Issue Brief: Legal Immigration Policies For Low-Skilled Foreign Workers

Migration Policy Institute, April 2013

The current US legal immigration system includes few visas for low-skilled workers, and employers have relied heavily on an unauthorized workforce in many low-skilled occupations. The issue of “future flow” of legal workers at the low-skilled level — its size, wage and labor protections, and conditions for temporary or permanent residency has been a major point of debate as bipartisan Senate and House groups craft separate immigration reform proposals. In particular, it has been the focus of lengthy talks between labor unions and the US Chamber of Commerce, resulting initially in a shared statement of principles and later an accord for a new visa category (named the W visa). This issue brief explains the questions that policymakers must grapple with when designing programs for admission of low-skill workers, for temporary as well as permanent entry. It focuses on visas for nonagricultural work; agricultural employment is the subject of a separate issue brief.

Read the issue brief here…

Report Launch: Immigration and U.S. Competitiveness: A View from the Midwest

Next Thursday, February 28, 2013

The economic future of the Midwest rests in part on US immigration policy. The twin realities of a struggling industrial base and population decline demand a rethinking of how the country and region attracts and retains human capital. Join cochairs and members of The Chicago Council’s independent task force on US Economic Competitiveness at Risk: A Midwest Call to Action on Immigration Reform, as they release their report, 12 months in the making. This report release event will introduce attendees to immigration initiatives being undertaken throughout the Midwest to promote the region’s economic competitiveness.

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NEW RESOURCE: In the Lurch between Government and Chaos: Unconsolidated Democracy in Mexico

The Wilson Center’s Latin American Program and Mexico Institute in coordination with the Migration Policy Institute are pleased to announce the release of a new report as part of the work of the Regional Migration Study Group:

In the Lurch between Government and Chaos: Unconsolidated Democracy in Mexico, authored by Luis Rubio.

Democratic transitions in Mexico and parts of Central America over the past two decades have tested the limits of the countries’ governing institutions.  During Mexico’s continuing transition away from one-party rule — which began even before the 2000 elections — the country has failed to overhaul the governing structures of the old regime, leaving behind weak institutions ill-equipped to handle modern challenges. Weak institutions offer a natural breeding ground for organized crime and corruption, which have become more entrenched. Organized crime has taken over key activities, noninstitutional actors such as drug cartels have become major players in society, migrants have moved in unprecedented numbers, and corruption at various levels of government and law enforcement has flourished.

Op-ed: Moving beyond illegal immigration enforcement policies

Doris Meissner, Op-ed, Washington Post, 1/7/2013

Illegal immigration and enforcement have been the dominant concerns driving immigration policy for more than 25 years. Deep public skepticism over the federal government’s will and ability to enforce the nation’s immigration laws has come with them. As a result, “enforcement first,” a proposition that argued for effective enforcement as a precondition to broader reforms, became widely embraced. In a report released Monday, the Migration Policy Institute documents how dramatically facts have changed from those long-held perceptions. Particularly since Sept. 11, 2001, but dating to the 1986Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) — which attempted to end illegal immigration through employer sanctions, increased border enforcement and legalization — the nation has made unprecedented, steep investments in the capacity of federal agencies to aggressively enforce immigration laws.

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To read the Migration Policy Insitute report:

The report can be downloaded at www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/enforcementpillars.pdf.

A briefer version is available at www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/pillars-reportinbrief.pdf.

Regional Migration Study Group Releases New Report

Migrants who choose to proceed even in the face of these risks increasingly are forced to seek the
assistance of intermediaries known as polleros, or “coyotes.” Those who are unable to afford a coyote are more likely to be abused or kidnapped, and held for ransom along the way. While there is little consensus on the numbers, Mexico’s National Commission on Human Rights estimates that about 20,000 migrants are kidnapped each year by criminal organizations. In Transnational
Crime in Mexico and Central America: Its Evolution and Role in International
Migration, Steven Dudley, the co-director of InSight Crime, traces the rise of Mexican criminal organizations and Central American gangs over recent decades and examines how these criminal groups impact migrants moving northward. The report reviews the origins and growth of the main illicit networks operating in Mexico and Central America, then outlines the little that is known about how criminal groups profit from, and in some cases facilitate, the flow of migrants northward.  This report is the latest research from the Regional Migration Study Group, a partnership between MPI and the Latin American Program/Mexico Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

