Research Library

Although President Joe Biden campaigned on a promise of ending Title 42 — a contentious border policy enacted by former President Donald Trump and used to expel asylum seekers — his administration has actually expanded its use, writes Kelsey Norman, the director of the Women’s Rights, Human Rights and Refugees Program at the Baker Institute. In this policy brief, she explores Biden’s recent changes to migration policy and proposes a better way to help those seeking asylum.

China’s dominance over the supply of rare earths — which are critical for energy transition and defense technologies — should spur U.S. policymakers to bolster raw materials supply chains, write energy fellow Michelle Michot Foss and co-author Jacob Koelsch.

Why does Texas have its own power grid, and how can its history inform the future of electric power in the state? Nonresident scholar Julie Cohn looks beyond the mythology surrounding the standalone Texas grid and finds that reliability and economics — not politics — were the major factors leading to isolation.

Texas has long been an economic leader, but the state lags critically in a major area: health. A new report by M.D. candidate Kushal T. Kadakia and nonresident scholar Anaeze C. Offodile II offers a road map for improving Texas’ health rankings by 10 spots in 10 years.

Information and cyber action have been important but ancillary components of the Ukraine war since its outbreak on February 24, 2022. We offer a set of observations:

The authors take a realistic look at what's needed for the global energy transition to succeed and warn that moving away from fossil fuels too quickly could backfire — stranding climate progress in the so-called “valley of death.”

We are in the midst of one of the largest and most rapid humanitarian evacuation missions in American history. Where will fleeing Afghans go? Middle East fellow Kelsey Norman describes an inadequate U.S. response and recommends ways forward.

Although Texans broadly support relaxing cannabis laws and other criminal justice reforms, state leaders continue the war on drugs and other policies that propagate systemic racism, writes fellow Katharine Neill Harris.

Gabriel Collins, the Baker Botts Fellow in Energy and Environmental Regulatory Affairs, explains why Section 625 of the CLEAN Future Act — which aims to classify oilfield-produced water as a hazardous waste — would likely induce multi-system disruptions severe enough to prevent the act from achieving its climate, energy, environmental, and social objectives.

President Biden has an opportunity, the author argues, to resurrect the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program and provide a pathway to legal status for millions of undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. This report explores the potential of the DAPA program to impact immigrant families and policy avenues toward its passage.