Migration Policy Institute Podcasts

The State of Global Human Mobility More than Two Years into the Pandemic

More than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, governments are seeking to safely restart cross-border mobility of all types. But the complex patchwork of travel restrictions and health measures is preventing a swift return to pre-pandemic levels of movement, even in the face of major changes in the epidemiological situation, rising vaccination rates, and new therapeutics. And the global picture is uneven, with some regions, such as parts of Asia, still largely closed, and others, such as the European Union, keeping borders shut to unvaccinated travelers, leaving many out.
Since the onset of the public-health crisis, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has tracked the more than 100,000 travel restrictions, border closures, and health-related travel requirements imposed by governments globally at the peak in 2021. How has the situation evolved in the second year of the pandemic? What steps have governments been taking to restart international travel and migration in safe and efficient ways? How do they adapt as new variants emerge in different places around the world? And as countries create exceptions to mobility restrictions for certain groups of travellers, what does this increasingly complex picture reveal about the inequalities between who can move and who cannot?
This discussion features experts from international organizations, government, civil society, and the private sector to examine the state of mobility during the second and now third years of the pandemic. The conversation accompanies the launch of an IOM-MPI report that draws from the IOM database to sketch the state of mobility across world regions.

Testing Disrupted: Assessment of English Learners Complicated by Pandemic

In fall 2021, the educational experience for children changed dramatically, with many returning to the classroom for the first time in more than a year and a half. The nation’s 5 million English Learners (ELs) endured disproportionate impacts during this pandemic-induced period of distance learning due to a range of reasons, including gaps in digital access and inadequate support in languages other than English. The COVID-19 pandemic also challenged statewide assessment systems, in a year when many students were not attending school in person and instruction was of variable quality.
Unsurprisingly, there were downward trends in student performance visible across all students in English language arts, math, and among ELs, English language development. But what have state policymakers and school leaders learned from the 2020–21 state assessment data? How are they coupling assessment data with other metrics to inform investments and interventions that are personalized for ELs?
In a webinar marking the release of a report ( https://bit.ly/517ELtest ) that examines ELs’ learning experiences during the 2020-21 academic year and their performance and participation in statewide testing, experts offer their analysis of states’ assessment data and how instructional challenges and the pandemic affected the interpretation of these data. Speakers also explore challenges states faced and lessons learned in administering assessments and how schools are using data to inform interventions and instruction this year. Finally, they share their perspective of how the pandemic might change the approach states and districts take to measuring academic growth and success.

Public Narratives on Refugees: Sustaining Solidarity in Times of Crisis

The massive humanitarian exodus from Ukraine has upended global expectations of how quickly—and at what scale—host communities can welcome people fleeing their homes. The number of Ukrainians who fled to Poland within the first two weeks of the invasion surpassed the number of Venezuelans received by Colombia over a five-year period. Despite the potentially destabilizing pace and volume of arrivals from Ukraine, the policy response has been overwhelmingly supportive. So has the public response, with public opinion polling pointing to high support for Ukrainians across Europe. But as the crisis continues, there are fears that these initial feelings of goodwill will fade and generosity fatigue will set in, much as occurred during the 2015-16 European migration and refugee crisis and in parts of South America with the arrivals of large numbers of Venezuelans. This raises several questions: How can immediate post-crisis solidarity be harnessed and made more sustainable, such that it can withstand emerging narratives of newcomers as threats to jobs and limited public services? How can feelings of goodwill be leveraged to spread to others rather than remaining narrowly focused on a particularly sympathetic population? And how can policy responses such as temporary stay permits build longer-term goodwill towards populations needing protection writ large? This Migration Policy Institute webinar convenes international experts to consider what we know about public opinion and narratives on refugees and what this means for the Ukrainian crisis. This event marks the launch of a publication from the “Beyond Territorial Asylum: Making Protection Work in a Bordered World” initiative led by MPI and the Robert Bosch Stiftung. The initiative aims to advance ideas to redesign the global protection and resettlement infrastructure in a way that is more equitable, flexible, and sustainable.

With Millions of Unfilled U.S. Jobs, What Role Is There for Immigration?