To read the full report click here

Challenges Ahead on Implementing Executive Action to Prevent Deportation of Unauthorized Youth

Migration Policy Institute,Policy Beat, 6/20/12

President Obama’s decision to protect from deportation and provide work authorization to certain unauthorized immigrants brought to the United States as minors — which represents the boldest immigration policy move of his administration — has generated considerable attention for its political implications. But while much of the focus has been on politics and legislative wrangling, less attention has been paid to the capacity and implementation challenges that ultimately will determine the scope and success of the administration initiative.

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U.S. Immigration Policy and Mexican/Central American Migration Flows: Then and Now

The Migration Policy Institute, 8/19/2011

In a new Migration Policy Institute report, “US Immigration Policy and Mexican/Central American Migration Flows: Then and Now”, Marc Rosenblum and MPI Associate Policy Analyst Kate Brick look at migration from the region through three major migration periods: the mostly laissez faire policies prior to the 1930s; the large-scale temporary worker program (the Bracero Program) during and after World War II that increased migration flows from Mexico enormously; and the mostly illegal system that emerged after the program’s end in 1964.

This work was prepared for the Regional Migration Study Group — a partnership project between MPI and the Latin American Program/Mexico Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Issues to be explored by the Study Group include safer, better functioning, and more effective borders, the development and coordinated promotion of more efficient education and workforce-development systems, new strategies to advance immigrant integration, and ideas about better and more orderly migration systems. The group’s website, www.migrationpolicy.org/regionalstudygroup, showcases the initiative’s intent, member bios, and selected background readings.

To view the report click here.

Labor Standards Enforcement Should Become a Pillar of Federal and State Immigration Policymaking Agendas, New MPI Report Recommends

Migration Policy Institute, 7/14/11

As the United States struggles with high rates of unemployment and involuntary part-time employment, enforcement of labor laws should become a higher priority, the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) concludes in a new report that recommends federal and state governments and other stakeholders make labor standards enforcement a pillar of their immigration policymaking agendas.

The presence of vulnerable workers, including unauthorized immigrants, influences labor standards compliance, as does the necessity of many businesses to cut costs. Low-wage workers, especially unauthorized immigrants, face significant challenges, ranging from nonpayment of wages to poor working conditions and unrealized collective bargaining rights. Yet budgetary limitations constrain the ability of enforcement agencies — at both federal and state levels — to carry out their mandates.

An MPI report released today, Labor Standards Enforcement and Low-Wage Immigrants: Creating an Effective Enforcement System, analyzes the elements necessary for an effective labor standards enforcement system and details the enforcement records of the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

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Editorial: 5 Myths about Immigration

Doris Meissner, Washington Post, 5/2/2010

Despite the fact that we are a nation of immigrants — or perhaps because of it — immigration continues to be one of America’s most contentious topics. The new law in Arizona authorizing police to arrest individuals who cannot show documents proving that they are in the country legally has set off a fresh bout of acrimony. But as in the past, much of the debate is founded on mythology.

1. Immigrants take jobs from American workers.
2. Immigration is at an all-time high, and most new immigrants came illegally.
3. Today’s immigrants are not integrating into American life like past waves did.
4. Cracking down on illegal border crossings will make us safer.
5. Immigration reform cannot happen in an election year.

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MPI Report Questions Whether ICE Is Capable of Meeting Its Immigration Detention Mandates

Migration Policy Institute, 9/10/09

The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) today issued a report exploring whether U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is capable of meeting its legal and case management responsibilities in light of its use of information systems that may not be collecting all the data necessary for compliance with legal, detention management and humanitarian standards.

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Click Here for the full version of the report