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81. The New Neighbors: A User's Guide to Data on Immigrants in U.S. Communities

Author:
Randy Capps, Michael E. Fix, Dan Perez-Lopez, and Jeffrey S. Passel
Publication Date:
08-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
Immigrant integration is now a key issue for communities across the nation. States and communities that had seen few immigrants as recently as 1990 are now welcoming new arrivals in unprecedented numbers. Although new immigrants continue to settle in the traditional U.S. centers of immigration—including California, Florida, New York, and Texas—the states with the currently fastest growing immigrant populations have not seen similar inflows for almost a century, if ever. According to the 2000 Census, these new destination states include North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee (at the top of the list) and other states in the Southeast, as well as states across the Midwest and up into the Pacific Northwest.
Topic:
Demographics, Government, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States, New York, California, Georgia, Texas, and Florida

82. How Are Immigrants Faring After Welfare Reform?: Preliminary Evidence from Los Angeles and New York City - Final Report

Author:
Randy Capps, Michael Fix, Dan Perez-Lopez, Jeffrey Passel, Leighton Ku, Chris Furgiuele, Rajeev Ramchand, and Scott McNiven
Publication Date:
02-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
In 1996, debates about welfare reform and immigration converged and reshaped federal policies about the eligibility of legally admitted immigrants for means-tested public benefits programs, including the Food Stamp Program (FSP), Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Before the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) was enacted in 1996, legal immigrants were eligible for benefits on terms similar to those of native-born citizens. The new law significantly limited the eligibility of legally-admitted immigrants for means-tested federal benefit programs, particularly immigrants entering the United States after the welfare reform law was passed in August 1996.
Topic:
Government, Human Welfare, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States

83. The Economic Integration of Immigrants in the United States: Lessons for Policy

Author:
George J. Borjas
Publication Date:
12-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
The most important economic feature of immigration to the United States in the post-1965 period has been a significant deterioration in the economic performance of successive immigrant waves. The policy reaction to this trend would obviously differ if the entry wage disadvantage disappeared quickly, as the immigrants assimilated in the American economy and acquired skills and information valuable in the American labour market. This paper examines the determinants of economic assimilation, and discusses how the experience of earlier immigrant waves can provide valuable information about the assimilation process the new immigrants will likely experience.
Topic:
Economics and Migration
Political Geography:
United States and America

84. Irregular Migration and Asylum Seekers in the Caribbean

Author:
Elizabeth Thomas-Hope
Publication Date:
06-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Irregular migration is increasing in the Caribbean while the opportunities for applying for asylum hardly exist. The policy regarding most Caribbean irregular migrants is based on the view of the potential destinations, namely that the migrants are economic rather than political refugees. Whatever the specific cause of a migrant's departure, the movement is rooted in a complex amalgam of political, socioeconomic and (increasingly) environmental, factors. Thus irregular movements are part of the wider Caribbean migration process. The irregular movements differ from other forms of migration in that they represent the informal sector of migration, providing an alternative to those sectors of national populations that for political or economic reasons fall outside the immigration categories for entry to the United States. Locations in the Caribbean largely provide the intended transit stops to the United States, but with the implementation of policies to interdict migrants at sea, many of these intermediary locations become final destinations and, ultimately, marginalized communities of the migrants themselves and successive generations. These centres are the nodal points of an established transnational network that sustains the ongoing process of irregular migration. The economic and emotional cost and risks faced by the migrants are high, and the economic and political cost and challenges faced by host governments are also high. Irregular migration and the issue of asylum poignantly reflect various aspects of poverty and the vast economic disparities that exist within the region. Further, irregular migration and the question of asylum greatly affect diplomatic relations between Caribbean countries of migration source and destination. Better and more thoughtful policies are needed to address the continuing issues relating to irregular migration.
Topic:
Development and Migration
Political Geography:
United States, Central America, and Caribbean

85. Economic Integration and Migration: The Mexico-US Case

Author:
Philip Martin
Publication Date:
04-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
This paper explains the evolution and effects of Mexico-US migration, and highlights the NAFTA approach to economic integration, viz., free up trade and investment while stepping up efforts to prevent unauthorized migration. The European Union approach is different: provide aid first, and later free up trade and migration in the expectation that moves toward convergence will ensure minimal migration because trade has become a substitute for migration. The paper concludes that NAFTA will reduce unwanted Mexico-US migration in the medium to long term, and that different initial conditions in Europe mean that there will be relatively little east-west migration when nationals of new entrant EU members achieve freedom of movement.
Topic:
Economics and Migration
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, and Mexico

