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16191. Using Evidence to Improve Refugee Resettlement: A Monitoring and Evaluation Road Map

Author:
Aliyyah Ahad, Camille Le Coz, and Hanne Beirens
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
The refugee resettlement landscape has shifted considerably in recent years. A number of countries in Europe and elsewhere have launched or expanded their resettlement programs, and some have experimented with new models such as community-based or private sponsorship. At the same time, the United States—long the world’s largest resettlement country—has significantly cut its refugee admissions, leaving other countries to take the lead in global efforts to address displacement. For new and longstanding resettlement programs alike, it is vital that policymakers and program designers have the tools to gauge whether resettlement is meeting its objectives, to facilitate continuous learning, and to ensure that funding is being well spent. Robust monitoring and evaluation (M&E) holds the key. Yet many resettlement programs do not have a strong M&E culture. This report examines the added value that M&E can bring to refugee resettlement programs and identifies common obstacles that have kept countries from creating or expanding their M&E operations to date. It then lays out a road map for kickstarting this process—from finding the right “champion” to drive change, to identifying which of a program’s strategic and operational goals to monitor and evaluate, to identifying existing sources of information and designing new data collection tools. These insights are drawn in part from a pilot M&E project conducted by MPI Europe in partnership with resettlement authorities in Ireland, Italy, and the Netherlands under the framework of the European Union Action on Facilitating Resettlement and Refugee Admission through New Knowledge (EU-FRANK) project. This report was written as part of the EU-FRANK project, which is financed by the European Asylum, Migration, and Integration Fund (AMIF) and led by Sweden. Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland are partner countries. More MPI Europe research for the EU-FRANK project can be found on this series page.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Governance, Law, Refugees, Immigrants, Resettlement, Asylum, and Integration
Political Geography:
Europe

16192. A Rockier Road to U.S. Citizenship? Findings of a Survey on Changing Naturalization Procedures

Author:
Randy Capps and Carlos Echeverría-Estrada
Publication Date:
07-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Becoming a citizen benefits immigrants and U.S. communities in a variety of ways, including by promoting integration and enabling immigrants to vote and run for public office, sponsor close relatives for immigration, and travel visa free to many countries. Citizens also earn more than noncitizens with similar characteristics, and these higher earnings lead to greater economic activity and higher tax payments. For the approximately 9 million immigrants eligible to naturalize, however, the hurdles to becoming a U.S. citizen appear to be growing. This report presents the Migration Policy Institute’s analysis of a 2019 national survey conducted by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center of 110 naturalization assistance providers. The study aims to understand how U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) naturalization procedures have changed during the Trump administration. USCIS continues to approve the vast majority of citizenship applications, with an approval rate that has hovered around the 90-percent mark since fiscal year 2010, but the time it takes to process an application has grown considerably. This appears to be due at least in part to changing adjudication policies and practices, including those described by the surveyed organizations: About one-quarter of survey respondents reported their clients missed interviews when USCIS sent notices to incorrect addresses, sent them too late, or sent them to the attorney but not the applicant. Interviews had doubled in length, from 20–30 minutes to 45–60 minutes, according to one-quarter of respondents. More than one-third reported USCIS more often issued requests for evidence to support applications, especially for documents related to tax compliance and income, continuous residency and physical presence, marriage and child support, and criminal history. USCIS officers asked detailed questions not directly related to citizenship eligibility, and administered the English and civics tests differently, often more strictly, according to 10 percent of respondents. These changes were underway before a trio of new 2020 developments that threaten to further increase the application backlog and make it more difficult for eligible immigrants to access citizenship: a COVID-19-related suspension of USCIS operations for three months, the likely furlough of two-thirds of the agency’s staff due to a major budget shortfall, and a planned increase in the cost of filing a citizenship application alongside new restrictions on eligibility for fee waivers for low-income applicants.
Topic:
Immigration, Law, Citizenship, Naturalization, and Integration
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