The U.S. government in March 2022 announced record job vacancies, with 11.3 million unfilled positions. With an aging population, declining fertility, shifting skills needs, and the Great Resignation underway in part as baby boomers retire, the United States is experiencing a major labor market transformation that will challenge the country’s economic growth and competitiveness.
How these mega forces play out is yet to be seen. As a policy option, immigration has always been one of the levers available to address labor shortages or skills gaps. But beyond recruiting workers from abroad, developing and leveraging the skills of immigrants already in the United States represents a smart policy option. What role could underutilized high-skilled immigrant workers occupy in the changing labor market, especially in high-demand sectors such as health and education? What national and state policy options exist to maximize immigrants’ economic contributions by more fully tapping their talents and potential?During this webcast, experts -- including MPI's Jeanne Batalova and Muzaffar Chishti, former U.S. Labor Department Chief Economist Harry J. Holzer, Upwardly Global's Jina Krause-Vilmar, and Alexandra Manuel -- highlighted the latest demographic and labor market trends shaped by growing automation and the COVID-19 pandemic. They also discussed the merits of three policy approaches that leverage immigrants’ talents to address labor and skills shortages: tapping the existing skills of underemployed college-educated immigrants, increasing immigrant adults’ access to postsecondary credentials, and attracting new talent through the immigration system. The webinar featured the launch of an MPI issue brief on the underemployment of skilled health-care workers in Illinois and Chicago ( https://bit.ly/immskills22 ).

Innovation Within Government. Rethinking and Modernizing Integration Policy Plenary Session

MPI Europe Director Hanne Beirens moderated a session where Laura Batalla from Ashoka Hello Europe Initiative, David Cashaback from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Drocella Mugorewera from the Refugee Congress, Cameron McGlothlin of the U.S. Department of State's Office of Refugee Admissions, and Vincent Catot from the European Commission's Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, discussed these questions:
How is integration policymaking evolving, under the combined pressures of the pandemic, economic shifts, rising social needs, and technological transformation?
How have policymakers in Europe and North America responded to the need for rapid and agile policy action to address COVID-19-induced disruption, at a time in which many of their usual routines, practices, and tools have been upended? How might these experiences shape integration policy in the longer run—in its objectives, practices, and overall mission?
How can multi-level governance approaches and multi-stakeholder cooperation help governments address evolving integration challenges and promote innovation? How to ensure systematic learning and transfer between community-level innovations and government policy?

Strengthening the Social Innovation Ecosystem in Challenging Times

In this session, MPI's Meghan Benton led a conversation between Brian Ssebunya, the Economic Recovery and Development Senior Technical Advisor at International Rescue Committee;  Awmaima Amrayaf, DLA Piper's Pro Bono Legal Officer and Coordinator of ‘Know Your Rights’ program; and Asma Naimi from Esade Business School on the following questions:
How can we maximise the contribution of social-innovation models and players to advance refugee and migrant inclusion, as Europe and North America re-emerge from crisis?
How can promising innovations for inclusion leave their "comfort zone" and reach underserved places and groups where the challenges are tougher, but where the returns are potentially greater
What has been the private sector’s contribution to countering refugee and migrant vulnerability during the COVID-19 crisis—as an investor, employer, and knowledge provider? What opportunities exist to strengthen private-sector involvement—not just in kickstarting new solutions to inclusion, but in consolidating them and making them sustainable?
Talking about "inclusive recovery": What does the COVID-19 emergency tell us about the role of refugee and migrant entrepreneurs within social innovation ecosystems? What should programs supporting inclusive and diverse social entrepreneurship look like?

Digital Equity: How Will Rapid Digitization Impact Migrant and Refugee Inclusion?

MPI Europe Senior Policy Analyst Jasmijn Slootjes moderated a session where Imad Elabdala, Founder, Hero2B and Kidnovation; Josephine Goube, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Techfugees for Impact; and Marco Campana, Freelance Communications Consultant discussed the following questions:
What lessons can recent innovations provide on how to advance migrant and refugee inclusion through digital services—particularly in a context of social and physical distancing?
What limitations, challenges, and inequities should social innovators in civil society, the private sector, and government keep in mind when exploring the potential of tech for inclusion?
What investments are necessary to ensure that digitization does not lead to widening inequalities in diverse communities and societies?
How can we prevent a proliferation of short-lived, fragmented digital tools and tech solutions—thus improving sustainability, quality, and impact?

