Analysis
Jenifer Wolf-Williams
Perspectives on Asylum Policy: Going to the Borderlands and Coming to Terms with US History, Social Sentiment, and Hope
It was not a typical Sunday morning. Most Sundays in our White, suburban, upper middle class church do not include open conversations about immigration. But that week, a few of us attained permission to place an information table in the foyer. We displayed simplified graphs of tangled processes, stark images......
Briana Nichols
US and Guatemalan Migration-Related Pandemic Policies: A View from Guatemala
The US response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been to fortify migration polices that violate the human rights of migrants. Beyond suspending hearings for asylum-seekers subject to the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), the US government has ordered the rapid repatriation of apprehended migrants, including asylum seekers and unaccompanied minors, has continued deportation proceedings and removals, and has suspended many legal migration processes. On April 10, the administration asserted its right, resulting from the “profound and unique public health risks posed by the novel (new) coronavirus” to impose visa sanctions on countries that deny or delay “the acceptance of aliens who are citizens, subjects, nationals or residents of that country” that impede the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) response to the pandemic. Expulsions, removals, and denial of access to asylum have become central to the US pandemic response, without the US offering evidence connecting the spread of the virus to persons arriving at US land borders. The situation unfolding in Guatemala is particularly illustrative.
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Immigrants Comprise 31 Percent of Workers in New York State Essential Businesses and 70 Percent of the State’s Undocumented Labor Force Works in Essential Businesses
This paper provides estimates on “essential” immigrant workers in New York State. These workers play a central role in safeguarding and sustaining state residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, often at great risk to their health and that of their families. Based on estimates drawn from 2018 US Census data, the Center for Migration Studies (CMS) estimates that 1.8 million immigrants work in jobs in the “essential businesses” identified by New York State. These businesses fall into 10 categories that meet the health, infrastructure, manufacturing, service, food, safety, and other needs of state residents. The majority of the New York foreign-born essential workers – 1.04 million – are naturalized citizens, 458,400 are legal noncitizens (mostly lawful permanent residents or LPRs), and 342,100 are undocumented.
President Trump Issues Executive Order Temporarily Halting the Issuance of Green Cards
On April 22, 2020, President Donald Trump signed an executive order halting for 60 days the issuance of green cards to certain immigrants, arguing that foreign workers should not compete with US-citizen workers for jobs at a time of a public health crisis and economic downturn. Public officials and immigration advocates expressed strong opposition to the executive order, citing studies that show that immigrants overall contribute to the health of the US economy and complement, not compete with, US workers.
Donald Kerwin
US Detention and Release Policies Fatally Flawed: Detention System Increasingly Serves as Vector to Spread COVID-19
Immigrant detention is intended to serve two main purposes, to ensure that non-citizens appear for their removal proceedings and to protect the public. Yet in the current circumstances, detention imperils detainees, the staff and contractors at detention facilities, court officials, health care providers, the public in nearby communities, and communities to which detainees return. ICE has adopted unenforceable policies and practices that do not reflect the severity of this crisis. It cannot safeguard those in its custody and should move with far greater dispatch to release far more immigrants.
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Humanitarian Crisis of “Staggering” Dimensions Heightens in Idlib
Omar al-Muqdad – a prominent journalist, documentary filmmaker, and former Syrian refugee – writes a regular blog for CMS titled, “Dispatches from the Global Crisis in Refugee Protection.” This series covers the Syrian Civil War, the experiences of Syria’s immense and far-flung refugee population, the global crisis in refugee protection, religious persecution, and US refugee and immigration policies. Mr. al-Muqdad’s work has been featured by the BBC, CNN, and in many other media outlets. Resettled in the United States in 2012, Mr. al-Muqdad became a US citizen in Spring 2018. CMS features this series in its weekly Migration Update and on its website.
Omar al-Muqdad
“There Is No Safe Place”: Displacement and Flight from Idlib
Omar al-Muqdad – a prominent journalist, documentary filmmaker, and former Syrian refugee – writes a regular blog for CMS titled, “Dispatches from the Global Crisis in Refugee Protection.” This series covers the Syrian Civil War, the experiences of Syria’s immense and far-flung refugee population, the global crisis in refugee protection, religious persecution, and US refugee and immigration policies. Mr. al-Muqdad’s work has been featured by the BBC, CNN, and in many other media outlets. Resettled in the United States in 2012, Mr. al-Muqdad became a US citizen in Spring 2018. CMS features this series in its weekly Migration Update and on its website.
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Omar al-Muqdad
The Turkish Invasion in Northeast Syria Has Led to Large-Scale Displacement and the Fate of ISIS Fighters Remains Uncertain
Omar al-Muqdad – a prominent journalist, documentary filmmaker, and former Syrian refugee – writes a regular blog for CMS titled, “Dispatches from the Global Crisis in Refugee Protection.” This series covers the Syrian Civil War, the experiences of Syria’s immense and far-flung refugee population, the global crisis in refugee protection, religious persecution, and US refugee and immigration policies. Mr. al-Muqdad’s work has been featured by the BBC, CNN, and in many other media outlets. Resettled in the United States in 2012, Mr. al-Muqdad became a US citizen in Spring 2018. CMS features this series in its weekly Migration Update and on its website.
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Omar al-Muqdad
The Situation of Displaced Persons in Northeast Syria and Syrian Refugees in Turkey Rapidly Deteriorates
Omar al-Muqdad – a prominent journalist, documentary filmmaker, and former Syrian refugee – writes a regular blog for CMS titled, “Dispatches from the Global Crisis in Refugee Protection.” This series covers the Syrian Civil War, the experiences of Syria’s immense and far-flung refugee population, the global crisis in refugee protection, religious persecution, and US refugee and immigration policies. Mr. al-Muqdad’s work has been featured by the BBC, CNN, and in many other media outlets. Resettled in the United States in 2012, Mr. al-Muqdad became a US citizen in Spring 2018. CMS features this series in its weekly Migration Update and on its website.
