that youth lacking a high school or GED degree would be eligible to apply for deferred action as long as they have re-enrolled by the date of their application. MPI estimates 350,000 unauthorized young adult immigrants (ages 16 and older) without a high school degree or GED could potentially be eligible for relief from deportation if they meet the enrollment criteria.
Contested Ground: Immigration in the United States
Contested Ground: Immigration in the United States (PDF)
Though historically a country of immigrants, the United States has seen its demographic landscape altered in new and important ways as a result of the changing nature of immigration flows. In recent decades, immigration has come increasingly from Latin America and significant numbers of immigrants are unauthorized. The spread of immigration beyond traditional immigrant destinations to communities with little prior experience of migration has sparked anxiety among the American public. This report, part of a Transatlantic Council on Migration series on national identity in the age of migration, traces public sentiment and immigration policy developments of recent decades.
Understanding ‘Canadian Exceptionalism’ in Immigration and Pluralism Policy
Understanding ‘Canadian Exceptionalism’ in Immigration and Pluralism Policy (PDF)
Canada is far more open to, and optimistic about, immigration than the United States and countries in Europe, despite having a greater proportion of immigrants in its population than other Western countries. A frequently cited reason for this Canadian exceptionalism is Canada’s selection of most immigrants through a points system that admits people based on skills thought to contribute to the economy. Economic selection and a geography that discourages illegal immigration are not the only factors explaining Canada’s unique experience, however. This report, part of a Transatlantic Council on Migration series on national identity, examines Canadian national identity, public opinion, immigration and immigrant integration policy, and multiculturalism.
Understanding Mexico’s Economic Underperformance
Understanding Mexico’s Economic Underperformance (PDF)
Source: Migration Policy Institute
Despite major economic reforms, fiscal discipline, privatization of state-owned enterprise, and strong growth in foreign trade and investment during recent decades, Mexico has underperformed economically relative to comparably situated nations. The report presents four arguments as to why Mexico has not sustained higher rates of economic growth: poorly functioning credit markets that inhibit long-term growth; unbalanced incentives toward informality in the labor market; inefficient regulation that diminishes the country’s comparative industrial advantage; and international competition, especially with China, which undermines export strength. The author offers policymakers a road map to expand economic opportunities.
European Immigrants in the United States
European Immigrants in the United States
Source: Migration Policy Institute
Formerly the largest US immigrant group, European-born immigrants have seen their numbers decline in the United States over the past 50 years (notwithstanding a period of growth after the collapse of the Soviet Union). Though the number of these immigrants fell by only several million in numerical terms, the share of all European immigrants in the United States plummeted from nearly 75 percent in 1960 to 12 percent in 2010. At the same time, Eastern European immigrants have represented a larger share of that smaller pie during the past two decades.
Compared to the overall foreign-born population, European immigrants in the United States in 2010 were more likely as a group to be elderly, proficient in English, and naturalized US citizens as well as having higher levels of education. They also tended to work in higher-skilled occupations and were less likely to live in poverty.
This Spotlight focuses on European immigrants residing in the United States, examining the population’s size, geographic distribution, admission categories, and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Data are from the US Census Bureau’s 2010 American Community Survey (ACS), the 2000 Decennial Census (as well as earlier censuses), and the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Immigration Statistics (OIS).
MPI Releases Estimates of Unauthorized Immigrant Population Potentially Eligible for Prosecutorial Discretion
Source: Migration Policy Institute
As many as 1.4 million unauthorized immigrants brought to the United States as children could gain relief from deportation under the Obama administration’s grant of deferred action, according to new MPI estimates for the nation and top states of residence.
Chile: A Growing Destination Country in Search of a Coherent Approach to Migration
Chile: A Growing Destination Country in Search of a Coherent Approach to Migration
Source: Migration Policy Institute
Cornered in the southeast extreme of the Americas, Chile developed as a socially and culturally insular country unaccustomed to the presence of large numbers of foreigners. Its geographic isolation between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean set up early European immigrants as arbiters of who could arrive next, engendering early discriminatory migration policies. The desire by established immigrants to encourage other white Europeans to populate the country and “improve the race” was evident in policies that resulted in the influx of European immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries. Although the overall number of immigrants during this early period was relatively small compared to other countries in the Southern Cone, their presence transformed the country technologically, economically, and culturally.