16193. Dismantling and Reconstructing the U.S. Immigration System: A Catalog of Changes under the Trump Presidency

Author:
Sarah Pierce and Jessica Bolter
Publication Date:
07-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Through bold, sweeping changes as well as less-noted technical adjustments, the Trump administration has dramatically reshaped the U.S. immigration system since entering office in January 2017. Now well into its fourth year, the administration has undertaken more than 400 executive actions on immigration, spanning everything from border and interior enforcement, to refugee resettlement and the asylum system, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the immigration courts, and vetting and visa processes. This reports offers a comprehensive catalog, by topic, of those actions, including their dates and the underlying source materials. The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 gave the administration new openings to push forward many of its remaining immigration policy aims. This period has seen bans on travel and a pause on visa issuance for certain groups of foreign nationals and a further closing off of the U.S.-Mexico border that has effectively ended asylum there. Much of the White House's immigration agenda has been realized in the form of interlocking measures, with regulatory, policy, and programmatic changes driving towards shared policy goals. Though these largely administrative actions could, in theory, be undone by a future administration, this layered approach, coupled with the rapid-fire pace of change, makes it likely that the Trump presidency will have long-lasting effects on the U.S. immigration system.
Topic:
Immigration, Refugees, Citizenship, Borders, Donald Trump, and Asylum
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

16194. Immigration Enforcement and the Mental Health of Latino High School Students

Author:
Randy Capps, Jodi Berger Cardoso, Kalina Brabeck, Michael Fix, and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto
Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
As public discourse around immigration has become more highly charged and immigration policies have seen sweeping changes in the United States, immigration enforcement has generated fear in immigrant communities across the country—fears that extend beyond the unauthorized immigrant population to immigrant families with U.S.-born children and legal immigrants. This report explores how fear of immigration enforcement is related to the mental health and school engagement of young Latinos, the fastest-growing group of high school students nationwide. It also considers the role of other stressors, including discrimination and economic hardship, and factors that may support students’ resilience, such as spirituality and strong family relationships. This analysis draws its findings from a study that was conducted by researchers from the Migration Policy Institute, University of Houston, and Rhode Island College during the 2018–19 school year and that had two components: self-assessments completed by hundreds of Latino students in 11 high schools, and semistructured interviews with dozens of education professionals and community experts. The two study sites—Harris County, TX and Rhode Island—offer contrasting immigration-enforcement contexts. Among the study’s findings are: A majority of the students in both Harris County and Rhode Island (67 percent versus 52 percent) feared that someone close to them would be arrested and deported. While fears were more common among youth in Harris County, which has a higher level of immigration enforcement, these findings suggest deportation fears are not limited to places where enforcement is widespread. More than half of the students reported symptoms of mental-health conditions such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or depression at levels high enough to warrant treatment. Students who feared immigration enforcement most acutely—and who changed their behaviors as a result—had the worst mental-health outcomes. Almost one-third of students in the study had changed their behavior as a result of enforcement fears. In interviews, educators also described school and community strategies for supporting Latino students’ mental health, including approaches to establishing a welcoming environment, reforming disciplinary practices, and connecting students with in-house and external mental-health resources.
Topic:
Education, Immigration, Law Enforcement, Mental Health, Deportation, and Latino Issues
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

16195. Driving Migrant Inclusion through Social Innovation: Lessons for Cities in a Pandemic

Author:
Liam Patuzzi
Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
The rapid arrival of millions of asylum seekers and migrants in Europe in 2015–16 forced cities both large and small to rethink their approach to immigrant inclusion. Many localities, recognizing the newcomers’ diverse backgrounds and at times complex needs, began to experiment with innovative models of service provision, including by working with nongovernmental actors and involving community members more directly in the design and implementation of projects. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced European cities to confront a whole new set of challenges. Among them, how to support residents—including refugees and other migrants—amid social-distancing orders, all while public services operate at reduced capacity and in the face of likely budget cuts. This MPI Europe-International Organization for Migration (IOM) report explores key lessons cities can draw from the social innovation that accompanied the 2015–16 arrivals to help them weather the challenges brought by the pandemic. The study’s findings come in part from interviews conducted with representatives of municipalities and civil-society organizations in Austria, Greece, Italy, Malta, Poland, Romania, and Spain.
Topic:
Migration, Employment, Immigrants, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Europe