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Donald Kerwin
The Darkening City on the Hill: The Trump Administration Heightens Its Assault on Refugee Protection
In 2018, the global population of forcibly displaced persons reached a record 70.8 million, including 25.9 million refugees and 3.5 million asylum-seekers. The United States led the response to past refugee crises of a similar magnitude, as, for example, in the aftermath of World War II and the Vietnam conflict.......
Darcy Hirsh
Impressions and Reflections on My First Experience of the US-Mexico Border
I had the privilege of participating in a recent trip to the Arizona-Mexico border to learn about conditions for migrants. The Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the national network hub of 125 Jewish Community Relations Councils around the country and 17 national Jewish agencies, led the delegation of Jewish community......
Omar al-Muqdad
What We Feared Would Happen to Returning Syrian Refugees Has Come to Pass
Omar al-Muqdad – a prominent journalist, documentary filmmaker, and former Syrian refugee – writes a regular blog for CMS titled, “Dispatches from the Global Crisis in Refugee Protection.” This series covers the Syrian Civil War, the experiences of Syria’s immense and far-flung refugee population, the global crisis in refugee protection, religious persecution, and US refugee and immigration policies. Mr. al-Muqdad’s work has been featured by the BBC, CNN, and in many other media outlets. Resettled in the United States in 2012, Mr. al-Muqdad became a US citizen in Spring 2018. CMS features this series in its weekly Migration Update and on its website.
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Omar al-Muqdad
The Honeymoon between Syrian Refugees and the Erdogan Government Has Ended
Omar al-Muqdad – a prominent journalist, documentary filmmaker, and former Syrian refugee – writes a regular blog for CMS titled, “Dispatches from the Global Crisis in Refugee Protection.” This series covers the Syrian Civil War, the experiences of Syria’s immense and far-flung refugee population, the global crisis in refugee protection, religious persecution, and US refugee and immigration policies. Mr. al-Muqdad’s work has been featured by the BBC, CNN, and in many other media outlets. Resettled in the United States in 2012, Mr. al-Muqdad became a US citizen in Spring 2018. CMS features this series in its weekly Migration Update and on its website.
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Donald Kerwin
What’s Less Patriotic Than Abandonment of the US Refugee Protection Program?
July 19, 2019 This week, the Trump administration has descended to a new level of contempt for the US refugee protection system. From its very first days in office when it evoked specious national security concerns to suspend the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) for 120 days and indefinitely bar......
Josiah Heyman, Jeremy Slack, and Daniel E. Martínez
Why Border Patrol Agents and CBP Officers Should Not Serve as Asylum Officers
United States Border Patrol agent Matthew Bowen allegedly hit an undocumented migrant with his truck in November 2017. In preparation for trial, federal prosecutors revealed that Bowen had a history of making derogatory statements about migrants in text messages, including calling them “disgusting subhuman shit unworthy of being kindling for......
Omar al-Muqdad
Refugees Have Few Options, We Have a Lot More
Omar al-Muqdad – a prominent journalist, documentary filmmaker, and former Syrian refugee – writes a regular blog for CMS titled, “Dispatches from the Global Crisis in Refugee Protection.” This series covers the Syrian Civil War, the experiences of Syria’s immense and far-flung refugee population, the global crisis in refugee protection, religious persecution, and US refugee and immigration policies. Mr. al-Muqdad’s work has been featured by the BBC, CNN, and in many other media outlets. Resettled in the United States in 2012, Mr. al-Muqdad became a US citizen in Spring 2018. CMS features this series in its weekly Migration Update and on its website.
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Donald Kerwin and Robert Warren
Does the United States Need to Invest More in Border Enforcement?
Despite the largest immigration enforcement budget in US history, the Border Patrol is set to apprehend the highest number of border crossers in more than a decade. This essay argues that the administration’s enforcement-only approach cannot successfully address this humanitarian crisis, and does not deserve any additional funding. Instead, the administration should respond to the conditions driving Central American and Venezuelan asylum seekers, provide protection for those fleeing violence and other impossible conditions, and create a strong, well-resourced US asylum system.
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Robert Warren
Overstays Exceeded Illegal Border Crossers after 2010 Because Illegal Entries Dropped to Their Lowest Level in Decades
This essay by CMS Senior Fellow Robert Warren examines the number of nonimmigrants who overstayed their visas to the United States. It demonstrates that the number of visa overstays has not spiked, but has remained in the 200,000 to 400,000 range since 2000. Moreover, visa overstays leave the undocumented population at significant rates, including through emigration and adjustment to lawful permanent resident status. Of those who overstayed their non-immigrant visas in 2000, less than one-half were living in the United States as undocumented residents in 2017.
Hon. Dana Leigh Marks
Reflections on a 40-Year Career as an Immigration Lawyer and Judge
Honorable Dana Leigh Marks, President Emeritus of the National Association of Immigration Judges, reflects on her 40-year career as an immigration lawyer and judge.
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Most Rev. Oscar Cantú
Address by Most Reverend Oscar Cantú, Bishop of San Jose
On March 12, 2019, Most Reverend Oscar Cantú, Bishop of San Jose, delivered the welcoming keynote at the 2019 Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative Conference at Santa Clara Law School in Santa Clara, California. In his remarks, Bishop Cantú considers how the Church has and can deploy its limited resources and implement successful models of integration to better address immigration and better welcome immigrants.
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Msgr. Arturo J. Bañuelas
Border Spirituality: ‘Tu eres mi otro yo’
The 2019 Father Lydio F. Tomasi, c.s. Annual Lecture on International Migration was delivered by Msgr. Arturo J. Bañuelas, Pastor of St. Mark’s Parish in El Paso, TX on March 12, 2019 at the sixth national gathering of the Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative in Santa Clara, California.
