Migration Policy Institute Podcasts

The New Deferred Action Program: Strategies for Success

In this Migration Policy Institute event, US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas discusses the application process and policies that his agency has announced to implement the deferred action program that will grant a two-year reprieve from deportation to as many as 1.76 million unauthorized immigrants who came to the United States as children (and are known as DREAMers). After initial comments, Director Mayorkas engages in a conversation moderated by MPI Senior Fellow Doris Meissner with panelists David A. Martin, Professor of International Law at the University of Virginia and former Principal Deputy General Counsel of the Department of Homeland Security; Muzaffar Chishti, Director, MPI Office at NYU School of Law; and Marielena Hincapié, Executive Director, National Immigration Law Center.
Download the MPI Fact Sheet with the latest estimates on the potential beneficiary population: Relief from Deportation: Demographic Profile of the DREAMers Potentially Eligible under the Deferred Action Policy.

Unaccompanied Minors and Their Journey through the US Immigration System

In this Migration Policy Institute (MPI) event, experts focus on the causes of the increase in unaccompanied minor migrants, the situation these minors face once detained or apprehended, and the challenges confronting both nongovernmental organizations trying to provide aid and the US government agencies responsible for processing minors through the US immigration system. Speakers include Wendy Young, Executive Director of Kids in Need of Defense (KIND); Jessica Jones, Equal Justice Works Fellow, Detention and Asylum Program, Women's Refugee Commission; and Michelle Brané, Director of the Detention and Asylum program, Women's Refugee Commission. Kathleen Newland, MPI Co-Founder and Director of the Refugee Policy and Migrants, Migration, and Development Programs moderates the panel.

MPI/IOM Asia-Pacific Launch of Developing a Road Map for Engaging Diasporas in Development

This joint Migration Policy Institute (MPI) and International Organization for Migration (IOM) event convenes a discussion on the recently published handbook, titled Developing a Road Map for Engaging Diasporas in Development, with Andrew Bruce, Regional Director, IOM; Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias, Regional Research Officer, IOM, and MPI Policy Analyst; Todd Cleaver, Deputy Head of Mission, New Zealand Embassy Bangkok, Thailand; Dr. Noppawan Tanpipat, Vice President, National Science and Technology Development Agency; and Kathleen Newland, Director of MPI’s Migrants, Migration, and Development program.
To download for free or purchase a hard copy of Developing a Road Map for Engaging Diasporas in Development, please visit www.thediasporahandbook.org.

Developing a Road Map for Engaging Diasporas in Development

In this Migration Policy Institute event, Kathleen Newland, MPI Co-Founder and Director of the Refugee Policy and Migrants, Migration, and Development Programs and William Lacy Swing, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) discuss the highlights and best practices from the recently published handbook, Developing a Road Map for Engaging Diasporas in Development.
To order the handbook or download for free, visit www.thediasporahandbook.org.
Additional Resources: Diasporas: New Partners in Global Development Policy
Closing the Distance: How Governments Strengthen Ties with Their Diasporas

Update on the 2012 Global Forum on Migration and Development

In this Migration Policy Institute event, Ali Mansoor, Financial Secretary of the Republic of Mauritius and Chair of the 2012 Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), gives an overview of preparations for the forthcoming GFMD, which is scheduled to take place in Mauritius in November. MPI President Demetrios G. Papademetriou offers his insights with a broad perspective on global migration.

Engaging Diasporas in Europe for Development

In this Migration Policy Institute Europe event in Brussels, the co-author of a diaspora engagement handbook published by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) and International Organization for Migration (IOM), Kathleen Newland, leads a discussion on the newly released book entitled Developing a Road Map for Engaging Diasporas in Development. Panelists are: Frank Laczko, Head of Research and Publications, IOM; handbook co-author Dovelyn Agunias, a policy and research analyst for both MPI and IOM; Eva Åkerman-Börje, Swedish Ambassador for the Global Forum on Migration and Development; Rodrigo Ballester, Policy Officer, Directorate-General for Home Affairs, European Commission; Santo Deng, President, Board of the Diaspora Forum for Development.
For more information on visit www.thediasporahandbook.org. For more information, visit www.MPIEurope.org.

