Integration

Education as an Opportunity for Integration: Assessing Colombia, Peru, and Chile’s Educational Responses to the Venezuelan Migration Crisis

With over 5 million Venezuelans fleeing their home country, Latin America is facing the largest migration crisis in its history. Colombia, Peru, and Chile host the largest numbers of Venezuelan migrants in the region. Each country has responded differently to the crisis in terms of the provision of education. Venezuelan migrants attempting to enter the primary, secondary, and higher education systems encounter a variety of barriers, from struggles with documentation to limited availability of spaces in schools to cultural barriers and xenophobia.

Legalization Through Registry: The Benefits of a “Rolling Registry” Program

With one statutory change, Congress could extend legal status to millions of undocumented residents through an existing legalization program known as the “registry.” In past decades, the program legalized thousands of long-term undocumented residents, but virtually no undocumented residents today would qualify unless Congress revises the legislation. If updated, the program could extend legal status to millions.

Christianity and the Law of Migration: A Dialogue in Social Responsibility

On December 7, the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) hosted the 2021 Fr. Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S. Lecture on International Migration. Silas W. Allard delivered the lecture, “Christianity and the Law of Migration: A Dialogue in Social Responsibility.” The event also featured responses from Kristin Heyer and Raj Nadella – co-editors with Allard – of the new book Christianity and the Law of Migration (Routledge 2021).

2021 Fr. Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S. Annual Lecture on International Migration | Christianity and the Law of Migration

On December 7, the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) hosted the 2021 Fr. Lydio F. Tomasi, C.S. Lecture on International Migration. Silas W. Allard delivered the lecture, “Christianity and the Law of Migration: A Dialogue in Social Responsibility.” The event also featured responses from Kristin Heyer and Raj Nadella – co-editors with Allard – of the new book Christianity and the Law of Migration (Routledge 2021).

Request for Papers and Commentaries on Protracted Displaced Situations, Creative Solutions, and Refugee-Led Initiatives

The Journal on Migration and Human Security requests papers for a special collection on solutions to situations of protracted international and internal displacement. The papers should provide extensive background on one or more situations of protracted displacement and describe the degree to which the affected populations have been able to avail themselves of traditional durable solutions; i.e., safe and voluntary return to their home communities, local integration, and third-country resettlement. The papers should also outline promising complementary approaches to the need for secure, permanent homes, such as expanded mobility and legal migration options, privately sponsored resettlement, self-reliance initiatives, and faith-based programs.

The American Committee on Italian Migration: Success That Can Be Repeated

The American Committee on Italian Migration (ACIM) was innovative for its time, organizing immigrants and their US-born descendants to serve the immigrant community and to advocate for immigration reform. It was an experiment that offers valuable lessons for immigration activists today.

Immigrants’ Use of New York City Programs, Services, and Benefits: Examining the Impact of Fear and Other Barriers to Access

New York City is a “welcoming city” that encourages “all New Yorkers regardless of immigration status” to access the public benefits and services for which they qualify (NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs or “MOIA” 2021a). Moreover, it invests significant resources in educating immigrant communities on this core commitment and its lack of participation in federal immigration enforcement activities. However, this report by the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) finds that immigrants in New York City still face significant barriers to accessing public benefits and services.

The report is based on CMS research that examined immigrant fear and other barriers in three general areas: the use of public benefits, with a particular focus on the public charge rule; the use of public health services; and access to law enforcement and the courts. The report documents how Trump-era immigration policies perpetuated fear among immigrant communities, in the context of other barriers to accessing services and benefits, and why its detrimental impacts have persisted and outlived the Trump administration.

Tax Equality for Immigrants: The Indispensable Ingredient for Remedying Child Poverty in the United States

Both at the federal and state levels, tax credits have proved effective policy instruments to combat poverty, and they are at the heart of President Biden’s massive initiative on childhood poverty. However, about one of every five children suffering poverty in the United States has an unauthorized immigrant parent and thus little or no access to tax credits. That is nearly two million children, and 85 percent of them are US citizens. Achieving historic reductions in childhood poverty thus will be impossible without remedying the eligibility exclusions and bureaucratic impediments that unauthorized immigrants face in the US tax system.

Making Citizenship an Organizing Principle of the US Immigration System

This paper proposes that the United States treat naturalization not as the culmination of a long and uncertain individual process, but as an organizing principle of the US immigration system and its expectation for new Americans. It comes at a historic inflection point, following the chaotic departure of one of the most nativist administrations in US history and in the early months of a new administration whose executive orders, administrative actions, and legislative proposals augur an entirely different view of immigrants and immigration.

The paper examines two main ways that the Biden-Harris administration’s immigration agenda can be realized – by expanding access to permanent residence and by increasing naturalization numbers and rates. First, it proposes administrative and, to a lesser degree, legislative measures that would expand the pool of eligible-to-naturalize immigrants. Second, it identifies three underlying factors – financial resources, English language proficiency, and education – that strongly influence naturalization rates. It argues that these factors must be addressed, in large part, outside of and prior to the naturalization process. In addition, it provides detailed estimates of populations with large eligible-to-naturalize numbers, populations that naturalize at low rates, and populations with increasing naturalization rates. It argues that the administration’s immigration strategy should prioritize all three groups for naturalization.

The paper endorses the provisions of the US Citizenship Act that would place undocumented and temporary residents on a path to permanent residence and citizenship, would reduce
family- and employment-based visa backlogs, and would eliminate disincentives and barriers to permanent residence. It supports the Biden-Harris administration’s early executive actions and proposes additional measures to increase access to permanent residence and naturalization. It also endorses and seeks to inform the administration’s plan to improve and expedite the naturalization process and to promote naturalization.

New from IMR: Integration, Enforcement, and Family

The Spring 2021 edition of the International Migration Review (IMR) is now available online and in print through paid or institutional subscription. This edition is thematically sorted into three sections. The first has articles about immigrant integration, civic engagement, and institutions. The second discusses immigration enforcement, securitization, and social dynamics. The third examines migration across time, focusing on settlement, mobility, and family.