Research and Analysis

Fencing in Failure: Effective Border Control is Not Achieved by Building More Fences
New proposals for more fencing and Border Patrol agents along the U.S.-Mexico border may only perpetuate an unsuccessful and counterproductive policy that does not effectively enhance national security or control undocumented immigration. Read More

Diversity and Transformation: African Americans and African Immigration to the United States
Successive generations of African immigration have continuously transformed the African American community and the sociopolitical climate of the United States. Read More

Essential Workers: Immigrants are a Needed Supplement to the Native-Born Labor Force
An analysis of data from the 2000 census reveals that employment in about one-third of all U.S. job categories would have contracted during the 1990s in the absence of recently arrived, noncitizen immigrant workers. Read More

Asylum Essentials:The U.S. Asylum Program Needs More Resources, Not Restrictions
The efficiency of the asylum program depends in large part on a fully staffed and adequately funded Asylum Corps that evaluates asylum claims thoroughly and expeditiously. Read More

Remembering December 17: Repeal of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act
December 17 marks the anniversary of the 1943 repeal by Congress of the Chinese Exclusion Act of May 6, 1882. With only a few exceptions, this law barred any Chinese from immigrating to the United States, and was the first time U.S. immigration policy singled out citizens of a particular nation for wholesale discrimination. Read More

From Denial to Acceptance: Effectively Regulating Immigration to the United States
U.S. immigration policy is based on denial. Most lawmakers in the United States have largely embraced the process of economic “globalization,” yet stubbornly refuse to acknowledge that increased migration, especially from developing nations to developed nations, is an integral and inevitable part of this process. Read More

Legal Fiction Denies Due Process to Immigrants
Over a thousand noncitizens face indefinite detention in the United States on the basis of a meaningless legal technicality. Read More

Power and Potential: The Growing Electoral Clout of New Citizens
Immigrants – and groups in which immigrants are a large percentage of the population, such as Latinos and Asian/Pacific Islanders (APIs) – are a growing portion of the U.S. electorate. In a closely contested presidential race, the growing ranks of “new citizens” – foreign-born individuals who become “naturalized” U.S. citizens – are increasingly important political players. Read More

Immigrant Athletes in the Summer 2004 Olympics
Immigrants and the children of immigrants are prominent among the athletes representing the United States in the 2004 Olympics. The stories of these immigrant athletes offer a vivid glimpse of the immigrant experience in the United States. Read More

Maintaining A Competitive Edge: Foreign-Born and US Immigration Policies in Science and Engineering
Foreign-born scientists and engineers (S&Es) have long played a prominent role in U.S. technological and scientific advancement and are a critical part of the science and engineering (S&E) labor force in corporations, universities, and research centers nationwide. However, long-standing structural flaws in the U.S. visa system and the unintended consequences of security procedures instituted since September 11, 2001, may be causing an increasing number of S&Es to forgo coming to the United States, thereby depriving the nation of a critical supply of human talent. Read More
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