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Special Reports

Our most in-depth publication, Special Reports provide detailed analyses of special topics in U.S. immigration policy.

Undocumented Immigration by Congressional Districts

In this IPC Policy Brief, author Rob Paral uses new census data to update his earlier IPC report (Playing Politics on Immigration: Congress Favors Image over Substance in Passing H.R. 4437) on the number of undocumented immigrants in U.S. congressional districts.

Published On: Sun, Oct 01, 2006 | Download File

Competing for Global Talent: The Race Begins with Foreign Students

To retain its competitive edge in global knowledge production and its leadership in research and education, the United States must remain open to talented people from around the world. However, the status of the United States as the preferred destination for foreign students and scholars faces serious challenges. As global competition intensifies for professionals and high-tech workers, doctors and nurses, and university students and researchers, will the United States remain in the forefront in attracting the best and the brightest?

Published On: Fri, Sep 01, 2006 | Download File

The Growth and Reach of Immigration: New Census Bureau Data Underscore Importance of Immigrants

New data from the 2005 American Community Survey (ACS), released by the Census Bureau on August 15, 2006, underscore the extent to which immigration continues to fuel the expansion of the U.S. labor force.

Published On: Tue, Aug 01, 2006 | Download File

Building a Competitive Workforce: Immigration and the U.S. Manufacturing Sector

Shortages of skilled labor constitute the foremost challenge confronting U.S. manufacturers who face growing competition from manufacturers in Asia, Eastern Europe, and elsewhere. Demand for professionals with university degrees is rising as manufacturing becomes increasingly high tech. But the U.S. educational system is not producing enough highly educated native-born manufacturing workers to meet this growing demand.

Published On: Mon, Jul 31, 2006 | Download File

Immigrant Women in the United States: A Demographic Portrait

The migration of women to the United States is characterized by two contradictory trends. On the one hand, over the past 20 years women have comprised a growing share of new legal immigrants admitted into the country, a trend which mirrors the feminization of migration in Europe, Africa, and Latin America. On the other hand, women have constituted a declining share of the U.S. foreign-born population as a whole since 1970. Read more...

Published On: Mon, Jun 12, 2006 | Download File

Unequal Access: Immigrants and U.S. Health Care

Despite the important role that immigrants play in the U.S. economy, they disproportionately lack health insurance and receive fewer health services than native-born Americans. Some policymakers have called for limits on immigrants' access to health insurance, particularly Medicaid, which are even more stringent than those already in place. However, policies that restrict immigrants' access to some health care services lead to the inefficient and costly use of other services (such as emergency room care) and negatively impact public health.

Published On: Mon, Jun 05, 2006 | Download File

Learning from IRCA: Lessons for Comprehensive Immigration Reform

If the current political stalemate over immigration reform is any indication, many U.S. policymakers have yet to heed the lessons of recent history when it comes to formulating a realistic strategy to control undocumented immigration. In 1986, lawmakers passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) in an attempt to reign in undocumented immigration through heightened worksite and border enforcement, combined with legalization of most undocumented immigrants already in the country. Read more...

Published On: Wed, May 03, 2006 | Download File

Border Insecurity: U.S. Border-Enforcement Policies and National Security

The U.S. government's efforts to stem undocumented immigration by fortifying the U.S.-Mexico border have increased the profitability of the people-smuggling business and fostered greater sophistication in the smuggling networks through which a foreign terrorist might enter the country. U.S. national security would be better served if undocumented labor migration were taken out of the border-security equation by reforming the U.S. immigration system to accommodate U.S. labor demand.

Published On: Mon, Apr 10, 2006 | Download File

Immigration Scare-Tactics: Exaggerated Estimates of New Immigration Under S.2611

The debate over S. 2611, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, has been clouded by grossly exaggerated estimates of the likely scale of future immigration under the bill.

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Published On: Sat, Apr 01, 2006 | Download File

Immigrants, Skills, and Wages: Measuring the Economic Gains from Immigration

Foreign-born workers do not substitute perfectly for, and therefore do not compete with, most native-born workers. Rather, the complementary nature of the skills, occupations, and abilities of foreign-born workers increases the productivity of natives, stimulates investment, and enhances the choices available to consumers.

Published On: Mon, Mar 13, 2006 | Download File