Research Library

Do remittances — the money sent home by migrants working abroad — drive economic growth? Research scholar Jose Ivan Rodriguez-Sanchez explores their impact Mexico's economy and argues that Mexico needs a more robust economic strategy for sustained growth.

This paper builds on social network analysis (SNA) and the use of node similarity-based algorithms to make link predictions about Mexico’s network of criminal organizations.

This report takes a deep dive into how expanding the scope of the nonimmigrant TN Visa — available only to Mexican and Canadian citizens — could help solve the U.S. labor shortage. In a political climate where full-scale immigration reform seems impossible, more temporary work visas can help bridge the labor gap.

Research scholar José Iván Rodríguez-Sánchez examines the economic impact of remittances — the money sent home by migrants working abroad — and finds varying results at the state and municipal levels in Mexico. He also warns against relying too heavily on remittances to drive economic growth.

This paper examines the economic impact of labor shortages in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic and estimates how many unfilled jobs may exist by 2030. Higher levels of legal immigration could help ease the shortage of workers and boost the economy, the author writes.

High-skilled immigrants from emerging markets are playing an increasingly important role in the global knowledge economy, writes nonresident scholar Elizabeth Salamanca Pacheco. In this paper, Salamanca Pacheco explains how high-skilled migrants from Mexico are well positioned to alleviate a STEM talent shortage in the U.S. and stimulate innovation in their native country.

This paper provides evidence demonstrating that the legalization of undocumented immigrants and their inclusion in the banking system, health care insurance system and housing market would produce a positive ripple effect throughout the U.S. economy.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has provided hundreds of thousands of young people in the U.S. with a reprieve from deportation, but program recipients have long lacked a pathway to permanent residency. This paper explores routes to immediate status and citizenship for those eligible for DACA, also known as "DREAMers."

José Iván Rodríguez-Sánchez conducts a cost-benefit analysis of undocumented immigrants in Texas, concluding that undocumented residents have a positive influence and impact on the economy, since they pay taxes and fees and constitute an important part of the labor market.

In this paper, the author describes the types of associations migrants from Mexico have formed in the U.S. (including their aims, member profiles, etc.), and analyzes their social and political roles.