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Most Rev. Salvatore J. Cordileone
Address by Most Reverend Salvatore J. Cordileone, Archbishop of San Francisco
On March 13, 2019, Most Rev. Salvatore J. Cordileone, Archbishop of San Francisco, delivered a keynote address at the 2019 Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative Conference at Santa Clara Law School in Santa Clara, California. In his remarks, Archbishop Cordileone discusses: the Catholic Church’s concern for men, women, and children “on the move”; common themes found throughout the Church’s pastoral vision and the conference goals; immigrant contributions; how changing US immigration and refugee polices are affecting Catholic institutions and integration efforts; and promising and successful programs and ministries with immigrants.
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Omar al-Muqdad
US Admissions Ban Endangers and Separates Families
Robert Warren
Sharp Multiyear Decline in Undocumented Immigration Suggests Progress at US-Mexico Border, Not a National Emergency
Introduction This paper combines data from two reports[1] by the Center for Migration Studies (CMS) with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) statistics on apprehensions, adjustment of status, and removals, to illustrate major trends in undocumented immigration to the United States since 1990. It shows that the undocumented population and undocumented......
Ingrid V. Eagly
Access to Counsel and the Legacy of Juan Osuna
In this essay, Ingrid V. Eagly, Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, describes Juan Osuna’s many contributions to access to justice for immigrants. Osuna served on the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and then as director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). Eagly recounts his efforts to call attention to the need for legal representation. In particular, she details Osuna’s support for the federally funded Legal Orientation Program (LOP), which educates immigrants on their rights and provides them with self-help trainings and referrals to pro bono counsel. She also highlights Osuna’s work to secure counsel for particularly vulnerable migrants, including unaccompanied minors. Eagly’s essay is the latest contribution to a CMS series on the issues to which Osuna devoted his professional life.
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Kathryn Finley
Access to Justice in a Climate of Fear: New Hurdles and Barriers for Survivors of Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence
Kathryn Finley, managing attorney for the Tahirih Justice Center’s greater Washington, DC office, writes on the particularly high hurdles and barriers faced by immigrant survivors of violence in accessing the US legal system. This paper relies on examples gathered from Tahirih Justice Center’s direct work with immigrant survivors of gender-based violence. It also reviews the dynamics of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking for immigrant victims, and the immigration remedies available to victims of these crimes. Additionally, this paper explores the detrimental impact of the administration’s enforcement initiatives on immigrant victims of crime and on public safety.
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Rená Cutlip-Mason
Moving Away from Crisis Management: How the United States Can Strengthen Its Response to Large-Scale Migration Flows
This paper reviews the response of the US government to the growth in migration from Central America’s Northern Triangle states from 2011 to 2016. It also critiques the extreme border policies of the Trump administration, while recognizing that the failure of previous administrations to enact strategic, long-term changes in the US immigration system laid the groundwork for these policies. Finally, it reviews some of the lessons learned during the Obama administration on the need for a resilient and reformed immigration system.
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Robert Warren
US Undocumented Population Continued to Fall from 2016 to 2017, and Visa Overstays Significantly Exceeded Illegal Crossings for the Seventh Consecutive Year
This report presents estimates of the US undocumented population for 2017 derived by the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS). It focuses on the steep decline in the undocumented population from Mexico since 2010. While the president has focused the nation’s attention on the border wall, half a million[1] US undocumented residents from Mexico left[2] the undocumented population in 2016 alone, more than three times the number that arrived that year, leading to an overall decrease of nearly 400,000 undocumented residents from Mexico from 2016 to 2017. From 2010 to 2017, the undocumented population from Mexico fell by a remarkable 1.3 million.
For the past 10 years, the primary mode of entry to the undocumented population has been to overstay temporary visas. This report provides estimates of the number of noncitizens who overstayed temporary visas and those who entered without inspection (EWIs) in 2016 by the top five countries of origin.
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Omar al-Muqdad
For Syrian refugees, another year has gone by, but most see no sign of hope on the horizon
Omar al-Muqdad – a prominent journalist, documentary filmmaker, and former Syrian refugee – writes a bi-monthly blog for CMS titled, “Dispatches from the Global Crisis in Refugee Protection.” This series covers the Syrian Civil War, the experiences of Syria’s immense and far-flung refugee population, the global crisis in refugee protection,......
Jeremy Slack, Daniel E. Martínez, and Josiah Heyman
Immigration Authorities Systematically Deny Medical Care for Migrants Who Speak Indigenous Languages
The death of seven year-old Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin in December of 2018 while in US Border Patrol custody has led to outrage, frustration, and a host of unanswered questions. This study — which consists of more than 1,100 post-deportation surveys with unauthorized Mexican migrants — suggests that the denial of medical attention to migrants in US custody is a widespread and systemic problem, and one that appears to affect indigenous language speakers disproportionately....
Jill E. Family
No Agency Adjudication?
Jill E. Family, Commonwealth Professor of Law and Government and Director of the Law and Government Institute at Widener Law Commonwealth, highlights the lack of independence of immigration agency adjudicators (i.e., immigration judges and Board of Immigration Appeals members) to interpret and apply immigration law. She proposes moving removal adjudication to an Article I court, in order to create a system with greater independence and credibility. An Article I court would focus on adjudication only and would not be a part of the Department of Justice, which focuses on law enforcement. ...
Robert Barsky
The Legal Responsibilities of the United States Towards Asylum Seekers
Robert Barsky, Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University, examines the legal responsibilities of the United States towards asylum seekers, on the 50th anniversary of the US's accession to the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees....
Kevin Appleby
The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration: The Implementation Phase
On July 13, 2018, Ambassadors Juan José Gómez Camacho of Mexico and Jürg Lauber of Switzerland, the skilled co-facilitators for the consultation and negotiation phases of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (“GCM,” or “the Compact”), gaveled the GCM negotiations to a close, signaling the final draft of the document. Assuming the document is adopted in Marrakech, Morocco in December, Kevin Appleby, CMS's senior director of international migration policy, writes about the most difficult phase of the process - the GCM's implementation. ...