The Role of National Governments in Promoting Immigrant Integration

Migration Policy Institute (MPI) President Demetrios G. Papademetriou leads a discussion on the complexities of managing an effective immigrant integration system and creating policies and initiatives that support the success of immigrants and their families in their new host societies. Discussants include Rosario Farmhouse, High Commissioner for Immigration and Intercultural Dialogue in Portugal; Alejandro Mayorkas, Director, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, US Department of Homeland Security; Jasenko Selimovic, State Secretary to the Minister for Integration in Sweden; and Peter Sylvester, Associate Deputy Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
For immigrant integration resources from MPI, visit www.migrationpolicy.org/integration. For international migration resources, visit www.migrationpolicy.org/transatlantic.

How UNHCR Is Facing a World of New Protection Challenges

In this MPI event, Volker Türk, UNHCR Director of International Protection, discusses the current global challenges of protecting refugees. Kathleen Newland, Migration Policy Institute Co-Founder and Director of MPI's Refugee Policy and Migrants, Migration, and Development Programs, guides the discussion around three main themes: protection gaps, burden-sharing, and reducing statelessness.
MPI Resources:
A Comprehensive Approach to Refugee Protection
The United States Refugee Admissions Program: Reforms for a New Era of Refugee Resettlement

Labour Migration from Colombo Process Countries

This joint Migration Policy Institute (MPI) and International Organization for Migration (IOM) event marks the launch in Bangkok, Thailand of an issue brief series on labor migration in Asia. Speakers  include H.E. Phadermchai Sasomsub, Minister of Labour, Government of Thailand; H.E. Kazi Imtiaz Hossain, Ambassador, Government of Bangladesh; H.E. Linglingay Lacanlale, Ambassador, Government of the Philippines; Andrew Bruce, Regional Director, IOM; and Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias, IOM Regional Research Officer and MPI Policy Analyst. Download Mrs. Agunias' PowerPoint presentation here.
Read the first of the issue brief series, Labour Migration from Colombo Process Countries: Good Practices, Challenges and Ways Forward.

Federal Update: A Conversation on Language Access with the US Dept. of Justice

Photo by Flickr user Greg115, Creative Commons

This MPI webinar features US Department of Justice (DOJ) officials discussing the department’s efforts to improve communications with Limited English Proficient (LEP) communities in federal and federally-funded programs and activities. Laureen Laglagaron, an Attorney-Advisor in the department’s Federal Coordination and Compliance Section of the Civil Rights Division and Christine Stoneman, Special Counsel in the Federal Coordination and Compliance Section will an update on the progress of language access compliance at the federal level and discuss how the agency is continuing to provide oversight and technical assistance to states and localities as they too attempt to meet their language access responsibilities. This webinar is moderated by Chhandasi Pandya, a policy analyst at MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy.
Download the PowerPoint |  View other webinars on MPI's Language Portal

Uyen Nguyen and James Huy Bao Accepts MPI’s Young Innovators Award

MPI Co-Founder and Director of MPI’s Migrants, Migration, and Development, and Refugee Policy Programs Kathleen Newland presents OneVietnam Network Co-Founders Uyen Nguyen and James Huy Bao for their vision and dynamism in engaging the Vietnamese diaspora in action for good through the use of new media, arts, culture, and social entrepreneurship. Their initiative is being examined as a model for other diaspora groups.
Visit www.migrationpolicy.org/celebrate10thevent

Open Society Foundations President Aryeh Neier Accepts MPI’s Global Visionary Award

MPI President Demetrious G. Papademetriou presents the Global Visionary Award, to honor Open Society Foundations (OSF) President Aryeh Neier for his career-long dedication to the protection and advancement of rights for the most vulnerable populations throughout the world, including refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants. In the mid-1990s, the foundation created a $50 million fund in the United States to provide naturalization and other services to immigrants and to build capacity among immigrant-rights organizations. And with the creation of OSF’s International Migration Initiative, the foundation is making a major commitment to protecting migrants around the world.
Visit www.migrationpolicy.org/celebrate10thevent

Hon. Alan K. Simpson and Hon. Romano “Ron” Mazzoli Accepts MPI’s Leadership in Public Policy Award

On the 25th anniversary of implementation of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, MPI honors Senator Alan Simpson for his leadership and bipartisanship in working to enact a major immigration reform measure with the interests of the country squarely in mind. Their work serves as reminder of a time when Congress was able to set aside its divisions to accomplish big things in the immigration arena. Doris Meissner, Senior Fellow and Director of MPI’s US Immigration Policy Program, discusses with Rep. Mazzoli the implementation of IRCA.
Visit www.migrationpolicy.org/celebrate10thevent