Chile is mostly known as an immigrant-sending country, as throughout much of its history, the foreign born have remained a tiny share (1 percent to 2 percent) of the total population. Between 750,000 and 1 million Chileans live abroad (about 6 percent of the country’s population), according to the latest governmental estimates in 2005.
Today, continuing economic growth and reconsolidated political stability have positioned Chile as an emerging country of destination. Over the past three decades, Chile has experienced a steady increase in its foreign-born population. But because of its isolation and history of emigration, Chile has few formally established migration policies, and the ones in force are outdated. With a large community abroad and the increase in intra- and extra-regional immigration during the past decade, the country has shown the need for a modernized and coherent migration policy. However, governmental efforts toward achieving comprehensive migration policy have been mostly piecemeal, making this goal elusive.
French National Identity and Integration: Who Belongs to the National Community?
French National Identity and Integration: Who Belongs to the National Community? (PDF)
Source: Migration Policy Institute
Since the mid-1980s, France has faced a contentious debate of crucial importance for immigrants and their descendents — defining what it means to be French. Though countries with rich histories of immigration have long accepted “dual belonging,” this concept has been criticized and perceived as at odds with a person’s commitment to French identity. A recent survey of French immigrants, however, shows that multiple allegiances are not an impediment to integration; it is possible to “feel French” and maintain links with a country of origin. However, because of external perceptions, native French citizens are far less likely to accept this adoption of French identity.
Labour Migration from Colombo Process Countries: Good Practices, Challenges and Ways Forward
Labour Migration from Colombo Process Countries: Good Practices, Challenges and Ways Forward (PDF)
Source: Migration Policy Institute
This issue brief, the first in a series launched by MPI and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) that examines migration trends and issues in Asia, discusses labor migration from the 11 Colombo Process countries (which include China, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Vietnam). Since 2005, these countries have taken concrete steps to manage these labor flows and protect their citizens working abroad, particularly with respect to recruitment regulation and welfare protection. Despite the progress, however, the brief details a number of remaining challenges and highlights possible areas of focus for these governments.
Foreign-Born Health Care Workers in the United States
Foreign-Born Health Care Workers in the United States
Source: Migration Policy Institute
Employment in health care occupations increased despite the recession and is projected to outpace almost every major occupational group in terms of job growth between 2010 and 2020, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Amid this growth, the number of foreign-born health care workers has also been on the rise, increasing from 1.5 million to 1.8 million between 2006 and 2010.
Today, immigrants make up a sizeable proportion of the US health care workforce. In 2010, the foreign born accounted for 16 percent of all civilians employed in health care occupations in the United States. In some health care professions, this share was larger. More than one-quarter of physicians and surgeons (27 percent) were foreign born, as were more than one out of every five (22 percent) persons working in health care support jobs as nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides.
Although the characteristics of health care workers varied across occupational categories, as a group foreign-born health care workers were more likely than their native-born counterparts to have obtained a college degree and more likely than employed immigrants overall to speak English fluently or be naturalized US citizens.
This Spotlight provides a demographic and socioeconomic profile of foreign-born health care workers residing in the United States. The data come primarily from the US Census Bureau’s 2010 American Community Survey (ACS) and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. All data refer to employed civilians age 16 and older unless otherwise noted.
Senior Immigrants in the United States
Senior Immigrants in the United States
Source: Migration Policy Institute
Following a steady decline between 1960 and 1990, the number of older immigrants (those age 65 and over) in the United States almost doubled between 1990 and 2010, from 2.7 million to nearly 5 million. These seniors now account for 12 percent of the 40 million immigrants in the United States — a share that is much lower than the historical high. In 1960, 33 percent of the nation’s 9.7 million immigrants were 65 or older, mostly Europeans who arrived during the early 20th century wave of immigration.
