In The News

Sunbathing tourists have discovered unexpected company on the beaches of the Canary Islands lately, as boatloads of West African migrants wash up on the shores of this Spanish possession just off the Moroccan coast. These migrants make the life-threatening crossing to flee political upheaval in regions like Senegal’s separatist Casamance province and to seek better lives in the schools and labor...

Economists argue that immigration is good for a country’s overall growth – even as some national leaders concede that controlling immigration is near impossible. But other analysts question the social costs of alienation of many Muslims or resentment from working-class Britons about high unemployment rates. Some anxiety also emerges about growth in and of itself, as populations swell and strain...

After the 9/11 attacks five years ago, the US was paranoid about attacks from any direction, including foreign scientists. Congress passed legislation requiring face-to-face interviews with every visa applicant and background checks were particularly onerous for the likes of physicists, engineers and chemists. It was not uncommon for scientists, even those renown in their fields, to undergo...