National and Global Perspectives

Climate Change and Immigration: Warnings for America's Southern Border,
American Security Project, September, 2010, 7 pp
Noting alarming patterns of declining agricultural yields, severe water shortages caused by Andean glacial melting, and growing desertification in much of Latin America, Lindsay Ross, a policy analyst for the bipartisan American Security Project, predicts growing migratory pressures along the southern border of the United States caused by climate change. He argues that "addressing climate change is a crucial step in stemming and managing this potentially massive tide of immigration."

Assimilation Today: New Evidence Shows the latest Immigrants to America are Following our History's Footsteps,
Center for American Progress, September, 2010, 43 pp.
Examining data from the 1990 and 2000 censuses, and the 2008 American Community Survey, University of Southern California researchers Dowell Myers and John Pitkin see evidence that "assimilation is robust in the 21^st century and follows the pattern of previous eras of American history." The authors trace six social and economic indicators: citizenship, homeownership, English-language proficiency, educational attainment, occupation, and income; and follow a primary cohort of immigrants who arrived in the U.S. from 1985 to 1989, and who were 20 years of age or older in 1990. Three indicators, in particular, show "striking" improvement: Homeownership (rising from 16% to 62% over 18 years), men with individual earnings greater than the poverty threshold (rising from 35% to 66%) and speaking English well (rising from 56% to 64.1%). Three other indicators, however, show relatively little change: high school completion, attainment of a B.A. degree, and movement into a professional or managerial occupation. When English language ability was evaluated for two other cohorts: immigrants age 10-19 in 1990 and those age 0-9 in 1990, the improvements were quite dramatic - over 80% for the first group and roughly 95% for the second. The authors find similar patterns emerging when they separately examine Mexican and other central American immigrants. The authors caution against the "Peter Pan Fallacy," which assumes that immigrants are frozen in time, "never aging, never advancing economically, and never assimilating," and which may be especially prevalent in states with recently arrived immigrant populations, where the workings of assimilation have yet to be observed.

The Citizenship Clause: A "Legislative History."
January 18, 2010, 53 pp.
This essay examines the legislative history and intent of the 14^th amendment clause stating that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." Written by Garrett Epps, a Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore, this essay takes issue with the influential views of Peter Schuck and Rogers H. Smith, two scholars who first advanced their argument for "consensual" citizenship in 1985. Although the framers of the amendment could not have anticipated modern immigration conditions, they did, according to Epps, live in a nation that was 11% foreign-born in 1866, and they did intend the amendment to apply to immigrants, as well as to freed slaves. Epps discusses the examples of the children of Chinese immigrants, whose parents had been barred from citizenship since 1790, and the "gypsy" population, "the closest thing the United States had at that time to ‘illegal' immigrants." Both these groups were subjects of congressional colloquies on the intent of the amendment. Epps then discusses the issue of birth-right citizenship, which he describes as the "central engine" of immigrant assimilation in the United States." He argues that "the advocates of creating a new non-citizen status for native-born children (of immigrants), are in danger of (inadvertently) creating a modern analogue of the post-slavery subordination (of African-Americans) that was occurring during the months before the framing of the Fourteenth Amendment..."

Migration, the Environment and Climate Change: Assessing the Evidence,
The German Marshall Fund of the United States, June, 2010, 5 pp.
This short paper is one of eight new studies devoted to the topic of climate change and migration patterns prepared by the Transatlantic Study Team on Immigration and Integration. Written by Frank Laczko, the Head of Research at the International Organization for Migration, this paper examines the current state of research on climate change and migration. The author calls attention to the uncertainties surrounding the notion of environmentally-induced migration, especially when individual choice enters into the picture. Rather than thinking of population movement as either forced or voluntary, it might be more accurate, he suggests, to conceive of a continuum ranging from totally voluntary to totally forced. The author also notes the lack of empirical research on the relationships between climate change and migration. What is clear is that most environmentally-induced migration has been within and between developing countries in the global South. Apart from efforts to provide temporary refuge to those stranded outside their countries as a consequence of extreme environmental events such as earthquakes and hurricanes, most northern countries have yet to develop a "strategy and policy framework to address the impact of gradual environmental change." Copies of this paper and others in the series are available on the website of The German Marshall Fund. The International Organization for Migration has also produced a larger study on the same subject.