Omar al-Muqdad
Nationalism in an Era of Record Migration
Omar al-Muqdad – a prominent journalist, documentary filmmaker, and former Syrian refugee – writes a bi-monthly blog for CMS titled, “Dispatches from the Global Crisis in Refugee Protection.” This series covers the Syrian Civil War, the experiences of Syria’s immense and far-flung refugee population, the global crisis in refugee protection,......
Faith Communities Should Oppose the Administration’s Proposed Public Charge Rule and Broader Attack on Immigrant Families
On October 10, 2018, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published in the Federal Register a 447-page proposed rule changing the definition of a “public charge,” a term applied to legal immigrants who access certain public benefits. While in previous years and administrations, the public charge ground of inadmissibility was......
Susan Martin
FY 2019 Ceiling on US Refugee Resettlement: Bad Policy, Faulty Logic
On September 17, 2018, the Trump administration announced that the ceiling on refugee admissions in fiscal year (FY) 2019 (October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019) will be 30,000 — the smallest since passage of the Refugee Act of 1980. In explaining the cut, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated:......
Omar al-Muqdad
Russian-US Repatriation Plan Not Supported by Syrian Refugees
Omar al-Muqdad – a prominent journalist, documentary filmmaker, and former Syrian refugee – discusses the agreement entered into by Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump to repatriate Syrian refugees. ...
Mike Nicholson
The Role of Faith-Based Organizations in Immigrants’ Health and Entrepreneurship
This paper highlights the potential of faith-based organizations to improve the health and work outcomes of vulnerable migrants. First, the paper describes how faith-based organizations expand health care to underserved populations and play a vital role in building trust between healthcare providers and migrant communities. Next, the paper describes obstacles to migrant employment and explains how faith-based organizations are promoting migrant entrepreneurship through training, referrals, and targeted microloans, among other services. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of how the international community might support faith-based organizations’ efforts in these areas. In particular, the Global Compact on Migration should recognize faith-based organizations’ unique resources and credibility among vulnerable migrant populations. It should also emphasize the potential for productive cooperation between international organizations and faith-based organizations in the areas of migrant health care and entrepreneurship....
Laurie Carafone
Meeting the Needs of Women and Girl Migrants and Refugees in the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework: The Unique Role of Faith-Based Organizations
This paper illustrates the unique role of faith-based organizations (FBOs) in supporting vulnerable women and girl migrants and refugees and provides frameworks for FBOs in taking action. First, it outlines the major challenges that women and girl migrants and refugees face in their countries of origin as well as in transit, reception, and destination countries. Then, it argues that FBOs can play a unique and vital role in supporting vulnerable women and girl migrants and refugees due to their fluidity among stakeholders, their ability to distance themselves from the power dynamics of humanitarian aid, and their long-term and grounded presence. It provides the following approaches for FBOs in supporting vulnerable women and girl migrants and refugees: 1) addressing root causes through their presence in countries of origin, 2) opening the hearts and minds of people in host communities, 3) using the moral authority of faith leadership to subvert gender paradigms and make women and girls leaders and teachers. ...
Linda Rabben
Protecting Families and Facilitating Their Integration
“Our shared response may be articulated by four verbs: welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating migrants and refugees.” – Pope Francis I, August 2017 Who Are the Migrants? Where Do They Come From? Where Are They Going? Individuals and families around the world flee from their homes every day because of......
Most Rev. John Stowe, OFM Conv.
Address by Most Rev. John Stowe, OFM Conv., Bishop of Lexington
The Most Reverend John Stowe, OFM Conv., Bishop of Lexington, addressed the CMS conference "Promoting Just and Inclusive Communities in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana: A “Whole of Community” Approach to Immigrants and Refugees" in Cincinnati, Ohio from July 16-18, 2018. Bp. Stowe addressed the cruel enforcement actions against immigrants and refugees, the need for comprehensive immigration reform, and the work of local and regional groups to protect and care for the vulnerable populations impacted by harsh government policies....
Josiah Heyman, Jeremy Slack
Blockading Asylum Seekers at Ports of Entry at the US-Mexico Border Puts Them at Increased Risk of Exploitation, Violence, and Death
Although the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has insisted that asylum-seekers pass through ports-of-entry (POEs), rather than between them, it has denied potential non-Mexican asylum seekers access to the inspection area at POEs, and left them stranded in Mexico. This essay examines the implications of the turn away approach CBP has adopted in responding to those seeking asylum at POEs on the international boundary line....
Omar al-Muqdad
My Life as a Refugee
Omar al-Muqdad describes the circumstances in his home country of Syria that led to him becoming a refugee, and the kindness he encountered when resettled in the United States....
Omar al-Muqdad
Religious Persecution and the US Refugee Program under the Trump Administration
Omar al-Muqdad – a prominent journalist, documentary filmmaker, and former Syrian refugee – writes a bi-monthly blog for CMS titled, “Dispatches from the Global Crisis in Refugee Protection.” This series covers the Syrian Civil War, the experiences of Syria’s immense and far-flung refugee population, the global crisis in refugee protection,......
Kevin Appleby
The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration: Will It Live Up to Its Name?
The member states of the United Nations — absent the United States — have begun their work on producing a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (“the Compact”), an international agreement that would establish a multilateral framework for migration governance. The Compact, as reflected in the Revision 1......
Nadia Y. Flores-Yeffal and Karen A. Pren
Predicting Unauthorized Salvadoran Migrants’ First Migration to the United States between 1965 and 2007
This paper seeks to understand the predictors of first undocumented migration from El Salvador to the United States and makes policy recommendations in response to one of the most important migratory flows from Latin America. Findings suggest that an increase in civil violence and a personal economic crisis increased the likelihood of first time undocumented migration to the United States between 1965 and 2007. Salvadorans who were less likely to take a first undocumented trip were business owners, those employed in skilled occupations, and persons with more years of experience in the labor force. An increase in the Border Patrol budget and the high unemployment rate in the United States deterred the decision to take a first undocumented trip. Having contacts in the United States is not the main driver of the decision to start a migration journey to the United States. The paper recommends that the United States awards Salvadorans more work-related visas and asylum protection, and grants permanent residency to those who formerly had Temporary Protected Status. Recommendations for the Salvadoran government include investing in high-skilled job training in order to discourage out-migration. ...
