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.

In 2022, the nation faced fundamental questions about how we govern our economy and society — particularly how we formulate public policy. Here, we share 10 highlights of our work that illustrate our impact from the previous year.

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.

How much can demographic changes account for trends in the U.S. economy? This paper shows that a heterogeneous-agent, overlapping-generations model with historical demographic flows can generate several features of the U.S. economy over the past several decades, including a secular decline in economic growth, a rise in savings relative to GDP, a corresponding decline in real interest rates, and, in part, changes in wealth inequality.

Expanding current non-immigrant work permit categories through minimal adjustments is a way to move forward on immigration reform — one that recognizes the undocumented community for its valuable contributions, writes expert Catherine Glazer in a new policy brief for the Center for the United States and Mexico.

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.

As climate change becomes an increasingly prominent driver of migration, this report investigates possible pathways to ensure that “climate refugees” receive adequate legal protection.

From urban revitalization in Houston’s Third Ward to displacement due to climate change in East Africa, students are engaging with a broad range of policy topics at the Baker Institute this fall through internships and the Baker Institute Student Forum.