16196. Navigating the Future of Work: The Role of Immigrant-Origin Workers in the Changing U.S. Economy

Author:
Julia Gelatt, Jeanne Batalova, and Randy Capps
Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Immigrant-origin workers—that is, immigrants and their U.S.-born children—have been the main drivers of U.S. workforce growth in recent years. They were responsible for 83 percent of labor force growth between 2010 and 2018, at which point they made up 28 percent of all U.S. workers. Looking ahead, all growth in the working-age population is projected to come from immigrant-origin adults through 2035. Yet research on the future of work in the United States has largely overlooked this important segment of the workforce. This report examines the jobs held by immigrant-origin workers and third/higher-generation workers (those born in the United States to U.S.-born parents), and which of these jobs are likely to grow versus decline due to automation, offshoring, and other trends. It also considers the implications of the changing mix of jobs in the U.S. economy for both workforce development and immigration policy. Among the findings of this data analysis: Similar shares of Immigrant-origin and third/higher-generation workers held “jobs of the future” (22 percent versus 24 percent) and declining jobs (26 percent versus 29 percent) in 2018. Latinos—both those of immigrant origins and the third/higher generation—were less likely than workers in other major racial or ethnic groups to hold jobs of the future and more likely to hold declining jobs. Black immigrant-origin workers were overrepresented in jobs of the future in 2018, particularly in health care and health-care support, while third/higher-generation Black workers were more likely to hold declining jobs, such as office and administrative support occupations. This report is part of MPI’s multiyear Rethinking U.S. Immigration Policy initiative, which aims to generate a big-picture, evidence-driven vision for the role immigration can and should play in America’s future. To learn more about the initiative and read related research, check out the initiative’s home page.
Topic:
Education, Employment, Economy, Immigrants, Labor Market, and Workforce
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

16197. Managing the Pandemic and Its Aftermath: Economies, Jobs, and International Migration in the Age of COVID-19

Author:
Demetrios G. Papademetriou
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic’s immediate costs, measured in lives lost and damaged, have been appalling and continue to rise. In addition, its effects on individuals’ livelihoods and economies around the world have been deep and are likely to be long lasting. While saving lives was the near-exclusive focus during the first phase of the crisis, governments are now trying to strike a delicate balance between preventing further economic damage by reopening parts of their economies, while managing the obvious health risks of doing so. In the international mobility and migration arenas—policy areas enormously affected by the health and economic effects of the pandemic—this reflection considers both how these fields have fared thus far and the challenges that lay ahead. It first examines how measures put in place to stop the spread of the virus have affected family, labor, and humanitarian migration. It then highlights the thorny questions, as well as some opportunities, policymakers will face going forward. Among the critical questions: How will countries protect those most vulnerable to the disease and to economic precariousness? Will this become a moment in which governments seek to recalibrate the global trading system, aiming to increase economic self-reliance without falling into protectionism? And will the pandemic prompt countries to rethink aspects of their immigration systems, including how they screen arrivals, the number and types of foreign workers admitted, and the strategies for helping newcomers integrate into a new society?
Topic:
Migration, Border Control, Refugees, Economy, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Europe and United States of America

16198. Building Welcome from the Ground up: European Small and Rural Communities Engaging in Refugee Resettlement

Author:
Liam Patuzzi, Monica Andriescu, and Antonio Pietropolli
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Immigration to EU countries is largely an urban phenomenon, but small and rural communities have in recent years been more active in welcoming newcomers—including resettled refugees. This has sparked considerable interest in the idea of “rural welcoming,” but gaps remain in understanding how to make the most of resettlement to such localities, to the benefit of both refugees and receiving communities. While Europe’s small and rural areas vary considerably in their economic and social characteristics, shaping the context in which resettlement occurs, this study identifies some important commonalities. It draws its findings from interviews with resettled refugees, local officials, public service providers, and representatives of civil society in receiving communities that were selected for their small size, rural nature, and because they are situated within countries with varying levels of resettlement experience (Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden). This research sheds light on both opportunities and challenges for small receiving communities and the refugees who are resettled there. For refugees, these can include receiving more individualized support, though specialized services may not always be available, and the potential to form strong relationships with neighbors in what are often tight-knit communities, though these same community networks can sometimes be challenging to become part of. For receiving communities, resettlement may be able to support local businesses and social revitalization, but as the number of refugees they receive is often modest, they may need to fold resettlement into a broader approach to local development to have the desired impact. A number of policy approaches can help countries and communities seize these opportunities and overcome the challenges. These include adjusting the predeparture orientation refugees receive before resettlement to include discussion of what life is like in the destination country's small towns and rural areas as well as its cities; supporting receiving communities as they prepare for refugees’ arrival and refugees as they work toward long-term integration; and weaving resettlement into local development strategies. This report was written as part of the European Union Action on Facilitating Resettlement and Refugee Admission through New Knowledge (EU-FRANK) project, which is financed by the European Asylum, Migration, and Integration Fund (AMIF) and led by Sweden. Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland are partner countries. More MPI Europe research for the EU-FRANK project can be found on this series page.
Topic:
Immigration, Employment, Refugees, Resettlement, and Rural
Political Geography:
Europe

