For answers to the most common questions about U.S. immigration, see our Quick Statistics on U.S. immigration. For more context, search the , which contains more than 1,300 studies from respected research institutions across the United States. One such respected institution is the Institute for Immigration Research, a joint venture between The Immigrant Learning Center and George Mason University. If you’re looking for some more specific data, you can request a free, . If you want to stay updated on The Immigrant Learning Center’s research, webinars and other projects, sign up for our newsletter.
Upcoming Research
The Immigrant Learning Center’s Public Education Institute is researching the role and impact of immigrant essential workers during the pandemic, with a focus on the health care and food sectors. Immigrants are highly represented in these two fields, which have been vital to getting all Americans through this crisis. The research project will explore the critical contributions of immigrant essential workers and their impact on Americans and local communities. You can learn more about the project here. You can also sign up for updates here.
Featured Research from The ILC Immigration Research Library
Report examines the potential role of foreign-trained immigrant health care professionals in alleviating the shortage of health care workers in the U.S.
This report examines how 270,000 immigrant and refugee health workers whose skills are underutilized might help the U.S. meet its demand for healthcare workers. The authors believe that the professional, language, and cultural skills of internationally trained health professionals, many of whom are unemployed or working in low skilled jobs, represent a critical resource for the nation. The paper discusses lessons learned during the pandemic by states that used their governors’ executive authority to temporarily suspend or adjust licensing requirements to boost the ranks of available immigrant workers in health services. Although efforts to address licensing, placement, training, and educational barriers facing internationally trained healthcare professionals are primarily the responsibility of state government, the authors argue that the federal government should provide leadership and funding for reforms in this area. (Robert Like, MD, MS)
Institute for Immigration Research
The Institute for Immigration Research (IIR), a joint venture between The Immigrant Learning Center and George Mason University, produces interdisciplinary research on immigrants and immigration to the United States. Projects include Immigrant Nobel Prize Winners, mapping immigrant populations, surveys of high-skilled immigrant professionals, Twitter analyses of the immigration discussion and more. The IIR also offers free customized datasheets through .
Latest Research: Immigrant Workers and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, workers in certain industries in the United States have been critical to keeping the country’s residents healthy and safe, and keeping the economy open. Many of these workers have endured difficult and dangerous conditions, working in close proximity to each other and to the public, and have been especially vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus. Many of these workers, often dubbed “essential workers,” are foreign-born. In fact, immigrant workers have been important during the pandemic and will continue to play a key role in rebuilding the economy post-pandemic.
Immigration Data on Demand (iDod) provides information to academics, policy-makers and the public with unbiased and objective research related to immigrants and immigration in the United States. This service is provided free of charge to help individuals and institutions examine the immigrant populations of their particular geography.
Books
October 2019
Working Together: How Community Colleges and Their Partners Help Immigrants Succeed
Published by Rowman & Littlefield and the American Association of Community Colleges
This book showcases exemplary initiatives of community colleges and their partners to integrate immigrant and refugee students, and the ways these students enrich campus life, strengthen communities and benefit the economy. The chapter Reflective Narrative: How Community Colleges can Reframe the Immigration Narrative was written by The ILC Public Education Institute Director Denzil Mohammed.
January 2013
Immigrant Struggles, Immigrant Gifts
Published by George Mason University Press
Edited by The ILC founder and CEO Diane Portnoy, Barry Portnoy and Charlie Riggs, Immigrant Struggles, Immigrant Gifts chronicles the experience of 11 immigrant groups in the U.S. written by 11 experts in their respective fields.
Massachusetts Research
March 2012
Massachusetts Immigrants by the Numbers, Second Edition: Demographic Characteristics and Economic Footprint
Full Report (PDF)
December 2005
Immigrant Homebuyers in Lawrence and Lowell, Massachusetts: Keys to the Revitalization of Cities
Full Report (PDF)
Entrepreneurship Research
APRIL 2013
Immigrant Entrepreneurs Creating Jobs and Strengthening the U.S. Economy in Growing Industries: Transportation, Food and Building Services
with a Regional View of Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania and a Focus on the Green Economy
Fast Facts
Full Report (PDF)
November 2010
Massachusetts Immigrant Entrepreneurs
Engines for Economic Growth, Wealth and Job Creation
Full Report (PDF)
December 2005
Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Neighborhood Revitalization: Studies of the Allston Village, East Boston and Fields Corner Neighborhoods in Boston
Full Report (PDF)
JUNE 2016
Immigrants in Health Care: Keeping Americans Healthy Through Care and Innovation
Full Report (PDF)
June 2010
Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Workers in Leisure and Hospitality Businesses: Massachusetts and New England
Full Report (PDF)
March 2009
Immigrant Workers in the Massachusetts Health Care Industry: A Report on Status and Future Prospects
Full Report (PDF)