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101. Win-Win Cooperation: Welcoming Hong Kong Refugees Would Benefit the United States

Author:
Emily Young Carr and Zack Cooper
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Fletcher Security Review
Institution:
The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:
In his first address to employees of the U.S. State Department, President Joe Biden promised to “take on directly the challenges posed [to] our prosperity, security, and democratic values by our most serious competitor, China.” One of the best ways for the United States to show support for democratic values is to welcome victims of repression in Hong Kong to America. Such a step would not only signal America’s commitment to protecting freedom and democracy abroad, but would also strengthen the U.S. economy. Over the last few years, the Communist Party of China has systematically unwound the freedoms the people of Hong Kong once enjoyed. The United States and likeminded partners have responded by placing sanctions and other economic and financial restrictions on the Chinese officials who direct this repression. Yet, Beijing continues to undercut the “one country, two systems” model, which was supposed to guarantee that the rights and liberties of Hongkongers would be protected after the 1997 handover. Indeed, in the last days of the Trump administration, Chinese authorities arrested over 50 key figures in Hong Kong, including an American lawyer and numerous politicians and activists. Although these arrests were appalling, they did not come as a surprise. Since the passage of the national security law on June 30, 2020, the Chinese government has engaged in a series of increasingly harsh crackdowns on pro-democracy forces in Hong Kong. In August, media mogul Jimmy Lai, social activist Agnes Chow, and other prominent dissidents were swept up in a series of arrests. Months later, the central government dismissed four pro-democracy lawmakers from the city legislature, prompting the remaining 15 to resign in protest. This repressive campaign is aided by the vague language of the national security law, which gives mainland authorities great leeway to define the now criminal acts of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign powers.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Immigration, Authoritarianism, and Refugees
Political Geography:
Asia, Hong Kong, and United States of America

102. Factsheet: Islam, Immigration, and the American Courts

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
07-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The Naturalization Era (1790–1952) was a defining period for immigration and conceptualizations of citizenship in the United States. During this era, Muslim immigration and naturalization were limited by laws that barred or severely restricted immigration from Muslim-majority areas of the world and court rulings that reserved naturalization rights for white individuals. In the midst of the civil rights movement, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 opened the doors to increased immigration from Muslim-majority countries. In April 2021, the US House of Representatives passed a bill titled the NO BAN Act, which would limit the ability of any US president to impose a travel ban on the basis of religion.
Topic:
History, Immigration, Naturalization, Slavery, Courts, Civil Rights, Nationality, African Americans, and Muslims
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

103. Covid 19 and post Brexit migration policy

Author:
Alberto Costa, Jonathan Portes, Lauren McLaren, Marina Fernandez Reino, and Tim Bale
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
Our recent #IsolationInsight virtual event looked at what the UK’s post Brexit immigration regime could and should look like, considering also public opinion on immigration and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Speakers: Alberto Costa, Conservative MP for South Leicestershire Professor Jonathan Portes, senior fellow at the UK in a Changing Europe Professor Lauren McLaren, @University of Leicester Marina Fernandez Reino, Migration Observatory Chair: Professor Tim Bale, deputy director at the UK in a Changing Europe
Topic:
Economics, Migration, Politics, Immigration, Economy, Brexit, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

104. Europe in the Age of Uncertainties

Author:
Mikael Barfod
Publication Date:
05-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Donald Trump has regularly chipped away at multilateralism during his three years in power: climate change, trade wars, immigration, withdrawal from international conflicts, ambiguity about defence alliances, and even suspension of the US budget for the World Health Organization, to mention a few. EU policy, on the other hand, has always supported the UN and the multilateral approach. A traditionally open and liberal EU has a clear self-interest in preserving multilateralism. Could the EU (as I have previously argued[1]) still take the lead in forming effective international alliances to reactivate and possibly even reform multilateral structures? How can Europe take “its destiny into its own hands” as Angela Merkel suggested recently? Well said, but she is retiring in a year and a half. And meanwhile, what has the coronavirus done to Europe’s destiny? Let’s look at today’s main challenges and opportunities.
Topic:
Climate Change, Immigration, Multilateralism, Trade Wars, and Donald Trump
Political Geography:
Europe and United States of America

105. Four Years of Trump. The US and the World

Author:
Mario Del Pero, Paola Magri, Gary C. Jacobson, Michele Alacevich, Gabriella Sanchez, Scott L. Greer, Mario Del Pero, William F. Wechsler, and Erik Jones
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)
Abstract:
Unprecedented and unpredictable: this is how US President Donald Trump's administration has repeatedly been labelled. Beyond the frequent tweets and bombastic rhetoric, however, lie a more conventional four years, as the United States navigated an ever-evolving international reality, compounded by a global pandemic and one of the deepest economic recessions in over a century. This Report analyses the continuity and changes that occurred during Trump’s presidency. Domestically, it investigates the growing political polarization, the country's pre-pandemic economic performance, Trump's approach towards regular and irregular migration, and the US’ response to a healthcare emergency. At the international level, this volume looks at how the US stance has changed vis-à-vis China, the Middle East, and Europe. Which long-term trends has President Trump had to ride through? What was his trademark, and what might be his lasting legacy?
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, Immigration, European Union, Inequality, Economic Growth, Engagement, Donald Trump, COVID-19, Polarization, and Disengagement
Political Geography:
China, Europe, Middle East, North America, and United States of America