16199. Building a New Regional Migration System: Redefining U.S. Cooperation with Mexico and Central America

Author:
Andrew Selee and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Migration between the United States and neighboring countries to the south is an enduring if ever-shifting phenomenon. While the COVID-19 pandemic and measures put in place to stop the spread of the virus have severely limited mobility, longer-standing questions about how best to manage regional migration remain as important as ever. These include how to address the mixed movement of unauthorized economic migrants and those fleeing persecution, with many families and unaccompanied children among them, and how to facilitate the legal movement of workers to meet labor demand and make the most of the region’s human capital. The Trump administration has largely focused on enhancing border controls and sharply narrowing access to asylum at the border, with the aim of deterring migration and turning back those who arrive without authorization to enter. Yet this heavily enforcement-focused strategy is unlikely to be sustainable in the long run. This report puts forward another approach, one that reflect the many faces of migration through the region and that is rooted in closer cooperation with Mexico and Central American countries. Its key element are: expanding opportunities for legal movement by extending seasonal work visas to nationals of countries in Central America that have the greatest migration pressures; re-establishing asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, but streamlining processes to ensure fair and timely decisions; professionalizing border enforcement in Mexico and the United States to make it both more effective and more humane; and investing in economic and institutional development in Central America to address the forces driving people to leave their homes. While a transition from one approach to another cannot happen overnight—and indeed careful sequencing of policy changes will be essential to avoid triggering a surge in migration throughout the region—it is essential if the United States and its partners are to move the needle towards safer, more orderly, and legal migration.
Topic:
Development, Migration, Regional Cooperation, Border Control, Refugees, and Economy
Political Geography:
Central America, North America, Mexico, and United States of America

16200. The Next Generation of Refugee Resettlement in Europe: Ambitions for the Future and How to Realize Them

Author:
Susan Fratzke and Lena Kainz
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Europe’s role within the global refugee resettlement landscape has changed significantly in recent years. Some EU Member States, such as Germany and Sweden, have expanded their resettlement programs, while others, including Romania and Lithuania, have launched new ones. This growth, coupled with the United States’ dramatic cuts to its refugee admissions, has meant that more than 40 percent of all refugees resettled through the UN High Commissioner for Refugees since 2017 have found a new home in Europe—up from 8 percent in 2007. This report looks at how investments in shared infrastructure at the EU level and growing resettlement experience among Member States offer a strong foundation upon which European resettlement efforts can build. It also explores what ambitious European resettlement policy could accomplish and what steps EU and national leaders would need to take to realize this vision. Among the many questions this report examines are: How can engagement in resettlement be motivated and sustained at the national level? And what elements are needed to build world-class resettlement systems in Europe—from improvements in selection and departure operations, to commitments to robust monitoring and evaluation, to investments in partnerships with first-asylum countries and between central governments and receiving communities in destination countries. This is the final report by the Migration Policy Institute Europe in a multiyear series of studies produced as part of the European Union Action on Facilitating Resettlement and Refugee Admission through New Knowledge (EU-FRANK) project. The EU-FRANK project is financed by the European Asylum, Migration, and Integration Fund (AMIF) and led by Sweden. Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland are partner countries.
Topic:
International Cooperation, European Union, Refugees, and Resettlement
Political Geography:
Europe