Research Library

America is facing a serious labor shortage. Expanding the TN visa — a pivotal pathway for Canadian and Mexican professionals originally created through NAFTA — can help the country close its growing workforce gaps, writes Tony Payan, director of the Center for the U.S. and Mexico.

With Mexico's 2024 elections quickly approaching, will democracy prevail, or will the nation backslide into a one-party system?

On September 13, 1993, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Negotiator Mahmoud Abbas met at the White House to sign a Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements — commonly referred to as the “Oslo Accord.” The Accord stated that Israel accepted the PLO as the representative of the Palestinians, and the PLO renounced terrorism and recognized Israel’s right to exist in peace.

Social distancing and stay-at-home measures provided scientists with a natural experiment to study social phenomena that hinge precisely on human mobility and contact — including criminal activity. A study by Center for the U.S. and Mexico experts and co-authors explores the relationship between COVID-19 and criminal activity in Mexico.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Earl Anthony Wayne and the Center for the U.S. and Mexico's Tony Payan explore the complex relationship between Mexico and the U.S. and what their future might hold.

Child labor laws are failing migrant children. As children from Latin America migrate to the United States in record numbers, many are ending up in dangerous jobs that violate child labor legislation. What steps are needed to ensure that vulnerable migrant children are protected from exploitation?

In this report, fellow Tony Payan examines three recent U.S. criminal cases involving high-ranking Mexican officials. These cases point to a new “policy” by Washington to use its long-arm jurisdiction to arrest, prosecute and punish Mexican officials who have committed crimes that harm U.S. interests, he writes.

In March 2023, four U.S. citizens were kidnapped at gunpoint in northern Mexico; two were found dead and two others were rescued following a manhunt. The incident quickly became an international crisis and renewed U.S. focus on violence south of the border. This conversation explores the binational relationship between the U.S. and Mexico and growing tensions regarding Mexico’s approach to clamping down on violence and crime. 

As the tensions at the U.S.-Mexico the border continue, President Biden visited El Paso, Texas on January 8, 2023 to discuss his plan for clamping down on illegal immigration. We discuss the state of U.S. border policy, President Biden’s latest plans, and how the U.S. can mitigate the immigration crisis.

Gun shows are public gatherings where licensed gun dealers and private gun owners use formal and informal venues to exchange information or sell and buy firearms, accessories, and ammunition. A major challenge is that gun shows, unlike established business locations, can be considered gray zones where regulatory loopholes facilitate the movement of legal firearms to illegal domains both domestically and internationally.