A Tribute to the Life of Dr. Demetrios G. Papademetriou

This event celebrated the remarkable legacy of MPI's first president and MPI Europe's founder, Demetrios G. Papademetriou. One of the world's pre-eminent scholars and lecturers on international migration, he developed a rich body of scholarship shared in more than 275 books, research reports, articles, and other publications. He also advised numerous governments, international organizations, civil-society groups, and philanthropic organizations around the world on immigration and immigrant integration issues.
Read the event program and select writings from Dr. PapademetriouRead MPI's press release on his passing.For his obituary or to leave any memories for his family, click here.Read a collection of tributes to his life and legacy.Listen to his thoughts on this World of Migration podcast episode.
Speakers: 
Sir Trevor Phillips, OBE, Co-Founder, Webber Phillips Ltd.; former Chair, Equality and Human Rights Commission, England, Scotland, and Wales; Founding Member, MPI Transatlantic Council on Migration
Doris Meissner, Senior Fellow and Director, U.S. Immigration Policy Program, MPI; former Commissioner, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
Ulrich Weinbrenner, Director-General for Migration, Refugees, and Return Policy, Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community, Federal Republic of Germany
Michael Fix, Senior Fellow and former President, MPI
Gustavo Mohar, MPI Board Member; former Under Secretary for Migration, Population, and Religious Affairs, Ministry of Governance, Government of Mexico
Brenda Dann Messier, Senior Advisor, Education Strategy Group; former Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical, and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education
Malcolm Brown, MPI Board Member; former Deputy Minister of Public Safety; former Executive Vice President, Canada Border Services Agency, Government of Canada
Frank Sharry, Founder and Executive Director, America's Voice
Moderator: 
Andrew Selee, President, MPI

Changing Climate, Changing Migration: Are Climate Migrants Treated Differently than Other Migrants?

Do host communities respond differently to people migrating because of environmental impacts compared to refugees fleeing war or migrants seeking work? Research suggests the answer is yes. Multiple factors affect relations between communities and new arrivals, and migrants’ perceived levels of deservingness can be influenced by the reasons why they move. In this episode, we speak with Sabrina Arias and Christopher Blair about their study of responses to climate migrants in the United States and Germany.

Understanding Drivers of Irregular Migration from Guatemala

This event was in Spanish with English interpretation.  This is the English interpretation. 
Irregular migration from Guatemala to the United States has accelerated dramatically in recent years, much of it from the Western Highlands, a region that is among the poorest and most rural in the country. The remittances resulting from migration have been a crucial lifeline in supporting the region through the COVID-19 pandemic, almost equaling total exports in 2020.
A critical first step toward developing alternatives to irregular migration is to understand the factors that drive people to leave, including the underlying causes and the immediate triggers. The Migration Policy Institute and the Guatemalan nongovernmental organization Asociación Pop No’j undertook a study examining the patterns and drivers of emigration from Huehuetenango, one of the country’s top migrant-sending areas in the Western Highlands. The researchers also assessed potential strategies to address push factors and create alternatives to irregular migration.
This report release event features discussion on  changing migration patterns from Guatemala, along with how policymakers and development practitioners can help create livelihood options and address other drivers of migration, as well as expanding legal pathways for circular migration. The conversation also explores broader lessons for policy approaches in both sending and receiving countries that, over time, could help better manage migration and provide alternatives to emigration.
 

Comprendiendo los factores que impulsan la migración irregular desde Guatemala (Audio - no interpretation)

En los últimos años, la migración irregular de Guatemala a los Estados Unidos se ha acelerado drásticamente—particularmente aquella que proviene del altiplano occidental, una de las regiones más pobres y rurales del país. Las remesas han sido un salvavidas esencial para la región durante la pandemia de COVID-19, al casi igualar el total de las exportaciones en 2020.
Un paso fundamental para desarrollar alternativas a la migración irregular es comprender los factores que impulsan a las personas a salir, incluidas las causas subyacentes y los desencadenantes inmediatos. El Instituto de Políticas Migratorias y la organización no gubernamental guatemalteca, Asociación Pop No'j, llevaron a cabo un estudio en el que examinaron los patrones y los factores que impulsan la emigración desde Huehuetenango, una de las principales regiones de origen de migrantes en el altiplano occidental guatemalteco. Los investigadores también evaluaron posibles estrategias para atender los factores que impulsan la emigración y crear alternativas a la migración irregular.
En este evento de presentación del informe, los ponentes hablan sobre los cambios en los patrones de migración desde Guatemala, así como de la forma en que los formuladores de políticas públicas y los profesionales del desarrollo pueden ayudar a crear opciones de subsistencia para las personas, atender los factores que impulsan la emigración y ampliar las vías legales para la migración circular. La conversación también explora lecciones más amplias desde una perspectiva de política pública —tanto en los países de origen como en los de destino— que, con el tiempo, podrían ayudar a gestionar mejor la migración y ofrecer alternativas a la emigración.