Since the 1965 revisions to the US immigrant admission system, which expanded the number and diversified immigrants’ countries of origin, the vast majority of newcomers have been younger, working-age adults. As a result, the proportion of elderly among immigrants dropped sharply in the post-1965 period: from 33 percent in 1960 to 11 percent in 2000. However, the older-age immigrant population has been rebounding for two main reasons.
The first is demographic: an increasing number of working-age adults who arrived during the 1980s and the 1990s are aging into the 65 and older group. Their numbers, while still small, are projected to increase over time following overall immigration patterns, especially given the post-recession slowdown in new immigration flows.
The second reason is that once immigrants become US citizens, they can sponsor their parents to come to the United States. As the number of younger immigrants who naturalize increases, the number of older parents eligible to immigrate will also increase.
Today, older immigrants account for 12 percent of the 40.4 million elderly in the United States and for 12 percent of the 40 million immigrant population.
Visas for Entrepreneurs: How Countries are Seeking Out Immigrant Job Creators
Visas for Entrepreneurs: How Countries are Seeking Out Immigrant Job Creators
Source: Migration Policy Institute
Across the advanced industrialized world, even governments that are skeptical about the benefits of immigration tend to open their doors to the so-called "best and the brightest" — exceptionally skilled immigrants who bring new knowledge and innovations. For both economic and political reasons, the higher the skill level of prospective immigrants, the fewer restrictions governments tend to impose to entry.
Immigrant entrepreneurs are among the most desirable of these highly skilled newcomers —especially immigrants behind high-tech and high-growth startups that policymakers find particularly appealing. Most governments want to boost entrepreneurship, but reliable and feasible policies to do so have proved elusive. In recent years, however, policymakers have often turned to immigration as a small but direct channel to facilitate startups by increasing the supply of willing and able entrepreneurs.
The Relationship Between Immigration and Nativism in Europe and North America
In Greece, neo-Nazi anti-immigrant party Golden Dawn made unanticipated gains in last week’s parliamentary elections and France’s nationalist National Front made a strong showing in the first round of the presidential election in April. In the Netherlands and Belgium, far-right parties have launched websites inviting the public to report crimes allegedly committed by unauthorized immigrants. And the Dutch coalition government collapsed last month after the nationalist party of anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders quit budget talks.
As far-right parties across Europe capture headlines and in some cases shape government policy, significant confusion remains about the nature of their public support and how closely it is rooted in xenophobic feelings. While immigration is thought to be a major factor fueling the rise of the European far right, a new Migration Policy Institute (MPI) report finds that although there clearly is a relationship, the connection is not as straightforward as is often assumed.
In The Relationship Between Immigration and Nativism in Europe and North America, political scientist Cas Mudde examines the electoral performance of far-right parties in Europe and North America since 1980, noting that only a handful have had moderate electoral success (defined as gaining 15 percent of the vote or better in two or more elections.)
Disentangling the role played by immigration – particularly at a time of economic austerity, high unemployment and rising skepticism in some quarters about the European Union – is a complex proposition.
Profile of Immigrants in Napa County
This report offers a comprehensive profile of immigration to Napa County, examining the important role that immigrant workers play in the Napa Valley’s wine-related sectors and their fiscal contributions and costs. The authors examine demographic changes in Napa County, tracing immigrants’ origins, economic well-being, education, residence and home ownership, tax payments and public expenditures, and more.
Multiculturalism: Success, Failure, and the Future
Despite substantial evidence to the contrary, a chorus of political leaders in Europe has declared multiculturalism policies a failure – in effect mischaracterizing the multiculturalism experiment, its future prospects, and its progress over the past three decades. This report challenges the recent rhetoric and addresses the advancement of policy areas for countries, examining factors that impede or facilitate successful the implementation of multiculturalism.
The Centrality of Employment in Immigrant Integration in Europe
The two sides of the debate on immigration and integration in Europe share an underlying assumption that the problem is cultural, while disagreeing on whether it is the result of too much or too little respect for cultural differences. Both get the issue wrong, this report contends, calling attention to the inability of policies to ensure immigrants acquire and retain work. Employment, not culture, must be the basis for immigration policy in Europe, the author suggests.
