ISIM Research/Projects
1. Immigration and Integration of Immigrants
2. Migration and Development
3. Refugee and Humanitarian Emergencies
4. Completed Projects
Immigration and Integration of Immigrants
Title: International Migration
Funder: International Organization for Migration
Funding Level: $320,000 (January 2006-December 2010)
Description: This grant provides support to ISIM to edit the journal International Migration, which is one of the principal peer-reviewed journals in the field of migration studies.
Title: Program on Foreign Workers in the US Labor Force
Funder: Sloan Foundation
Funding Level: $600,000 (July 2007-June 2010)
Description: More workers enter the United States each year through legal temporary worker programs than in the permanent, “green card” system. Yet, temporary worker programs have been widely criticized. Employers often fault programs as inefficient and inadequate, while advocates for labor critique programs as exploitive and undermining of working conditions. This project will undertake basic research to generate new statistical measures, conduct fieldwork interviewing workers and stakeholders; access worker outcomes and labor market impacts; and explore the implications for policy. We will convene bi-monthly Briefing Roundtables for stakeholders with summit workshop in the final and third year of the project.
Title: Migrant Health & Social Care Workers in Aging Societies
Funder: COMPAS – University of Oxford, with support from the Atlantic Philanthropies and the Nuffield Foundation
Funding Level: $181,050 (May 2007-September 2008)
Description: This is an international collaborative project to examine the future need for migrant care workers in the context of ageing societies. The project will explore the employment of migrant workers in the delivery of health and social care to older people across the UK, the USA, Ireland and Canada. It will also consider the implications of care workers' mobility for source countries and for the international care market. The research will include: a) quantitative analysis of existing data on ageing, demand for health and social care and the role of migrant care workers in the labor markets of the receiving countries; and b) the collection of new data through in-depth interviews with migrant care workers, a survey with employers, and group discussions with older people. Interviews with policy makers and other relevant agencies will also be carried out in four source countries of migrant care workers. The project will provide evidence to inform the development of policy and practice across migration, integration, health and social care.
Title: Immigration and Integration Policy
Funder: German Marshall Fund of the United States
Funding Level: $70,050 (July 2007-June 2008)
Description: This grant provides funding for transatlantic exchange of information and perspectives on immigration and integration policies. The project supports exchange of information about policy and program alternatives proposed and/or implemented by the post-industrial countries and it identifies areas in which cooperative transatlantic policy development and implementation may help address issues defying more traditional unilateral approaches. ISIM has launched a series entitled “Transatlantic Perspectives on Migration,” to provide policy findings and recommendations on issues affecting countries in North America and Europe.
Title: Evaluation of the Office of Child Labor, Forced labor, Human Trafficking, International Child Labor Technical Cooperation Program
Funder: US Department of Labor
Funding level: $40,000
Description: Under a sub-contract with WESTAT, ISIM is conducting an independent in-depth evaluation of the Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking, International Child Labor Technical Cooperation Program as recommended in the most recent Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) review of the program by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. The goal of the program is to support international initiatives to combat child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking through education, public awareness, and other incentive programs. The mission also includes collecting accurate, high quality data on child labor. The evaluation will focus on the impact of the program on its direct beneficiaries as well as the sustainability of the program. In addition, it will be concerned wit assessing the appropriateness of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) performance and cost-efficiency measures in meeting the program’s goals. It will also assess the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) role relative to the efforts of other government agencies in combating exploitative child labor practices.
Title: Research on Demand and Career Choice in Science and Engineering
Funder: Sloan Foundation (via Urban Institute)
Funding Level: $129,519 (June 2006 – March 2008)
Description: This project evaluates the educational and occupational markets for scientists and engineers. It evaluates the historical trends in educational production and the flow of students into and out of S&E fields. ISIM’s contribution to the overall project focuses on foreign scientists and engineers.
Title: Reflective Engagement Workshops on Immigration Reform
Funder: Georgetown University
Funding Level: $10,000 (January 2006 to January 2007)
Description: This project develops research findings on the admission of foreign students to be released at a workshop subsequently and in a report to academics, government, and non-government actors. It is part of a Georgetown initiative to foster linkages between academic and practical or policy-relevant research.