Briefing on Ukraine: Avenues to Safety and Meeting Immediate Needs

More than 1.7 million people have fled Ukraine so far, and the United Nations expects more than 4 million others will leave the country and need protection and assistance in the coming months. Those fleeing to neighboring countries, mostly women and children, have been met with an impressive voluntary and government mobilization to answer immediate needs.
Similarly, European Union (EU) policymakers are organizing an unprecedented response, unanimously approving the first-ever activation of the Temporary Protection Directive that will provide immediate protection and rights, reduce pressures on national asylum systems, and enhance responsibility sharing. Questions remain, however, about how the directive will work in practice and how quickly it will be rolled out, in particular as European asylum agencies and migration authorities face a range of operational issues for the first time. They will need to set up a new process to register people, but also organize which agencies (including EU ones) and which funding mechanisms will be tapped to ensure adequate reception and emergency assistance.
In the medium term, populations fleeing Ukraine will need access to affordable housing, education, the labor market, and health care. How can European countries with tight housing markets and overburdened health-care systems, yet simultaneously pressing labor shortages, plan for the more medium- and long-term needs of those displaced by the war? And how can Ukrainian diasporas be mobilized effectively in the response without being overburdened with untenable demands?
This MPI Europe webinar features expert views from the European Commission's Asylum Unit Head Esther Pozo-Vera, Alexander Sorel from the European Union Agency for Asylum, Sophie Magennis from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representation for EU Affairs, and MPI Europe's Hanne Beirens and Jasmijn Slootjes. They offered information and key facts on the implementation of the Temporary Protection Directive, prospects for the integration of displaced populations, and lessons from the 2015-2016 refugee crisis that could apply in the current context.

Bridging the Digital Divide for U.S. Children in Immigrant Families

The Omicron surge caused many U.S. schools to return to remote learning, an all-too-familiar status since the sudden shift to virtual learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The public-health crisis has tested school systems across the country and continues to pose operational challenges as schools transition between in-person, remote, and hybrid instruction. 
Remote learning has become a controversial tool and now is often considered a last-resort pandemic response. One reason is the digital divide in who can access computers, high-speed internet, and digital skills training. Children in immigrant families often have disproportionately less access to digital tools and training than their peers, which can lead to knowledge gaps, lower grades, chronic absenteeism, and disenrollment.
This webinar features findings from an MPI report that takes stock of lessons and promising practices from the pandemic, with insights from educators, community leaders, and other stakeholders on how to support immigrant children and U.S.-born children with immigrant parents during remote learning. Speakers from MPI, Internationals Network for Public Schools, Office of Global Michigan, and the U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Technology, examine related parts of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 and how federal, state, and local governments; school districts; schools; libraries; and service providers can advance digital equity for children in immigrant families.

Working Towards a More Gender-Responsive Reintegration Process for Returned Migrants

The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (GCM) calls for more gender-responsive return and reintegration programs. Yet many foundational questions remain unexamined, including how the migration experiences of women* affect their reintegration and the communities to which they return.In the three years since the GCM was adopted, international organizations such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have released research on gender and reintegration, encouraging a closer examination of these dynamics. Implementing partners involved in reintegration have also become more sensitive to gender dynamics and the particular challenges faced by women. Some have trained their teams to better identify gender issues and developed initiatives aimed more specifically at helping female returnees during the reintegration process. Finally, actors in the field acknowledge that the monitoring and evaluation of reintegration projects requires special attention to gender dynamics, for example the collection of gender-disaggregated data.Yet despite these steps, much work remains to operationalize a more gender-responsive approach to reintegration programs. Cooperation between countries of origin and destination under the auspice of the GCM offers an opportunity to elevate this issue’s priority on the international agenda.Held during Migration Week hosted by the United Nations Network on Migration, this webinar features policymakers and practitioners from Africa, Asia, and Europe in a conversation reflecting on the progress made in the past three years to better integrate gender into reintegration programs for returned migrants, ongoing challenges, and how the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) in May offers a critical moment to promote good practices.This webinar is part of a research partnership between MPI and the German Development Cooperation Agency (GIZ), supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Changing Climate, Changing Migration: A Note of Caution about Exaggerating the Climate-Migration Link

Concerns that large amounts of people will be displaced by climate change and head to wealthy countries in North America and Europe are often misplaced, according to migration scholar Hein de Haas. These types of narratives can tap into anti-immigrant sentiments, allow governments to avoid responsibility for their own failures, and may overlook the large numbers of people forced to remain in place amid environmental disaster, he argues in this episode. 

