Immigration

About the Immigration Project

With around 300 million legal crossings per year, the U.S.-Mexico border is one of the world’s most dynamic areas of human mobility. Despite this connectivity, human mobility between the United States and Mexico remains controversial, as reflected by the failure of the U.S. Congress to address immigration reform. The center works to advance public policies that balance border security and efficiency in the legitimate trade and travel between the two countries.

Practical Solutions for Addressing the Immigration Challenge

This project, funded by the Charles Koch Foundation, develops frameworks and policy recommendations for resolving the immigration status of millions of undocumented migrants in the United States by exploring alternative solutions for conditional residency and work authorization.

The Future of U.S.-Mexico Relations: Forecast to 2040

This project will critically examine the U.S.-Mexico relationship, applying strategic foresight methods to identify the variables that will likely impact the future health of the binational relationship, project the possible outcomes of the relationship under the current political climate, and examine the broader challenges that the U.S. and Mexico will face in the coming decades.

Publications

• Migrants’ Perilous Journey Along the Darién Gap
• Paths to Legalizing America’s Illegal Immigrants
• Immigration Policy Workshop Report
• The Economic Potential of Undocumented Workers
• Immigration Courts in the 21st Century
• Resurrecting the DAPA Program
• Undocumented Immigrants in a Polarized Nation
• The Quest For Elusive Reform: Undocumented Immigrants in a Polarized Nation
• The Materialization of a Dream: Creating a Pathway to Permanent Residency for DACA Recipients
• Amid multiple crises, immigration cannot be forgotten
• Linking Immigration, Economic Opportunity, and the Rule of Law in Mexico and Central America
• US election 2020: Undocumented status and mental healthcare access
• Immobile and Vulnerable: Migrants at Mexico's Southern Border at the Outset of Covid-19
• Undocumented and Unprotected: Health Challenges for Immigrants during the Covid-19 Pandemic
• DACA Decision: A Reprieve for Some, Political Defeat for Others
• Exploring Immigration Alternatives: Identification and Taxation of Undocumented Immigrants Residing in the United States
• Undocumented Immigrants in Texas: A Cost-Benefit Assessment
• Former U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents: Retired Without Benefits
• Migrant Associations: A Valuable Bridge Between Mexico and its Diaspora
• Mexican Migrant Entrepreneurs in the U.S.
• López Obrador's Initial Policies Towards Central American Migrants
• Population at Risk: Elderly Undocumented Mexican Workers
• The Future of Immigration
• Solve the Real Border Problems
• When Minors Cross the Border Alone
• Political Turpitude: The Negative Impact of Zero-Tolerance Immigration Policies on Irregular Labor Markets
• The U.S. Visa System and the Migration of High-Skilled Mexican Workers into the United States: Uncertainties and Options
• A Vulnerable Population: U.S. Citizen Minors Living in Mexico
• The uncertain future of Texas’ Senate Bill 4
• Can DACA be saved?
• Skilled Mexican Migrants in Texas: What the Numbers Hide
• Policy Adrift: Mexico's Southern Border Program
• U.S. Visas for Foreign Professionals: Insights on H-1B and TN Visas
• Mexican Entrepreneurial Migration to the United States: Open Questions, Policy Challenges
• Transnational Commerce and Labor Flows
• Immigration and the United States: A Path to Resolution
• Mexico's Not-So-Comprehensive Southern Border Plan
• Unaccompanied Alien Children in the United States, Mexico and the Northern Triangle
• Politicians Should Not Discount Mexican Migration
• The Uncertain Future of the Texas DREAM Act
• New Immigration Patterns: High-Skilled Entrepreneurial Migration from Mexico to the United States
• Unaccompanied Children and the U.S. Immigration System: Learning to Compensate
• Co-Responsibility and Reform: Foreign and Domestic Perspectives on Immigration
• Transit Migration in Mexico: Domestic and International Policy Implications
• The Pervasive Myth of an Immigration Crisis
• “Illegal” Immigration on the U.S.-Mexico Border: Is It Really a Crisis?
• The Media Cycle, Political Theater and the Border Crisis Myth
• Central America’s Unaccompanied Minors: Shared Problem, Shared Solution
• Proposals on Migration Crisis Lack Sufficiency
• (More) Political Gridlock and the (Growing) Immigration Crisis

Podcast Episodes

• The Path to Permanent Residency for DREAMers
• Migration, Marriage, and Family
• Migrant Caravans and Mexico's Southern Border
• Immigration reform, a Business Case
• The U.S.-Mexico Border: Destinies Intertwined
• Unaccompanied Minors in Mexico and the United States
• Psychological Distress Among Undocumented Immigrants
• Presidential Candidates and Migration Policy Proposals 
• High-Skilled Migration from Mexico and Mexico's Response to US Proposed Policy Changes

Infographics

• What are the costs of border security and immigration enforcement?
• Who are the DACA recepients?
• Is a border barrier justified?

Events

• Webinar: The Way Forward: Immigration Reform for the 21st Century
• Webinar: The Economic Effect of Remittances
• Webinar: The Mediterranean and Central American Migration Crises Examined
• The DACA Program and the Future of U.S. Immigration
• The Future of Immigration: The 2020 Election and Beyond
• The Past and Future of Immigration
• Community Conversation on Immigration
• The U.S.-Mexico Border: Destinies Intertwined
• The Future of Immigration in Houston
• Film screening: The “Rational Middle” of Immigration
• Uncertain Partners: U.S.-Mexico Relations Under the Trump Administration
• Talent, Skill and Brain Circulation: How Migrants Contribute to Labor Integration
• Co-Responsibility and Reform: Foreign and Domestic Perspectives on Immigration
• Still Dreaming: My Hopes for the Immigration Reform Bill
• Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Legislative and Political Roadblocks with Tony Payan