Building a British Model of Integration in an Era of Immigration: Policy Lessons for Government
Despite experiencing large-scale immigration flows and settlement over the past half century, the United Kingdom has not developed a formal integration program. Few public policies have specifically sought to advance immigrant integration, and the political debates surrounding immigrant integration have often been fraught and destabilizing, reflecting deep-seated ambivalence in British society about immigrants and immigration. The authors offer a menu of policy options and actions the government should consider to achieve a well-thought-out approach.
The Under-Registration of Births in Mexico: Consequences for Children, Adults, and Migrants
The Under-Registration of Births in Mexico: Consequences for Children, Adults, and Migrants
Source: Migration Policy Institute
The United Nations Children’s Fund estimates that approximately 41 percent of all births each year in the developing world (excluding China) go unregistered, denying the rights of over 50 million children to an official identity, name, and nationality. These invisible children lack access to basic social services and are susceptible to a number of dangers
In Latin America and the Caribbean, at least 2 million of the 11 million babies born every year will never be registered. More than 7 million people in Mexico currently lack a birth certificate, according to a recent statement by Carlos Anaya Montero of the National Registry of Population. Due to a lack of an official government-led study, nongovernmental organizations and demographers have estimated the unregistered population in Mexico — especially with respect to children — variously (and with some degree of uncertainty). The Child Rights Information Network, for example, has found that as many as 30 percent of children under the age of 5 are unregistered and practically invisible to the eyes of the Mexican government.
The under-registration of births in Mexico results in the denial of children’s access to education, health care, and legal protection and renders them vulnerable to organized crime, human trafficking, and unscrupulous employers. When unregistered children become adults, they face additional economic hardships and consequences for their civic engagement. There is also anecdotal evidence that disenfranchisement due to nonregistration can lead people who have no formal education and few employment prospects to illegally immigrate to the more opportunity-rich United States, but confront additional challenges there of being stateless.
The 2012 Mexican Presidential Election and Mexican Immigrants of Voting Age in the United States
The 2012 Mexican Presidential Election and Mexican Immigrants of Voting Age in the United States
Source: Migration Policy Institute
An estimated 11.9 million Mexican citizens resided outside of Mexico in 2010, primarily in the United States, but also in Canada, Spain, Bolivia, Germany, Guatemala, and countries throughout the rest of the world. According to World Bank estimates, Mexican citizens sent home over US$257 billion in remittances between 1990 and 2010, contributing to the national economy and helping their families, friends, and other networks cope during times of economic hardship.
Given its large size and financial contribution to the country throughout the years, Mexico’s diaspora began pressuring the Mexican government to allow them to participate in the country’s political decision-making process in the 1990s. In 2005, Mexicans living abroad were granted voting privileges for presidential elections taking place in their country of origin, and they voted for the first time during the 2006 presidential election.
This summer, the Mexican diaspora will once again have the opportunity to vote for the Mexican president. In order to vote in the election, scheduled for July 1, 2012, a person must be a Mexican citizen (either by birth or naturalization), be at least 18 years of age, be registered on the Federal Electoral Institute’s (IFE) Federal Registry of Voters, and have a valid voting ID card (credencial electoral).
This article discusses the history and process of external voting in Mexico, the participation of the Mexican diaspora in the 2006 Mexican presidential election, and the prospects for participation in the 2012 election. Utilizing the most recently available data from the US Census Bureau, the article then goes on to explore the size, geographical distribution, and characteristics of voting-age members of the Mexican diaspora in the United States.
The Development and Fiscal Effects of Emigration on Mexico
The economic consequences of emigration on migrants’ countries of origin have long been studied, yet the precise assessment of positive and negative impacts remains complex. This analysis finds that when the labor market effects and household income benefits of remittances are compiled into a model of the Mexican economy, Mexico’s fiscal balance appears to benefit from emigration – its GDP rising by 8.8 percent and tax collection by 7.4 percent.
