This report presents the findings of an analysis on the effectiveness of European Union Trust Fund (EUTF) projects in addressing migration and displacement drivers in the Horn of Africa (HoA) region. The study examined 47 projects across seven countries, focusing on key drivers such as lack of...

There is substantial societal and political concern about the social and labour market vulnerabilities of migrants living and working in European countries without the legal right to reside. In this context, the role of legal rights for "irregular migrants" as a means of addressing some of these...

The presence of millions of irregular migrants in Europe poses a significant challenge for both policymakers and voters: how to protect individuals' fundamental rights and, at the same time, establish effective migration controls? We lack research evidence on how Europeans think about this...

Undocumented migrant workers are among a group of marginalized stakeholders who are severely exploited at their workplace and across broader society. Despite recent scholarly discussions in marginalized stakeholder theory and migration studies, our understanding of how undocumented workers...

Using an experimental design embedded within a nationally representative survey implemented in Algeria, this study seeks to evaluate the effect that information campaigns have on willingness of individuals residing in the Global South to engage in unauthorized migration to Europe. In particular,...

Since 2012, DACA has provided deportation relief and work authorization to immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. This study examines how legal and political uncertainty, triggered by efforts to terminate the program in 2017, affected recipients’ economic and social outcomes. Using...

This report presents the findings of an analysis on the effectiveness of European Union Trust Fund (EUTF) projects in addressing migration and displacement drivers in the Horn of Africa (HoA) region. The study examined 47 projects across seven countries, focusing on key drivers such as lack of...

We study how immigrant legalization affects political representation and public service delivery, focusing on the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), which granted legal status to nearly three million undocumented Hispanic migrants. Using geographic variation in IRCA exposure and...

Prevailing methods for measuring sensitive outcomes confront researchers with an inherent bias-variance trade-off: direct questioning is prone to a sensitivity bias, while indirect methods such as list experiments are substantially less precise. We introduce the ballot-bag, a novel technique...

By 2020, one in four Salvadorans lived abroad, with 88 percent residing in the United States. The remittances to GDP ratio was about 25 percent, highlighting the country's dependence on migration. This paper examines the effects of a major U.S. immigration enforcement program - Secure...

This study presents the first evidence, to our knowledge, of the effects of the surge in interior immigration apprehensions in 2025 in the United States on student academic performance using detailed student-level administrative records from Florida. We find evidence that immigration enforcement...

The correlation between rising asylum immigration and the electoral success of far-right anti-immigration parties has sparked concerns about a potential “Democratic Dilemma” – namely, a trade-off between a country’s openness to immigrants and the preservation of democratic institutional...

This analytical report explores the challenges Ukraine and Moldova face in aligning their migration, asylum, and border management policies with EU standards as part of their accession process. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, both countries received EU candidate status, sparking...

The European Commission, Italy, and Greece are seeking to curb irregular migration through Libya. These efforts come at a time when several aspects of European Union (EU) migration policy in Libya must be acknowledged as having failed. This is particularly true of attempts to improve conditions...

We estimate the effect of the Mexican drug war on Mexico-to-U.S. migration and the resulting effects on population, employment, and wages in U.S. labor markets. Our empirical strategy compares U.S. counties differentially connected to Mexican municipalities through historical migration networks,...

The illegal cultivation of cannabis in the UK is a serious problem that can involve the exploitation of vulnerable migrant populations who are trafficked to work as cannabis growers under conditions of debt bondage and modern slavery. Although there is much public interest in modern slavery and...

On request from the Focus Group on Migrant Smuggling supported by Eurojust, definitions of the criminal offence migrant smuggling or facilitation of illegal immigration were collected by Eurojust. The collection is based on contributions from Member States and contains the definitions in either...

Can providing information to potential migrants influence their decisions about risky and irregular migration? We conduct an experiment with over 7,000 secondary school students in Guinea, providing information through video testimonials by migrants who settled in Europe and through aggregate...

Can providing information to potential migrants influence their decisions about risky and irregular migration? We conduct an experiment with over 7,000 secondary school students in Guinea, providing information through video testimonials by migrants who settled in Europe and through aggregate...

We investigate the extent to which asylum policies that aim to deter individuals from migrating irregularly in fact do so. We specifically consider effects of Germany's recent and high-profile asylum policy adjustments, which include accelerated asylum decision processes, the prospect of asylum...

This paper establishes a new fact about immigration policies: legalization has long-term effects on formal employment of undocumented immigrants and their assimilation. We exploit the broad amnesty enacted in Italy in 2002 together with rich survey data collected in 2011 on a representative...

Legal and illegal markets often coexist. In theory, marginal legalization can either substitute for the remaining parallel market, or complement it via scale effects. I study migrants crossing without prior authorization at the US southwest border, where large-scale unlawful crossing coexists...

Legal and illegal markets often coexist. In theory, marginal legalization can either substitute for the remaining parallel market, or complement it via scale effects. I study migrants crossing without prior authorization at the US southwest border, where large-scale unlawful crossing coexists...

We investigate the extent to which asylum policies that aim to deter individuals from migrating irregularly in fact do so. We specifically consider effects of Germany's recent and high-profile asylum policy adjustments, which include accelerated asylum decision processes, the prospect of asylum...

We present a novel imputation for legal immigrant status in 2023, which identifies likely DACA recipients, and provide estimates of the short-term and long-term income losses stemming from the potential elimination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Our estimates...

Objectives: This study examines the convergence of smuggling and trafficking in persons along the Central Mediterranean Route (CMR) to Europe. We explore where and how these phenomena blur, impacting states’ obligations and policy decisions. Methods: We analyse 71 interviews with migrants who...

Do negative economic shocks heighten public opposition to immigration, and through what mechanisms? Extant research suggests that economic circumstances and levels of labor market competition have little bearing on citizens' immigration attitudes. Yet personal economic shocks have the potential...

We estimate the effect of granting legal status to immigrant women on voluntary abortions. We exploit the 2007 EU enlargement as an exogenous shock to legal status for Romanian and Bulgarian women, considering Italy as a destination country. Using a standard Difference-in-Differences model, we...

Irregular migration from West Africa to Europe across the Sahara and Mediterranean is extremely risky for migrants and a key policy concern. A cluster-randomized experiment with 3,641 young men from 391 settlements in The Gambia is used to test three approaches to reducing risky migration:...

This paper studies the labor market effects of regularization programs on amnestied migrants’ job competitors. Exploiting the 2002 unexpected Italian program, I find that the least productive job competitors experience a lower probability of being regularly employed in the very few months...