86. Trends in Asylum Migration to Industrialized Countries: 1990-2001

Author:
Stephen Castles and Sean Loughna
Publication Date:
04-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to outline trends and patterns in movements of asylumseekers to Western so-called industrialized countries from 1990-2001. The paper begins by characterizing three distinct phases of asylum migration since the end of the Second World War. It then provides background material on global refugee and asylum movements, using statistics from UNHCR. The data for selected receiving countries and regions is discussed, followed by some remarks on changing routes used by asylumseekers. The selected countries and regions are Australia, Canada, the EU and the USA. Finally, we examine some of the causal factors behind asylum migration and attempt to identify their significance upon flows migration.
Topic:
Development, Diplomacy, Human Welfare, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States, Canada, and Australia

87. Immigration in the United States

Author:
Philip L. Martin
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute of European Studies (IES), UC Berkeley
Abstract:
This chapter summarizes migration patterns, puts the immigration and integration challenges facing the US in a global context, reviews the evolution of US immigration and immigration policy, and then focuses on some of the immigration and integration issues being debated early in the 21st century. Immigration is likely to continue at current levels of 900,000 legal and 300,000 unauthorized a year, so that Americans will, in the words of former Census director Kenneth Prewitt, "redefine ourselves as the first country in world history which is literally made up of every part of the world."
Topic:
Government, Human Welfare, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States

88. The Finnish Border Security Concept

Author:
Arto Niemenkari
Publication Date:
03-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
The Finnish Frontier Guard was established in 1919 and has always been subordinated to the Ministry of the Interior, with the exception of the period between 1939 and 1944. Throughout the war, the Frontier Guard troops participated in the defence of our country with excellent success. The Frontier Guard developed into its current form after the Second World War when the Coast Guard was integrated Frontier Guard and border control was extended to Finland's western and northern borders. In the past few years, the activities and the structure of the Frontier Guard have been examined to respond to the changes in the immediate surroundings. This development work still continues.
Topic:
Security, Migration, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

89. From Promise to Practice: Strengthening UN Capacities for the Prevention of Violent Conflict

Author:
Chandra Lekha Sriram
Publication Date:
01-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute (IPI)
Abstract:
In the fall of 2000, the International Peace Academy commissioned a series of nine case studies examining the practice of preventive action. This study builds on earlier work by IPA identifying important issues for further examination in preventive practice. The cases examined were representative of the broad and increasing scope of preventive action geographically and in terms of approaches deployed—from structural prevention to post conflict peacebuilding as prevention. These cases were Kenya, Fiji, Tanzania (Zanzibar), Tajikistan, Burundi, Georgia (Javakheti), East Timor, Liberia, and Colombia. The cases are being edited and compiled for publication in a subsequent book; this report seeks to draw out central policy lessons for preventive action by the United Nations (UN). Important lessons can be drawn out with implications for each specific situation; more cross-cutting lessons for the UN and other preventive actors can also be derived from the collected cases.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Human Rights, International Law, International Organization, Migration, and United Nations
Political Geography:
United States

90. In Defense of Environment and Security Research

Author:
Richard A. Matthew
Publication Date:
08-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
Since the end of the Cold War, many policymakers and researchers have been rethinking and pushing the boundaries of the definition of security. Perhaps the most extensive and controversial part of this project has been the numerous and varied attempts to identify links among environmental change, conflict, and security. But concern has recently been raised about whether a decade of environmental security research, debate, and policy experimentation has produced worthwhile results. This article argues that such concern is premature. Environmental security has (a) reinvigorated important elements of security research and policy; (b) made pioneering contributions to understanding the shifting sources of global violence and the changing requirements of security; (c) contributed to a broader debate about the social and political effects of transnational change; and (d) been a conceptual and political boon for the environmental movement. Now is the time to build on these gains instead of abandoning them.
Topic:
Security, Environment, Migration, and Poverty
Political Geography:
United States