Omar al-Muqdad
Ending the Syrian Refugee Crisis Will Take Far More Than Retaliatory Bombings
Omar al-Muqdad – a prominent journalist, documentary filmmaker, and former Syrian refugee – writes a bi-monthly blog for CMS titled, “Dispatches from the Global Crisis in Refugee Protection.” This series covers the Syrian Civil War, the experiences of Syria’s immense and far-flung refugee population, the global crisis in refugee protection,......
Pietro Demurtas, Mattia Vitiello, Marco Accorinti, Aldo Skoda, and Carola Perillo
In Search of Protection: Unaccompanied Minors in Italy
This paper examines the issue of unaccompanied minors arriving in Italy and how Italy has responded to their need for protection. It contains five complementary sections. Section 1 provides a statistical overview of unaccompanied minors in Italy between 2014 and 2017. In particular, it discusses unaccompanied minors who request political asylum, those in government reception facilities who do not, and those who have left reception centers without seeking asylum and have become “untraceable.” The second section addresses why unaccompanied minors leave their countries of origin and how they transit to Italy and elsewhere. This section highlights the role of families in the decision to migrate and the migration process. It distinguishes unaccompanied minors who largely seek to “escape from” particular conditions from other migrants who are in search of a better life for themselves and their families. The third section covers Italian reception policies and policymaking challenges, with a particular focus on implementation of Italy’s System for the Protection of Asylum Seekers and Refugees. The section argues for reception procedures and interventions that are tailored to the particular vulnerabilities and needs of unaccompanied minors. Section 4 offers a psychosocial analysis of the phenomenon of unaccompanied child migration. It describes strategies to build the competencies, sense of agency, and resilience of unaccompanied minors. The final section details the demands and requirements of acting in the “best interests” of unaccompanied minors. It ends by setting forth minimum principles of protection for unaccompanied minors, which should inform both the Global Compact on Migration and the Global Compact on Refugees....
Sergio Carciotto
The Regularization of Zimbabwean Migrants: A Case of Permanent Temporariness
In this essay, Sergio Carciotto of the Scalabrini Institute for Human Mobility in Africa (SIHMA) examines South Africa’s temporary labor migration laws and how they apply to migrant workers from Zimbabwe. Carciotto makes the case that low-skilled workers, such as Zimbabweans, are not provided the benefits that high-skilled workers receive, particularly the opportunity to become permanent residents. As such, they are without leverage in the workplace and are subject to exploitation. Carciotto concludes that low-skilled workers who enter on a temporary basis should be allowed to apply for permanent residency after a certain time, in order to avoid situations of indentured servitude. In other words, the longer a worker remains, “the stronger their claim to full membership in society and to the enjoyment of the same rights as citizens.” He also states that such a policy should be included in the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, currently being negotiated by United Nations member states.
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Graziano Batistella, c.s.
Return Migration: A Conceptual and Policy Framework
This paper on return migration is the first in a series from the Scalabrini Migration Study Centers, a worldwide network of think-tanks on international migration, on different migration issues and policy ideas that should inform the development and implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration. This paper is authored by Graziano Batistella, c.s., who directs the Scalabrini Migration Center in the Philippines. It offers a conceptual framework for analyzing return migration and developing appropriate policies in response. It identifies a continuum of types of return based on the time of return and the decision to return. These are: “return of achievement,” “return of completion,” “return of setback,” and “return of crisis (forced return).” The paper recommends particular policies – which would benefit migrants and their communities of origin – in response to each of these types of return. It urges that the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration and the Global Compact for Refugees not treat return as “an act that simply concludes migration,” but one that requires effective policies to protect and ensure the well-being of migrants, to facilitate their reintegration, and to maximize their contributions.
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Donald Kerwin
The President’s Immigration Reform Plan Takes a Well-Deserved Tumble
The Trump administration repeatedly insisted during the Senate’s immigration debate that it would reject any plan that did not incorporate all of its pillars for reform. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inserted itself into the debate with a press release riven with nativist buzzwords, mischaracterizations and gross exaggeration. By......
Robert Warren
The US Undocumented Population Fell Sharply During the Obama Era: Estimates for 2016
This report shows estimates of the undocumented population residing in the United States in 2016, by country of origin and state of residence. Previous CMS reports have documented the long-term change from rapid population growth in the 1990s, to single-digit rates of growth in 2000 to 2010. This report shows continued declines in the population from most countries and in most states since 2010....
Susan F. Martin
Trump’s Misuse of Barbara Jordan’s Legacy on Immigration
After years of talking about a broken immigration system, President Trump offered a framework for immigration reform in his State of the Union address. In the lead-up to the address, the White House issued a statement on January 17 honoring Barbara Jordan, the former Chair of the US Commission on......
Robert Warren
The Legally Resident Foreign-born Population Has the Same Percentage of Skilled Workers as the US-Born Native Population
Overview In August 2017, the White House issued a fact sheet announcing President Donald J. Trump’s support for the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act that would “prioritize immigrants based on the skills they bring to our Nation.”[1] It stated, in part: For decades, low-skilled and unskilled......
David J. Trimbach and Nicole Reiz
Unmaking Citizens: The Expansion of Citizenship Revocation in Response to Terrorism
Introduction “They hold us in contempt. They hold our values in contempt. They hold our belief in tolerance and decency in contempt. They hold our democracy, the means by which we will make our decision tonight, in contempt. And what we know about fascists is that they need to be......
