CMS Essays

US Admissions Ban Endangers and Separates Families

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.” In this blog, al-Muqdad shares the story of Remi Hassoun, a Syrian refugee resettled in Maryland after a vetting process that involved 15 months of waiting and interviews with US immigration and United Nations officers. Despite reaching safety in the United States, Hassoun cannot leave or otherwise see his family. While life may become easier as a US citizen, he worries that he may never reunite with his mother and sisters due to the Trump administration’s ban on admissions of people from specific countries, including Syria.

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...

Access to Counsel and the Legacy of Juan Osuna

On November 15, 2018, CMS hosted an event on access to justice, due process and the rule of law to honor the legacy of Juan Osuna, a close colleague and friend who held high-level immigration positions in four administrations over...

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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.