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MIGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT
Title: Migration and Development and Governance of International Migration
Funder: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Funding Level: $750,000 (April 2006-March 2009)
Description: This grant provides general support towards two of ISIM’s major program areas: the interconnections between migration and development, and governance (institutional and legal systems) of international migration at the national, regional and international level.
Title: Collective Remittances and Social Service Provision in Haiti
Funder: InterAmerican Development Bank
Funding Level: $141,000 (October 2007-July 2008)
Description: It is well understood that diasporas often play a vital supporting role in sustaining vital services in countries where effective state provided services are lacking. The project now underway is conducting systematic field research to (i) elaborate the nature and mechanisms of diaspora support for health and educational institutions and (ii) make recommendations with respect to measures that may increase the effectiveness of diaspora remittances in social service provision. A team of researchers from the Institute for the Study of International Migration, Trinity College and FOCAL, working with Haitians in New York, Florida and Haiti, is examining the extent to which the Haitian diaspora communities in Canada and the United States are directly funding health and education services through professional associations, home town associations, churches and other associative organizations. The project also explores the links between Haitian diaspora organizations in the United States and Canada and counterpart organizations in Haiti.
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REFUGEE AND HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCIES
Title: Literature Reviews/Background Papers on IDPs
Funder: Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement
Funding Level: $20,000 (August 2007-June 2008)
Description: Under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, ISIM provides research support to the Representative of the Secretary General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons.
Title: The Role of Affected States in Humanitarian Action
Funder: Overseas Development Institute
Funding Level: $15,103 (November 2007-March 2008)
Description: Funding was provided by the Overseas Development Institute, UK
The role of the state in disasters has primarily been considered in discussions about disaster preparedness. There has been much less analysis of the role of the state in disaster response and how it interacts with international humanitarian actors. As recent emergencies have shown, the state may play an essential role in leading responses. The overall project conducted by the ODI aims to build on the existing work focused on good governance for disaster risk reduction by analyzing a variety of case studies of recent disasters, and looking at both the assistance and protection dimensions of humanitarian action. ISIM’s research in this context examines the case of El Salvador, a post conflict country, where there were three major disasters and two minor disasters between 2001 and 2007 when the study was undertaken. The study examines the evolution of the state apparatus to manage disasters, and the human and material resources available to do implement state policies. The research analyzes interactions between state and international actors taking into account the roles of NGOs, donors and international agencies.
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COMPLETED PROJECTS
Immigration and Integration of Immigrants
Title: Third Generation Globalization and Systems of Human Capital Development
Funder: National Science Foundation (via Urban Institute)
Funding Level: $50,000 (September 2005 – December 2007)
Description: The project examines the changes in globalization of science and engineering work by firms, changes in migration that affect the science and engineering workforces, and education responses and policies. The research examines these apparent changes to identify more precisely industry-specific and country-specific effects in migration flows and migration dependency; shifts in R&D engineering work; human capital development, by occupation/discipline in the US, Europe, and NIEs, and implications for U.S. education policy for developing the S&E workforce.
Title: Immigration and Integration Policy: Transatlantic Lessons and Exchanges
Funder: German Marshall Fund of the United States
Funding Level: $80,000 (July 2006-June 2007)
Description: This grant provides funding for transatlantic exchange of information and perspectives on immigration and integration policies. The project provides a venue for intensive exchange of information about policy and program alternatives proposed and/or implemented by the post-industrial countries and it identifies areas in which cooperative transatlantic policy development and implementation may help address issues defying more traditional unilateral approaches. Meetings have been held on high skilled migration policies, temporary protection and asylum, visa and border controls, human smuggling and trafficking, and citizenship.
Title: Controlling Irregular Migration: The Challenge of Worksite Enforcement
Funder: Private Foundation
Funding Level: $283,000 (July 2005 – June 2007)
Description: There are 11 million illegal residents and 7 million unauthorized workers in the United States today. In light of the failure of a policy of border enforcement alone, many experts are returning to the viewpoint that worksite enforcement is also necessary to control irregular migration. The project will investigate data and expert opinion on issues of verification and identification; employment discrimination based on national origin or citizenship status; the enforcement of employer sanctions and labor standards; and the organizational capacity, staffing, financial resources and institutional arrangements required to carry out worksite enforcement.