106. Immigration and State Institutions: Does Region of Origin Matter?

Author:
Meg Tuszynski and Dean Stansel
Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Cato Journal
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Some immigration opponents claim that immigrants import bad institutions and policies from their country of origin into their new home country. We argue just the opposite—namely, that immigrants are more likely to self‐​select into countries with better institutions than those in their home countries. Researchers have examined this issue in both a cross‐​country and within‐​country context. Their findings have been mixed. Although others have found small or nonexistent impacts of immigrants on state institutions, those papers assume that all immigrants are the same. Our approach is unique in that it divides immigrant populations in a variety of ways. We build on the previous literature that examines the relationship between immigration and institutions at the state level, where there are smaller inherent differences in economic institutions (compared to differences across countries). We do so by incorporating the regional diversity of immigrant populations, examining whether immigrants’ countries of origin matter for economic outcomes in their new home country. Controlling for the diversity of immigrant populations in a way that previous researchers have not done improves our ability to assess immigration opponents’ claims that immigrants from economically worse‐​off countries hurt U.S. economic institutions. We find virtually no evidence of an economically and statistically significant relationship between the levels of immigration we have experienced in recent decades and a decline in economic institutions in the United States, regardless of the region or economic conditions of recent immigrants’ home countries. The limited statistically significant evidence we do find is mixed and small in magnitude. Thus, one of the key rationales used to call for immigration restrictions is not supported by our findings.
Topic:
Immigration, Institutions, and Macroeconomics
Political Geography:
North America, Global Focus, and United States of America

107. Illegal Immigration and Crime in Texas

Author:
Alex Nowrasteh, Andrew C. Forrester, and Michelangelo Landgrave
Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Donald J. Trump launched his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in June 2015 by comments on illegal immigrants and the crime they commit in the United States. “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you,” he said. “They’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists, and some, I assume, are good people.” A few weeks after Trump’s announcement, 32‐​year‐​old Kate Steinle was shot and killed by an illegal immigrant Jose Inez Garcıa Zarate in San Francisco, California. Although Zarate was later acquitted of all murder and manslaughter charges due to mistakes made by the prosecutor, his shooting of Steinle seemed to support Trump’s worry about illegal immigrants causing a crime spree and helped win him the election in 2016.
Topic:
Crime, Immigration, and Border Control
Political Geography:
North America, Texas, and United States of America

108. Immigrants Do Not Negatively Affect the Economic Institutions of American States

Author:
Alex Nowrasteh and Andrew C. Forrester
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Freer immigration could potentially lead to trillions of dollars in additional annual global output. However, the movement of many more immigrants could produce negative externalities that swamp the benefits, particularly if immigrants undermine productivity in their new countries by bringing with them the institutions or cultures that are responsible for low productivity in their home countries. We examine this by seeing how immigrants affect state budgets — a proxy for the quality of economic institutions — between 1970 and 2010 in the United States. We find that larger immigrant shares of the population produce large reductions in the growth of real per capita tax revenue and outlays in the short run that moderate to smaller longer‐​term growth declines in both.
Topic:
Immigration, Economy, Immigrants, Tax Systems, Institutions, and Revenue Management
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

109. Reflections On The U.S.–Mexico Relationship

Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:
Gerónimo Gutiérrez Fernández served as Mexico’s Ambassador to the United States (2017-2018). He played a prominent role in the negotiation of the United States of America, Mexico and Canada Agreement (USMCA). Currently, he is managing partner of BEEL Infrastructure, a specialized advisory & asset management firm focused on the infrastructure sector in Latin America. He also provides strategic advice to businesses and governments on political risk, public affairs and communications and business development; and serves in the Board of Directors of U.S. – Mexico Business Association (AEM) and the Advisory Board of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute. Brown Journal of World Affairs: During your time as ambassador, the U.S.– Mexico relationship was highly politicized due to President Trump’s rhetoric. How did you navigate balancing between building a relationship with the U.S. government and standing up for your country?
Topic:
Diplomacy, Regional Cooperation, Immigration, NAFTA, and USMCA
Political Geography:
United States, Latin America, and Mexico

110. A Comprehensive Framework for Studying Migration Policies (and a Call to Observe Them beyond Immigration to the West)

Author:
Luicy Pedroza
Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This piece is both an exercise in critical conceptual landscaping in the field of Migration Studies and the proposal of an analytical framework that can correct some of its most serious biases. The framework I propose allows the observing of migration policies as if they constituted a comprehensive policy field. This will permit comparisons across the whole spectrum of migration policies on a rigorous basis, and for all countries and regions. I identify two constitutive sides to the proposed framework, each dealing with how state‐like polities regulate the mobility of incoming or outgoing persons. I further suggest that it include regulations on the rights of individuals to pass through three stages of any international migration journey: the right to enter/exit; the rights as immigrant residents/emigrant non‐residents; and, the rights to citizenship and nationality. This comprehensive framework for studying migration policy promises advances for empirical agendas, but also for connecting them to normative ones rooted in global justice and democratic concerns.
Topic:
Human Rights, Migration, Immigration, and Justice
Political Geography:
Global Focus