Congress, Voter IDs, Pope
Immigration divides both the Democrats and the Republicans. Most Congressional Democrats back comprehensive immigration reform with a path to

DHS: Interior Enforcement
In the spring of 2008, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency stepped up workplace raids and arrests of fugitive aliens -- foreigners who

States and Cities, Population
On May 1, 2008, there were pro-immigration reform rallies around the United States. The number of demonstrators was much smaller than in previous

Hispanic Workers, Obama, Projections
Hispanic Workers. The New York Times reported that Hispanic immigrants have been especially hard-hit by the US economic slowdown. Between the

Canada: Immigration, Students
A backlog of 925,000 foreigners is waiting to immigrate to Canada, and climbing at a rate that suggests a backlog of 1.5 million by 2012. Bill

Mexico: Migrants, Remittances, NAFTA
Remittances. Remittances to Mexico have been climbing since the mid-1990s. However, they declined at the beginning of 2008, reflecting layoffs in

Latin America
The number of foreigners living in Chile tripled from less than 100,000 to almost 300,000 between 1999 and 2008. Most of the newcomers are

China: Internal Migrants
China has more internal migrant workers than any other country, at least 132 million in 2006 (other estimates put the number of migrants at 150

Japan, Korea
Japan. Japan's Immigration Bureau reported that there were 21,054 unauthorized foreigners at the end of 2007, down sharply from 149,785 at the end of

Southeast Asia
Thailand. The Thai Labor Ministry in June 2008 proposed establishing foreign worker centers in border areas. Provincial governments would collect

India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka
India is running out of workers with the construction skills needed to build its infrastructure. India's construction industry employs 33 million

UAE, Bahrain, Gulf Jobs Crisis
UAE. The United Arab Emirates is a group of seven semiautonomous states that are using their oil money and migrant workers to build modern cities

EU: Unauthorized, Irish "No," Blue Card
Unauthorized. The EU has been trying to develop a common migration policy since 1999. In June 2008, EU home affairs commissioner Jacques Barrot

UK Tiers, Ireland
Five Tiers. The UK continued to implement its new five-tier migrant selection system in spring-summer 2008. The Tier one point selection system went

Germany, France, Switzerland
Some 165,200 German citizens emigrated in 2007, while 111,300 returned, for a net emigration of 54,000. There were 825,000 deaths in 2007 and

Greece, Turkey
Greece. UNHCR (www.unhcr.org) in April 2008 asked EU countries not to send asylum seekers who passed through Greece en route to Germany or another

Italy, Arrests; Spain, Slowdown
Italy. In mid-May 2008, Italian police arrested over 400 unauthorized foreigners, implementing the pledge of recently re-elected Prime Minister

Northern, Eastern Europe, Russia
Norway and Sweden in 2008 simplified the procedures that employers must follow to hire foreign workers. The Swedish government in May 2008 proposed

Australia, New Zealand
Australia received a record 177,600 immigrants in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007; immigration has been averaging 144,000 a year. For 2008-09,

South Africa, Egypt
Several weeks of violence against migrants in South Africa in May 2008 left over 60 migrants dead in townships near Johannesburg. Analysts said that

Global: Remittances, Labor, Refugees, Aid
Global remittances were $318 billion in 2007, up from $297 billion in 2006. The top five recipients of remittances were India, $27 billion; China,

Climate Change and Migration
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (www.ipcc.ch) in February 2007 concluded that global warming is "unequivocal" and that human activity