Biden at One: Assessing the Administration’s Immigration Record

On his inauguration day one year ago, President Joe Biden proposed a sweeping list of immigration policy priorities, including advancing legislation legalizing millions of unauthorized immigrants and rolling back key executive actions taken by his predecessor. Now at its first anniversary, the administration has advanced numerous further immigration actions that range widely across the immigration system.
Migration surges at the U.S.-Mexico border and partisan deadlock on Capitol Hill have complicated moving forward on legislation that would revamp the U.S. immigration system. Courts and the continuing COVID-19 pandemic have stymied some of the administration’s other efforts. Yet, while less noted, the Biden administration has pursued a broad agenda that encompasses immigration changes in the U.S. interior—including overhauling immigration enforcement priorities, humanitarian relief by extending temporary protection to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans and others from troubled countries, and administrative measures affecting important legal immigration processes.
This discussion with MPI's Muzaffar Chishti and Doris Meissner, the White House's Deputy Director for Immigration Esther Olavarria, former Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism and Threat Prevention Elizabeth Neumann, and Community Change Co-President Lorella Praeli examines the Biden track record on immigration and what lays ahead. The conversation draws from an article published in MPI's online journal, by Jessica Bolter and Muzaffar Chishti, detailing the administration’s first-year actions on immigration.

Changing Climate, Changing Migration: When Climate Change Comes to Refugee Settings

Environmental disasters can force people out of their homes and communities, complicating responses to ongoing humanitarian protection efforts. As a result, many humanitarian organizations have started paying attention to the impacts of climate change for multiple aspects of their refugee protection work. For this episode, we speak with Joan Rosenhauer, the executive director of Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, about how natural disasters and other environmental harms affect her organization’s work and its faith-based mission.

SI4RI Conference: Refugee and Migrant Inclusion in Smaller and Rural Communities

MPI Europe Policy Analyst Liam Patuzzi moderated a breakout session where David Campbell, President, Jupia Consultants Inc.; Andrea Soler Eslava, Senior Rural Integration Project Manager, International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC); Danielle Gluns, Head of the Research and Transfer Office for Migration Policy, University of Hildesheim; Khmlin Haj Mohamad, Regional Refugee Ambassador, SHARE SIRA project (Expanding Social Orientation & Integration for Newcomers in Rural Areas in Europe); and Maher Dahdal, Regional Refugee Ambassador, SHARE SIRA project, discussed the following topics:
As smaller towns and rural areas have stepped up their efforts to welcome refugees and migrants in recent years, what can we learn about these communities’ resources and limitations in promoting social inclusion and cohesion? What new bottlenecks has the COVID-19 pandemic generated?
What does social innovation for inclusion look like in rural areas, and what conditions does it need to develop? How is it linked with other trends shaping the future of small and rural communities—such as demographics, infrastructural, and environmental ones?
How can small communities successfully transfer and adapt innovative practices that originated in larger cities? At the same time, how can they nurture ‘home-grown’ innovations specifically tailored to their context(s)?

SI4RI Conference: Planning and Shaping Inclusive Post-COVID-19 Recovery

In this session moderated by MPI's International Program Director of Research Meghan Benton, panelists Anila Noor, Member, European Commission's Expert Group on the Views of Migrants, and Founder, New Women Connectors, the Netherlands; Scarlet Cronin, Acting Executive Director, The Tent Partnership for Refugees; Katharina Bamberg, Policy Advisor on Migration and Integration, Eurocities; and Christina Pope, Senior Director of Welcoming International, Welcoming America discussed the following questions:
Over the past year-and-a-half, we have heard a lot of conversations about (and calls for) "inclusive recovery". If we were to make this more concrete: what does inclusive recovery look like for you?
How can government, the private sector, and social-sector organizations partner design and promote strategies for post-COVID-19 recovery that reflect the needs and resources of diverse communities? Where can we identify examples of these strategies?
How can "social innovation for inclusion" evolve into "inclusive social innovation"—expanding opportunities for diverse groups to participate in social entrepreneurship, community engagement, and policymaking?

SI4RI Conference -- Where Challenges Intersect: Promoting the Inclusion of Migrant Women and Vulnerable Groups

In a breakout session, MPI Europe Senior Policy Analyst Jasmijn Slootjes led a discussion with Beba Svigir, Chief Executive Officer, Calgary Immigrant Women's Association; Lama Jaghjougha, Founder, Raise Women's Awareness Network; Kava Spartak, Director, YAAR e.V; and Drocella Mugorewera, Board Member of Refugee Congress and Executive Director of Bridge Refugee Services, United States on the following topics:
What are the key success factors for interventions aiming to protect groups at high risk of exclusion and marginalization, promoting their well-being and participation? How far have we come since 2015-16, and what is still missing?
How have organizations adapted their models of service provision in response to the pandemic, and how successful are these adaptations proving to be—for example, in recreating a sense of community and trust even in virtual and hybrid formats?
How can holistic, highly tailored, and often resource-intensive forms of support be sustained and brought to scale?
What models can help leverage the entrepreneurialism, innovativeness and resilience of migrant and refugee women, whose vital role in our societies has been further highlighted by the pandemic?