Migrant Resource Centres: An Initial Assessment,
IOM International Organization for Migration, 2010, 71 pp.
Defining migrant resource centres (MRCs) as "physical structures that provide services to migrants which facilitate and empower them to migrate in a legal, voluntary, orderly and protected fashion," IOM considers this report to be the first attempt "to assess (their) impact on migration management goals." According to IOM, MRCs may be found in both countries of origin and destination. Originally prepared for the 2009 Global Forum on Migration and Development, this report profiles 17 MRCs, with special attention to their role in "empowering migrants for development." The authors identify and give examples of good practices and recommend steps to strengthen and sustain organizations of this type.

Refugee Resettlement in the United States: An Examination of Challenges and Proposed Solutions,
Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, May, 2010, 22 pp.
This report was commissioned by the International Rescue Committee and produced by a team of six graduate students under the guidance of Professor Howard Roy Williams. The report is based on extensive research and interviews with key figures in the refugee resettlement field and is intended to inform the dialogue on system reform initiated by the National Security Council. The report summarizes the strengths and weaknesses of the U.S. resettlement program and makes a series of recommendations to improve program operations and outcomes, including regular consultations with refugees on program operations, more sophisticated tracking of outcomes beyond short-term employment, and a "comprehensive study of the domestic resettlement system to determine optimal funding levels."

Beyond Arizona: Without Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Intolerance Will Rise Across Our Country,
Center for American Progress, May, 2010, 13 pp.
This report reviews two decades of state legislative efforts to combat illegal migration, focusing particularly on the states of Arizona and California, and includes a useful summary of ongoing legal challenges to such legislation. The report concludes that "many of these laws irresponsibly invite racial profiling and threaten the civil rights of U.S. residents based on their skin color" and urges Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform as a remedy.

A Century Apart: New Measures of Well-Being for U.S. Racial and Ethnic Groups,
American Human Development Project of the Social Science Research Council, April, 2010, 22 pp.
Seeking to develop a more accurate measure of "human development" than gross national product, the United National Development Programme began issuing annual human development (HD) reports in 1990. This approach has now been applied to the United States. Using health, educational, and family income data from the 2007 American Community Survey, the Council has produced state-level comparative data for government recognized racial and ethnic groups in the U.S and has uncovered wide variations between and among groups. Asian-Americans in New Jersey, for example, rank highest in human development among all population groups. Although significantly below Asians in HD scores, Latinos in NJ rank number 1 compared to Latino populations in other states. No effort, however, has been made to disaggregate the data to reveal significant differences among groups within larger pan-ethnic categories, e.g. the many nationalities that are grouped together as "Asian" or "Latino."

Hidden in Plain Sight: Indigenous Migrants, Their Movements, and Their Challenges,
Migration Policy Institute, March 31, 2010, 7 pp.
This short paper discusses migration trends among the world's 370 million indigenous people, who often get lumped together statistically with non-indigenous migrants born in the same country. The author notes that indigenous people often migrate from rural to urban areas within their own countries, before attempting to move to other countries. The author calls for the compilation of disaggregated data about these groups and new studies to "help governments at the State and federal levels address specific issues of these communities."

Employment-Based Immigration: Creating a Flexible and Simple System,
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton university, February, 2010, 38 pp.
Produced by six Master's level students at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, with varying ideological outlooks and professional backgrounds, this report presents their consensus position on the components of a reformed employment immigration system. The report begins by reviewing the peculiarities of the current employment system, which generates only 17% of all permanent resident visas issued by the U.S. The authors point out that studies of "immigration in the aggregate" do not shed light on the costs and benefits of employment-based immigration, which require finer analysis. The authors consider "the failure to use any data or objective analysis" to fine-tune admission priorities and numbers to be a "glaring weakness" of the current system. Their recommendations, including timely and strengthened, top-down data collection, combined with "bottom-up case studies," similar to those undertaken by the Migration Advisory Committee in the U.K in order to "judiciously deliberate between claims that workers are in short supply and claims that wages are being kept artificially low by immigration." A major recommendation is the consolidation of the existing first, second, and third preferences into a single, five-year, multiple entry employment visa category, convertible to permanent residence at the end of the five years. To ensure the integrity of the reformed system, the authors also recommend tightened immigration enforcement, through such measures as the gradual expansion of the E-Verify Program, coupled with more robust prosecution of labor law violations.

Facing Our Future: Children in the Aftermath of Immigration Enforcement,
The Urban Institute, February, 2010, 80 pp.
This longitudinal study looks at the consequences of immigration enforcement activities on a sample of 190 children in 85 families in six locations in the United States. Arrested parents or their spouses were interviewed twice: 2 to 5 months after arrest, and 9-13 months after arrest. The researchers found that the children "experienced severe challenges, including separations from parents and economic hardships that likely contributed to adverse behavioral changes that parents reported." Based on interviews with local officials and leaders of social service agencies, the study also describes and assesses the responses of the six communities to the arrests. The authors conclude with a series of policy recommendations to ease the burden on children arising from workplace raids and home arrests.