Global Compact on Migration: Issues at Play
Donald Kerwin
Congress Should Delink Passage of the DREAM Act from Additional Enforcement Spending
Donald Kerwin, CMS’s executive director, discusses why Congress should delink passage of the DREAM Act from enforcement spending, and pass a “clean” DREAM Act in 2018.
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Omar al-Muqdad
Refugees in Lebanon: Geopolitics and Unmet Human Needs
Lebanon experienced a massive influx of Syrian refugees, overstretching the country's resources and increasing political tensions. While the number of registered Syrian refugees has reportedly decreased, Omar al-Muqdad writes that the world's response is failing to meeting the needs of those who remain. He highlights the story of Um Hussein, a 62-year-old refugee from Homs, and her family's struggle to survive....
Donald Kerwin
The Besieged US Refugee Protection System: Why Temporary Protected Status Matters
This essay examines and challenges the Trump administration’s recent changes to US immigration policy, particularly the end of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for certain countries such as Haiti and Nicaragua. According to author Donald Kerwin, CMS’s executive director, “TPS represents a pillar of the besieged US refugee protection system because it honors, however imperfectly, the well-established responsibility of states to offer safe haven to persons who would be endangered if returned to their home countries.” However, the Trump administration has sought to “make America great again” by abandoning a central feature of the American identity – its openness to the world’s oppressed, persecuted, and imperiled.
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Omar al-Muqdad
The Syrian Refugee Experience: A Tormented Journey into the Unknown
In the first post of ‘Dispatches from the Global Crisis in Refugee Protection,’ Omar al-Muqdad – a prominent journalist, documentary filmmaker, and former Syrian refugee – discusses the conflicts and conditions in Syria forcing Syrians to make desperate, limited choices.
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Kimball Baker
The Worker/Immigrant Link: America’s Driving Force
Kimball Baker (author of “Go to the Worker”: America’s Labor Apostles) examines the role of immigrants in America’s labor unions and worker centers.
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Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians in Peril
Graziano Battistella
From Invisibility to Recognition: Reflections on the Conditions of Migrants in Our Society
There is no scarcity of images or stories to introduce us to the topic. The world of relentless economic growth and profound transformation in the production of economic value is also the world that increasingly marginalizes millions of people or does not allow them to participate in the progress which......
María Clara Lucchetti Bingemer
Migrations: A Contemporary Challenge to Theological Thinking
The Father Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S. Annual Lecture on International Migration was established in 2014 by the CMS board of trustees through a generous contribution from The Rotondaro Family Fund. The lecture is delivered at a CMS-hosted event each year by a leading scholar. The lecture covers a migration-related topic......
Why is Another Category of Legally Present Immigrants Being Threatened with Loss of Status and Deportation?
The Trump administration has never spoken with a coherent voice on immigration. Its immigration initiatives have been politically driven, some of them purely symbolic (the 2,000 mile wall), others unconstitutional (a “Muslim ban”), still others longstanding national priorities (“extreme vetting” and the deportation of violent criminals). What may ultimately distinguish......
Kimball Baker
Justice Junction in the Heartland: A Labor Day Reflection on the Catholic Church’s Commitment to Immigrant Justice, Then and Now
In 1828, an immigrant to America, young Italian Samuel Mazzuchelli, braved the challenges of the US frontier. He became a Dominican priest and traveled widely throughout the Midwest, ministering first to Native Americans and fur trappers, then to the Irish lead miners of the Upper Mississippi Valley. In 1847, he......
Jeanne Atkinson
The Growing Threat to the US Asylum System: An Analysis of the Trump Administration’s Expansion of Detention and Expedited Removal
Jeanne Atkinson writes on the planned expansion of detention and expedited removal, two of the most egregious measures in the administration’s executive orders and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memoranda....
Peter J. Spiro
Citizenship after Trump
This essay examines citizenship policy under the Trump presidency....
Donald Kerwin
Pope Francis, Migration, and the Journey to Human Development and Peace
Donald Kerwin, CMS’s Executive Director, provides an overview of the VI International Forum on Migration and Peace, organized by the Scalabrini International Migration Network (SIMN) in late February 2017 in Rome, Italy....
Donald Kerwin
Our Religious Obligations to Refugees and Migrants
Donald Kerwin, CMS's Executive Director, presented this address at the Seminar on Migration and Religion at Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands held on February 9 and 10, 2017....
Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Ph.D., D.D.
Address by Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Bishop of Brooklyn
The Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Bishop of Brooklyn, addressed the SIMN VI International Forum on Migration and Peace in Rome, Italy from February 20-22, 2017. Bishop DiMarzio spoke national engagement on the panel, “Mapping the Migration Activities of Catholic Organizations.”...
Dario Dzananovic
European Courts and Citizens Struggle to do “What’s Right” Amidst Reactionary Migration Law and Policy
This essay examines four European cases highlighting how individual citizens and courts of European Union member states have dealt with situations involving a conflict between doing “what’s right” and “what’s legal.” ...
Donald Kerwin
National Identity and 3 of the Most Damaging Directives in President Trump’s Executive Orders on Immigration and Refugees
Donald Kerwin, CMS’ executive director, examines President Donald Trump’s “shock and awe” strategy in the forms of multiple executive orders on immigration and refugees. Kerwin argues that these executive orders create three major risks: (1) Many of the most damaging provisions will evade scrutiny in the glare of high profile issues such as building an unnecessary and unsustainable 2,000 mile border wall; (2) The cynical rationale for the orders (security and safety) will actually stick, if repeated enough times; and (3) Some portion of President Trump’s agenda may actually be implemented at permanent cost to our nation’s well-being, core values, and identity. ...
Fiona Adamson
Trump’s Executive Orders on Migration and Security: Policy Incompetence, Political Theater or Ideological Pivot?
This essay examines the possible motives behind Trump’s executive orders related to immigrants and refugees. The author considers whether the orders were issued to address policy gaps, whether they are merely political theater to appease Trump’s voter base, and/or whether they serve a broader anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim ethno-nationalist agenda. ...