Rethinking European Identity in the Age of Immigration and Official Launch of MPI Europe

This panel discussion in Brussels, upon the official launch of Migration Policy Institute Europe, explores what is driving societal discontent in Europe, the role immigration plays in this, and why there is a growing perception that immigrant integration efforts are failing. The Migration Policy Institute has been active in the European immigration debate for nearly a decade. In recognition of MPI's ever closer engagement with immigration policymakers and stakeholders in Europe, MPI Europe has been established in Brussels as a nonprofit research institute dedicated to the promotion of a better understanding of migration in Europe. Moderating the discussion is Elizabeth Collett, Director, MPI Europe. Panelists are Cecilia Malmström, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs; Charles Clarke, former UK Home Secretary and Member of MPI’s Transatlantic Council on Migration; Demetrios Papademetriou, President of MPI and MPI Europe; and Patrick Simon, Director of Research for Institut National d'Etudes Demographíques (INED).
For more information and to sign up for updates, visit MPIEurope.org.
Watch the event here.
Read MPI’s related reports:
Multiculturalism: Success, Failure, and the Future By Will Kymlicka
The Role of the State in Cultural Integration: Trends, Challenges, and Ways Ahead By Christian Joppke
The Centrality of Employment in Immigrant Integration in Europe By Randall Hansen
Rethinking National Identity in the Age of Migration By Demetrios G. Papademetriou

MPI Briefing on Generational Gains Made by Immigrant-Origin Young Adults

This Migration Policy Institute briefing discusses the release of a major MPI report, Up for Grabs: The Gains and Prospects of First- and Second-Generation Young Adults, which examines the educational and workforce attainment of immigrant-origin young adults between the ages of 16-26, finding significant gains in particular for second-generation Hispanic women when it comes to college enrollment. Moderating the discussion is Margie McHugh, Co-Director of MPI's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy. Report co-authors Michael Fix, MPI Senior Vice President and Director of Studies, and Jeanne Batalova, MPI Policy Analyst, discuss the report findings. Providing comments on the report are Andrew P. Kelly, Research Fellow, Education Policy, American Enterprise Institute, and Raul González, Director of Legislative Affairs, National Council of La Raza (NCLR).
Archive of the event video available here.

Language Access and Schools: Federal Requirements and School Experiences

This webinar from the Migration Policy Institute’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy (NCIIP) and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Bridging Refugee Youth & Children’s Services (BRYCS) program explores federal requirements for providing interpretation and translation in schools and how select school districts in Minnesota and Colorado have managed these requirements. Under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, schools are required to provide information to parents in a “language they can understand.” In addition to this requirement, Executive Order 13166 makes clear the responsibility of all federally funded programs to uphold Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by ensuring meaningful access to programs and services for individuals regardless of their English proficiency. School districts across the country have implemented these federal requirements in a variety of ways.
This is the latest in NCIIP’s language access webinar series exploring the policy and program implementation imperatives for government and community agencies serving Limited English Proficient (LEP) populations. To access audio of previous webinars, click here. To access a toolkit for teachers and school personnel on translation and interpretation requirements developed by BRYCS, please click here.
Speakers are:
Lyn Morland, Director, Bridging Refugee Youth and Children’s Services, US Conference of Catholic Bishops
Laura Gardner, Education Technical Assistance Specialist, Bridging Refugee Youth and Children’s Services, US Conference of Catholic Bishops
Salvador Carrera, Director, Multicultural Outreach Office, Denver Public Schools
Alejandra Bosch, Translation Services Coordinator, Office of Communications, Marketing and Development, Saint Paul Public Schools
The call is moderated by Chhandasi Pandya, Policy Analyst/Program Coordinator, National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, Migration Policy Institute.
View the PowerPoint presentation here.
Also of interest: LEP Workers & Access to Workforce Services: Barriers & Prospects under WIA Reauthorization, Taking Limited English Proficient Adults into Account in the Federal Adult Education Funding Formula, and Immigrants and Welfare: The Impact of Welfare Reform on America’s Newcomers

LEP Workers & Access to Workforce Services: Barriers & Prospects under WIA Reauthorization

