In The News

The Caribbean Brain Drain: Nursing a Grievance

April 12, 2010
According to the World Bank, only one-quarter of nurses in the English-speaking Caribbean remain working in their countries. The rest leaves to work abroad, where working and living conditions are significantly better. The economic incentives of working abroad outweigh the challenges of staying. This is not a new phenomenon: it has been taking place for almost two centuries and is not confined to...

International Adoption: A Big Fix Brings Dramatic Decline

Scott Baldauf, Sarah E. Burton, Ezra Fieser, Kathie Klarreich, Fred Weir March 26, 2010
In recent years, increased publicity has both heightened demand for adoption and exposed the sometimes-dark underbelly of international adoption agencies. The ongoing case of American missionaries accused of trafficking children in quake-stricken Haiti serves as a prime example of the shadier side of an often unregulated industry prone to corruption. Overall, the trend is for adoption hubs like...

Anti-Immigration Backlash Roils Ties between Australia and India – Part I

Robin Jeffrey March 5, 2010
Despite being a nation built by immigrants, Australia faces fresh challenges in dealing with new arrivals, particularly from India. The recent spate of violent attacks on Indian immigrants has brought a spotlight on the changing nature of migration from Asian neighbors and its impact on Australian society. In part I of this two part series, South Asia scholar Robin Jeffrey explores the reason...

New Thai Immigration Rules Come Under Fire

Patrick Barta March 3, 2010
In Thailand, tensions are mounting as the state has introduced a more rigorous registration process for foreigners that includes proving one's home country. Around half of the country's 1.5 million migrant laborers have refused to come forward to register, which human rights activists reason is due to Thailand's history of immigrant abuse and a fear of retribution. On the other...

A Modern Tale of Meatpacking and Immigrants

Kate Linthicum February 2, 2010
For many years, Grand Island in Nebraska has hosted many immigrants passing through in search of work. But migration has come in distinctive waves: refugees from the Vietnam War in the 1970s, refugees from Eastern Europe in the 1990s, Mexican and Latino immigrants in the last couple of decades, and now a new wave of African refugees, including Somalis and Sudanese. Many of the new immigrants are...

Immigration in Italy: Southern Misery

January 15, 2010
Rosarno, Italy has recently experienced a wave of anti-immigrant violence targeted at Africans, many of whom work as crop-pickers. Causes of such violence are multi-faceted. An influx of immigrants, many of whom entered illegally, created tensions with the existing population over employment and race. Worsening the situation, cheap citrus imports from countries like Spain and Brazil left Italian...

Is a US Brain Drain on the Horizon?

Vivek Wadhwa December 8, 2009
While a second Great Depression may have been averted, the unintended consequences of the Great Recession are just beginning to be felt. One such effect is reverse migration. As noted immigration researcher Vivek Wadhwa reveals, many foreign-born workers in high-tech industries are returning home or contemplating such a return. The reasons for this are many, including better economic prospects or...