President Trump’s Executive Orders on Immigration and Refugees
Donald Kerwin
The Catholic Church’s Commitment to Immigrants and Refugees at the Dawn of the Trump Era
Donald Kerwin, CMS' Executive Director, reflects on the 2016 Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative Conference and the Catholic Church's commitment to migrants and refugees as President Trump takes offices....
Alan M. Kraut
“Make America Great Again”… Again?
In this essay, Alan M. Kraut, University Professor of History at American University, traces the origin of the “Make America Great Again” slogan to nativists of the early 20th century....
Enzo Rossi, Paolo Iafrate
The EU Agreement with Turkey: Does it Jeopardize Refugees’ Rights?
On March 7, 2016, the European Union (EU) and Turkey drew up an agreement for cooperation with the aim of reducing the flow of migrants and refugees — mostly Syrian — crossing the Aegean Sea and taking the Balkan route to arrive in Europe. This essay discusses how the EU-Turkey agreement violates the body of rights and obligations that apply to all EU member states and the international conventions regarding asylum. ...
John W. Harbeson
Mainstreaming Involuntary Migration in Development Policies
This essay addresses the issue of how best to insert migration concerns into development planning, as a part of a process of thinking more broadly about US migration policies and interests....
Allan Figueroa Deck, SJ
Migrants and Refugees in Pope Francis’s Transformative Vision of Church and Society
The 2016 Father Lydio F. Tomasi, c.s. Annual Lecture delivered by Allan Figueroa Deck, SJ, Distinguished Scholar in Pastoral Theology and Latino Studies and Professor of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University, on November 28, 2016 at the fourth national gathering of the Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative in San Diego, California....
The Global Compact on Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration: Issues to Consider
The adoption of the New York Declaration on the Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on September 19 has launched a new process to negotiate two compacts by 2018: the Global Compact on Refugees and the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (hereinafter referred to as the Global Compact on Migration). Agreeing to a new Global Compact on Refugees should be challenging enough, but reaching an agreement on a Global Compact on Migration will require skill, patience, and, above all, compromise…
Donald Kerwin
A Faith-Based Reflection on the Global Crisis in Refugee Protection
This essay offers a reflection on the global crisis in refugee protection from a faith perspective at a time of great uncertainty regarding the US and global response to refugees....
The Cuban Adjustment Act at Age 50: Model Law or Relic of a Bygone Era?
Border Walls, Deportations and the Final Presidential Debate
Robert Warren
New Data and Analysis Confirms Stable Growth in Immigration
This report reviews the latest information available about the growth of the foreign-born population and provides information about recently arrived temporary residents in the population. The report finds that foreign-born population growth, legal and undocumented, as well as new arrivals, have remained fairly stable over the past few years....
Kevin Casas-Zamora
The Roots of Central America’s Exodus
Kevin Casas-Zamora, Senior Fellow and Program Director at The Inter-American Dialogue, delivered this address at the DACOR Bacon House Foundation 2016 Annual Conference “The Challenges of Contemporary Mass Migration.” In his speech, Casas-Zamora discusses the structural problems affecting the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador causing emigration, particularly by children and family units....
Robert Warren
Surge in Immigration in 2014 and 2015? The Evidence Remains Illusory
Robert Warren, CMS’s Senior Visiting Fellow, conducts a detailed analysis of immigration to the United States in 2014 and 2015, refuting claims of a surge in undocumented immigration....
Elizabeth Ferris
On Climate Change, Migration and Policy
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. It’s an honor to be asked to fill in for Walter Kälin, with whom I worked closely when we served as co-directors of the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement for four years. Today I would like to talk about some......
Alan M. Kraut
Nativism, An American Perennial
This essay provides a historical analysis of the nativist rhetoric that has prevailed in American politics, and which became a prominent theme in American political discourse during the 2016 presidential campaign. ...
Shelly Pitterman
“Empathy and a Sense of Responsibility Motivate Communities Around the World to Help Refugees”
We’re about to commemorate another World Refugee Day. While we all hope for peace, millions languish and remain on the move: 263,000 Burundi refugees, 987,000 refugees and IDPs [internally displaced persons] fleeing violence in Central African Republic, and then more than twice as many from the Democratic Republic of the......
As President Obama Visits Cuba, Hidden Surge of Cuban Migrants into United States Continues
Unaccompanied Minors from Central America: Keeping Them Safe in the United States
C. Mario Russell
Due Process for Immigrant Children and Families: More Than Legal Representation
The due process clause is one of America’s great inspirations, one of its better angels. Indeed, the clause’s birth in 1868 — over presidential veto by Andrew Johnson and conjoined with the equal protection and birthright citizenship provisions — firmly rooted it at the center of the American legal experience......
Visa Overstays and the Decline in the US Undocumented Population
Donald Kerwin
Treating Syrian Refugees as a National Security Threat: Do the Means Fit the End?
In this essay, Donald Kerwin, CMS’ executive director, seeks to move the nation’s debate on the twin imperatives of national security and refugee protection beyond the current politically-charged and misguided dialogue on Syrian refugees....
Obama Administration Begins Raids of Recently Arrived Central Americans
Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Ph.D., D.D.
Advancing Immigrant Integration, Well-Being and Empowerment
Allow me first to thank the co-organizers of this important event – the National Partnership for New Americans and the New York Immigration Coalition – for bringing us together and for their important work on these issues over so many years. Thanks as well to the event’s executive committee, to its sponsors......
Support Grows for Ending Immigrant Detention by Private Corporations
David A. Martin
Immigration’s Enigma Principle: Protection and Paradox
I’m going to talk today more about prudence than about law. In part is this because I am discouraged about the current refugee situation – not despairing, but leaning pessimistic, which is uncharacteristic for me. The world is more dangerous, governance structures are weakening, conflict is more widespread and vicious,......