Current negotiations over reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) come at a critical moment for immigrant and Limited English Proficient (LEP) workers. They and their current and future employers have a large stake in these negotiations, given the wide range of labor supply and skill mismatches that employers rely on immigrants to meet across the United States. Further, the predominance of immigrants and their children among new, young, and future US workers and the weak response thus far of the WIA-funded training system to the needs of these increasingly diverse and multilingual workers necessitates a concerted re-examination of the WIA system. The extent to which changes to the WIA system take account of these important demographic and economic trends and address the needs of immigrant-origin and LEP workers in particular will strongly affect the law's ability to support our country's future economic success.
There is broad consensus that LEP workers of varying educational backgrounds and levels of English proficiency and vocational skills are underserved by WIA's training services as a result of the law's structure. While community-based organizations have filled some gaps in services for LEP individuals and immigrant workers, the current reauthorization debate presents an opportunity for analysts, workforce services professionals, and community stakeholders to consider how to redesign the WIA system and its investments in these important segments of the US workforce. On this webinar, experts discuss barriers immigrant and LEP individuals face in accessing the WIA system, how a revitalized WIA could address these barriers, and the extent to which the current Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee's WIA reauthorization proposal addresses these barriers.
View the PowerPoint presentation here.
This webinar is part of Migration Policy Institute's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy (NCIIP) Language Access Webinar Series.
Speakers are:
Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, Director of Outreach and Program Evaluation, Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians
Emma Oppenheim, Manager, Workforce Development Policy Initiatives, National Council of La Raza
Gabriela Lemus, Senior Advisor and Director, Office of Public Engagement, US Department of Labor
Also of interest: Taking Limited English Proficient Adults into Account in the Federal Adult Education Funding Formula, and Immigrants and Welfare: The Impact of Welfare Reform on America’s Newcomers

9/11 and Immigration: Major Immigration Changes in the Decade since 9/11

The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) held a conference call to discuss the most significant changes that have occurred in the immigration arena in the decade since the September 11, 2001 attacks. MPI Senior Fellow Doris Meissner, commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service during the 1990s, and Muzaffar Chishti, director of MPI’s office at NYU School of Law, provided analysis on the realignment of the U.S. immigration system – ranging from new enforcement programs and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security to changed visa policies and the rise of state and local actors. Both are co-authors of MPI’s new Fact Sheet, Through the Prism of National Security: Major Immigration Policy and Program Changes in the Decade since 9/11, which details the major immigration policy, budget and organizational changes that have occurred as an outgrowth of 9/11.

Proactive Engagement: Two Strategies for Providing Language Access in Workforce Development Services

Inadequate interpretation services, a lack of relevant translated materials and customer service that is not culturally competent often deter limited English proficient (LEP) individuals from accessing workforce services through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA)-funded One Stop system. This interactive language access webinar, one in a series offered by the Migration Policy Institute's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, examines how New York and Illinois have broken down some of these barriers to proactively engage LEP communities to obtain workforce services. The need to ensure meaningful access to WIA-funded employment and training services for the large share of US low- and middle-skilled LEP workers is urgent, particularly in light of the tough job market and gloomy projections for the speed of recovery from the Great Recession. These featured approaches, which have entailed policy and programmatic fixes, can serve as models as states attempt to meet the workforce needs of their LEP populations and comply with federal requirements to provide meaningful language access in their federally funded programs.
Speakers are:
Julio Rodriguez, Director of Program Services, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
Haeya Yim, Counsel, Division of Immigrant Policies and Affairs, New York Department of Labor
Kerry Douglas-Duffy, Workforce Development Program Specialist, Division of Employment and Workforce Solutions, New York Department of Labor
Chhandasi Pandya, Policy Analyst, Migration Policy Institute
Download the PowerPoint here.

Labor Standards Enforcement and Low-Wage Immigrants: Creating an Effective Enforcement System

This Migration Policy Institute webinar discusses labor enforcement laws during the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations and chronicles gaps in labor protection. Donald M. Kerwin, MPI Vice President for Programs and author of MPI’s report, Labor Standards Enforcement and Low-Wage Immigrants: Creating an Effective Enforcement System, argues that enforcement of labor laws should become a higher priority, particularly amid high rates of unemployment and underemployment. He also discusses the view that labor standards enforcement should become a pillar of immigration policymaking and sketches the elements necessary for an effective labor standards enforcement system.
The webinar powerpoint is available here.