Protection through Integration: The Mexican Government's Efforts to Aid Migrants in the United States,
Migration Policy Institute, January, 2010, 39 pp.
This report traces the history and describes the present work of the Institute of Mexicans Abroad (Institute de los Mexicanos en el Exterior or IME). Working through 56 consular offices and approx 75 staff in the United States, the IME represents, according to the report, "one of the most significant, if overlooked factors in US immigrant integration policy." Mexico has become a world leader in "diaspora engagement," by recognizing that successful immigrant integration into host societies benefits both sending and receiving countries. The report describes the various programs that have been established by the IME, including consular health stations (Ventanillas de Salud), the Mexican Migrant Advisory Council, the Binational Migrant Education Program, and an adult education community center program (Plazas Comunitarias) which in 2007 operated at 373 sites in 35 states. The report recommends that IME measure its results and outcomes in a more systematic manner so that other countries might learn from its experience.

A Visa and Immigration Policy for the Brain-Circulation Era,
NAFSA Association of International Educators, December, 2009, 13 pp.
This policy brief argues that there has been a "paradigm shift in global mobility." The economic advantage that the United States once held in attracting talented international students and skilled workers is eroding, as other countries compete for this limited supply of human capital. Indeed, there has been a largely unrecognized outflow of talent from the United States to other countries. As international student mobility continues to increase, the U.S. share of the total is dwindling. The author proposes a package of reforms designed to address this problem, including more efficient consular processing of visa applicants, "treating people with civility and respect when they transit through our ports of entry," and allowing more advanced degree holders from American universities to become permanent residents.

Institutional Racism, ICE Raids, and Immigration Reform,
School of Law, University of California, Davis, December, 2009, 49 pp.
Reviewing the long sweep of U.S. immigration history, with particular attention to the southern border, UC Davis Law Professor Bill Ong Hing argues that "the construction of U.S. immigration laws and policies that began with the forced migration of Black labor...is inherently racist. The current numerical limitation system, while not explicitly racist, operates in a manner that severely restricts immigration from Mexico and the high visa demand countries of Asia." He further argues that the "dehumanization" and commoditization of "illegal immigrants," as promoted by "hot talk radio hosts, conservative columnists, and politicians, Democrats and Republicans alike," works to conceal the racist nature of these policies.

Transatlantic Trends: Immigration,
The German Marshall Fund of the United States and other partner organizations, 2009, 32 pp.
This sampling of public opinion on immigration-related issue in six countries of the European Union, Canada and the United States, shows interesting similarities and differences. Taken in September of 2009, the results reveal the impact of the recession on public views, and may be contrasted with an earlier pre-recession poll taken in 2008. Predictably, those whose financial situation got worse are more worried about migration than those who held their own, but not by a wide margin. Respondents in all countries "grossly overestimated" the number of immigrants in their countries. In three countries (the United States, Spain, and Italy), the majority of respondents thought that most immigrants were undocumented. In all countries, undocumented immigrants aroused the most concern. The authors conclude that "many of the negative stereotypes about immigrants can be attributed to worries about illegal, rather than legal, migrants." Finally, majorities in all countries favor permanent over temporary labor migration, as well as allowing the legal entry of environmental refugees.

Committed to the Diaspora: More Developing Countries Setting Up Diaspora Institutions,
Migration Policy Institute, Nov. 2, 2009, 15 pp
Drawn from a much larger study, this article details the efforts of governments around the world to strengthen ties with their diasporas, or communities of emigrants and their descendents in other countries. Although governments in poorer countries are mainly interested in tapping into the talent and resources of their diasporas for development purposes, some governments are also involved in efforts to protect migrants and promote their integration into destination countries. The article details the types of ministerial and sub-ministerial entities set up to administer diaspora affairs and includes charts showing the percentage of each country's population living abroad. The authors also discuss the efforts of regional and local governments, such as 30 provinces in China, and 29 of Mexico's 32 states, to build stronger relations with their expatriate communities.