Hosffman Ospino
Immigration and Communion: Building American Catholicism in the 21st Century
The 2015 Father Lydio F. Tomasi, c.s. Annual Lecture delivered by Hosffman Ospino, Ph D, Assistant Professor of Theology and Religious Education at Boston College, on October 1, 2015 at the third national gathering of the Catholic Immigrant Integration Initiative in El Paso, Texas....
Donald Kerwin
International Migration, Human Dignity, and the Challenge of Sovereignty
Address delivered at the 5th International Forum on Migration and Peace in Berlin, Germany....
Leonir Chiarello
The Emergence and Evolution of the Concepts of Human Rights and Human Security
This essay provides a historical analysis on the concept of human security. The author examines how religious traditions and schools of thought converged and developed an evolving consciousness of human rights and human security. ...
Robert Warren
US-born Children of Undocumented Residents: Numbers and Characteristics in 2013
Introduction The constitutionally guaranteed right to US citizenship to persons born in the United States has received considerable attention in the 2016 Republican presidential campaign. A recent report [1] by the Pew Research Center describes long-term trends in births of US-born children to undocumented residents and it provides a general description......
Robert Warren
The Estimated Undocumented Population is 11 Million. How Do We Know?
The purpose of this report is to briefly describe the origin of the widely reported estimate of 11 million and to show why claims of much higher numbers are not credible. Thus the author addresses two questions (1) how was the 11 million numbers derived? (2) could the actual number be 15, 20, or even 30 million? The author provides a simple framework for computing the estimate of 11 million and the potential range of error around each component of the estimate. ...
Robert Warren
A New Upsurge in Unauthorized Immigration from Mexico Not Likely
On August 13, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) released a report based on data collected in the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS). The report, available at http://cis.org/Immigrant-Population-Hits-Record-Second-Quarter-2015, stated: “After falling or growing little in recent years, the number of Mexican immigrants again seems to be growing significantly.” The......
Mark Noferi
A Humane Approach Can Work: The Effectiveness of Alternatives to Detention for Asylum Seekers
This report reviews emerging research on the release of asylum seekers from detention, including the impact of various forms of alternatives to detention (ATD), summarizes the primary harms caused by immigration detention, and argues that releasing asylum seekers (on alternatives as needed) and affording legal assistance can protect the rights of asylum seekers and facilitate compliance with proceedings and legitimate removals, at far less human and financial cost than detention. ...
Tom K. Wong
Reaching Undocumented Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States
This white paper identifies areas of need when it comes to outreach targeted at undocumented Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs). Using an innovative method to estimate the characteristics of the undocumented population, this paper provides a national overview of the undocumented AAPI population, a state-by-state comparison of aggregate estimates, and a state-by-state comparison by national origin group, focusing on China, India, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Korea. This paper also uses factor analysis to identify 50 areas of need where the undocumented AAPI population in a place is characterized by low English language use, high poverty rates, and low educational attainment. This white paper is part of a larger collaborative project on the undocumented AAPI population. ...
Revisiting the US Refugee Protection System 35 Years after Passage of the Refugee Act of 1980
A Plan to Transform the US Immigrant Detention System
Why the Central American Children Migrants Need Full Adjudication of Their Protection Claims
Do the Right Thing: Upholding the United States’ Commitment to Protect Children Fleeing Persecution
Municipal IDs and State and Local Measures to Regularize the Lives of the Unauthorized
Congressional Hearings on Asylum Seekers Facing U.S. Expedited Removal Process
Immigrant Relatives of US Military Allowed to Stay
Legalization of US Unauthorized Residents: A Rule of Law or Access to Justice Issue?
Day of Action Marks One Month Anniversary of Dominican Republic Constitutional Court Decision
The Dominican Republic Revokes Citizenship of Dominican-born Children of Unauthorized Migrants
Law Professor Lauren Gilbert of St. Thomas University Discusses Hoeven-Corker’s Denial of Social Security Credit for the Unauthorized
In Advance of High-level Dialogue on International Migration, MPI Launches Policy Brief Series on Migration and Development
Wage Theft and S. 744
Does the United States Need to Invest More in Border Security? Probably Not
Charities USA Interviews CMS Executive Director on Comprehensive Immigration Reform
The Stateless in the United States
Lessons From IRCA for the House Judiciary Committee
The Gang of 8 and Accountable Border Enforcement
The Freedom Riders and the Dreamers: High Noon in the Immigration Debate
New Estimates of Visa Overstays by State
Public Opinion, Values and Demographic Trends Align in Support of Immigration Reform
Immigration Policy and New Estimates of the US Unauthorized Population
Fixing Immigration Detention Through Immigration Reform
CMS Executive Director Donald Kerwin co-authors Migration Policy Institute Report on Immigration Enforcement in the United States
The Immigrant Vote and the Republican Party: Language Is Not the Issue
What the Next US President Should Do to Reform the US Immigration System
ABA Issues Model Standards to Guide Reform of US Immigration Detention System
SIMN and CMS Press Release on Arizona v. United States
Deferred Action for the DREAMers
Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States and Europe: The Use of Legalization/Regularization as a Policy Tool
Donald Kerwin
Mainstreaming Migration: The Merits and Potential of the Migration and Development Framework
Donald Kerwin, Executive Director for the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS), delivered this address at a joint conference entitled, "Mainstreaming Migration into Development Planning: Assessing the Evidence, Continuing the Dialogue," co-hosted by CMS and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). ...
US Catholic Bishops Argue against Arizona’s SB 1070 on Religious Liberty Grounds
The Impact of Birth Registration within and across Borders
The Faltering US Refugee Protection System in Refugee Survey Quarterly
Restoring the Rule of Law to the US Immigration System
Challenges Facing the US Refugee Protection System
A Modest Idea Becomes a More Modest Proposed Rule
USCIS Proposes New Rule for Family-Based Visa Petitions
US Families and the Republican Presidential Debate
A Legal and Policy Analysis of State Deportation-by-Attrition Measures
Do the Obama Administration’s Prosecutorial Discretion Policies Offend the Rule of Law?
