Research Library

Immigration policy will look very different in a Trump or Joe Biden presidency. This brief summarizes changes that have occurred under the Trump administration so far and examines the repercussions of the November election on four aspects of immigration policy.

Public finance fellow Joyce Beebe discusses the tax policy considerations of an increasingly mobile workforce, including state tax and regulatory issues, reimbursement for home office expenses and workplace benefits.

Gabriel Collins, the Baker Botts Fellow in Energy & Environmental Regulatory Affairs, analyzes the impact of China’s emerging demographic decline, debt burden and increasingly likely structural economic growth downshift on global oil and gas markets.

Public health and economic measures enacted to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and mitigate the financial impact on families have unintended consequences for low-income women and their children. The authors explain why.

This brief examines developments involving the migration of asylum seekers and refugees from Turkey to Europe, and places recent migration policies, including the EU’s border externalization measures, in the context of the rapid spread of Covid-19.

Mexico’s government should prioritize early childhood education, but its decision to reduce the budget and replace a childhood centers program for the disadvantaged indicates it does not, writes graduate fellow Daniel Prudencio.

In late November, Hong Kong's high court ruled that a government ban on face masks was unconstitutional. This brief analyzes Beijing's subsequent response that, if enforced, may signal the extension of unchecked central dictatorship over Hong Kong’s political apparatus.

As U.S. obesity rates continue to climb, policymakers debate whether federal food assistance funds should be used to buy candy and soda. The author examines both sides of the issue.

When illegal workers use false documents to get a job in the U.S., their employers may complete the paperwork by deducting Social Security, federal, state and Medicare taxes from each paycheck. As of 2010, illegal workers have contributed $12 billion to the Social Security system alone. Such workers face poverty in old age, as they are barred from collecting retirement benefits because of their immigration status, and they have not accrued a pension in their home country.

By Kirstin R.W. Matthews and Melody T. Tan Vaccines and vaccine exemptions are increasingly contentious issues in Texas. In this issue brief, the authors dispel five common misconceptions about vaccines that were presented during public hearings at the Texas House of Representatives in 2017.