Made in America: Myths and Facts about Birthright Citizenship,
Immigration Policy Center, September, 2009, 34 pp.
Four scholars discuss the meaning, importance, and legislative history of the Fourteenth Amendment, which states that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." In four separate essays, the authors argue against attempts to deny citizenship to the children of unauthorized immigrants, contending that such a change would be inconsistent with the intentions of those who wrote the Amendment, compromise a key principle of American democracy, have little or no effectiveness in stopping illegal migration, and likely fuel the growth of an "exploitable underclass" in American society.

Breaking the Immigration Stalemate: From Deep Disagreements to Constructive Proposals, A Report from the Brookings-Duke Immigration Policy Roundtable,
The Brookings Institution and the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University, 2009, 28 pp.
Bringing together 20 leaders and experts who "see immigration from divergent, even conflicting perspectives," this roundtable spent 10 months working to hammer out a set of consensus recommendations for immigration reform. The participants agreed that the final product represented "a reasonable balance among competing considerations, interests, and principles, and that it is a major advance over the status quo." Among the recommendations are the following: GAO-monitored "coordination and sequencing" of legalization with a strict regime of workplace enforcement, a "tilting toward skills" in admissions policy, maintenance of the current overall flow levels of 1.1 million legal admissions per year, creation of a Standing Commission on Immigration to provide ongoing guidance to Congress on immigration policy, and the creation of an Office for New Americans within the Executive Office of the President to coordinate the work of all federal departments and all levels of government to ensure the successful integration of immigrants and their children.

A Broken System: Confidential Reports Reveal Failures in U.S. Immigrant Detention Centers,
National Immigration Law Center, ACLU of Southern California, Holland & Knight, 2009, 154 pp.
Since 1992, there has been a five-fold increase in the number of immigrants held in detention in the United States - reaching 320,000 in 2007. Based on a review of 18,000 pages of government documents released under court order, this report finds that the entire system is "woefully unregulated." ICE detention standards are often routinely disregarded and violated. 67% of all detainees are held in state or county jails, where the level of oversight is particularly lax. Major deficiencies were found in standards such as visitation rights, recreational time, telephone access, access to legal material, and use of disciplinary segregation. The report contains numerous recommendations to create a more humane and just system, including a moratorium on further expansion of the system and greater use of supervised release programs. In New Jersey, seven county jails have contracts with ICE to incarcerate immigrant detainees.

Iraqi Refugees in the United States: In Dire Straits,
International Rescue Committee, June, 2009, 36 pp.
Based on field observations in several U.S. cities by a private "Commission on Iraqi Refugees" appointed by the International Rescue Committee, this report finds that the federal refugee resettlement program "faces major structural challenges in its organization and funding." With 17,000 Iraqi refugees slated for admission during FY 2009, many of whom suffering from trauma, injury, and illness, with large numbers of widows with children, the economic downturn is wreaking havoc on the ability of individual refugees to achieve rapid self-sufficiency. Without policy reform, many Iraqi refugees, according to the Commission, will end up homeless and in long-term poverty. The report contains five recommendations for policy reform, including alternatives to early employment to permit refugee professionals to participate in recertification programs.

No Shortcuts: Selective Migration and Integration,
2009 Transatlantic Academy Report on Immigration, March, 2009, 34 pp.
In this report, six scholars - three from the United States and three from Europe - describe and assess skill-based immigration systems in western countries and reach a number of policy-related conclusions, including the following: first, that "selective migration schemes that do not have a specific connection to employment are faced with problems of integrating immigrants into the labor market;" second, that "highly-skilled (migrants) are not immune to problems of adaptability and integration;" and third, that the American economic and immigration boom of the last few decades is over, resulting in inevitable changes in the quantity and patterns of migration, and that migration should no longer be viewed "as a one-way street toward Europe and the United States," but rather as a process characterized by "circular migration and multiple-life-phase migrations" -- and with many new players, including China and India. The authors stress the importance of sound integration policies to prevent "brain waste" and the spread of extremist ideologies. They also argue that "systems and environments devised to make it easier for people to move back and forth are preferable to the build-up of border and control systems."

Learning from Each Other: The Integration of Immigrants and Minority Groups in the United States and Europe,
Center for American Progress, April, 2009, 36 pp.
This report compares and contrasts European and American approaches to immigrant integration. The report commends the European Union for its effort to define a common framework and set of principles to guide integration efforts on the member state level and its dedication of substantial resources for integration work. It urges the United States to follow a similar approach. The United States, in turn, is commended for its strong antidiscrimination laws and its ability to enforce regulations on the state and local level -- achievements worthy of emulation by European states. The report calls for the creation of a "new National office of Integration in the White House," charged with reducing barriers to integration for both new immigrants and minority groups.