Title: Separated, Unaccompanied and Trafficked Children
Funder: US Conference of Catholic Bishops
Funding Level: $20,000 (continuing)
Description: Under this grant, ISIM and the USCCB Migration and Refugee Services organize meetings that bring together government officials, nongovernmental organizations and others to discuss issues pertaining to separated, unaccompanied and trafficked children who arrive in the United States from other countries. In particular, the meetings seek to develop tangible strategies and protocols to tackle the problem of unidentified, un-served child-victims of trafficking and unaccompanied refugee and asylum seeking children.
Title: Victims No Longer: Research on Child Survivors of Trafficking for Sexual and Labor Exploitation
Funder: National Institutes of Justice
Funding Level: $175,000 (October 2005-April 2007)
Description: This project aims to: 1) examine patterns of abuse of child victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation; 2) analyze the challenges service providers face in assisting them; and 3) identify best practices and treatment modalities used to facilitate rehabilitation of child victims of trafficking. The project is based on two primary data sources: 1) ethnographic interviews with child survivors of trafficking for sexual exploitation selected from among children currently in care in the United States; and 2) key informant interviews with service providers in the USCCB and LIRS refugee foster care and unaccompanied minors (URM) programs serving child victims of trafficking.
Title: Congress & Tomorrow's Workforce
Funder: Alfred Sloan Foundation
Funding Level: $44,979 (September 2006 – February 2007)
Description: ISIM will host a workshop on methods to improve projections of the size and characteristics of immigrants admitted to the United States under various legislative scenarios. ISIM will also produce a report on the technical aspects of visa projections. Click here to go to the project website
Title: The Impact of Aging on Gender-Specific Migration Flows
Funder: World Bank Group
Funding Level: $19,736 (May 2006-June 2006)
Description: One of the major demand factors for female migrants to OECD economies is population aging. This is exacerbated by a decline in fertility rates and the trend towards early retirement. As a result, a number of European countries and the United States have started to fill positions in nursing and domestic care services through recourse to imports of foreign female labor. This trend is likely to continue as the proportion of the population in these countries of working age declines, particularly in the years after 2010, when the baby boom generation begins to retire. This report presents initial forecasts of the future number of foreign-born, female nurses from the Developing World resident in North America and Europe in coming decades.
Title: Declining Numbers of S&E Students and Immigrants: Policies, Labor Markets, and Global Competition
Funder: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Funding Level: $194,000 (June 2005 – May 2006)
Description: Recent declines in the number of foreign S&E students and workers have been decried as precursors to devastating losses to America's scientific and engineering enterprise. The project will analyze legislation post-9/11, interview a range of stakeholders; and assess how security concerns have affected admission procedures. An analysis will be made of S&E labor market trends. Data will be collected and expert papers will be commissioned to generate an understanding of how global pressures impact U.S. competitiveness. The results of the project will result in a careful understanding of how admission policies are implemented and concrete recommendations on how they might be improved. Click here to go to the project website
Title: Immigration and Integration Policy: Transatlantic Lessons and Exchanges
Funder: German Marshall Fund of the United States
Funding Level: $100,000 (July 2005-June 2006)
Description: This grant provides funding for transatlantic exchange of information and perspectives on immigration and integration policies. The project provides a venue for intensive exchange of information about policy and program alternatives proposed and/or implemented by the post-industrial countries and it identifies areas in which cooperative transatlantic policy development and implementation may help address issues defying more traditional unilateral approaches. Meetings have been held on high skilled migration policies, temporary protection and asylum, visa and border controls, human smuggling and trafficking, and citizenship.
Title: Implementation and Impact of US Immigration Policy
Funder: Hewlett Foundation
Funding Level: $350,000 over three years (June 2003-May 2006)
Description: Through this project, ISIM monitors implementation and impact of US immigration and refugee policy, and it undertakes comparative projects on immigration and integration policies in other parts of the world. The grant covers all of our core activities: policy studies, conferences and symposia, publications, teaching and student mentoring, and cooperation with other research institutes and academics. Under the grant, ISIM conducts research and analysis on legal admissions to the US, unauthorized migration, refugee and asylum policy and practice, structural reform of the US immigration system, and the integration of immigrants.
Title: Forcasting Science & Engineering Visas Under Senate Bill 2611
Funder: The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Funding Level: $7,500 (July 2006-August 2006)
Description: Most public controversy has focused on the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act’s (S.2611) process for resident undocumented aliens (passed last May 25, 2006). But there also are numerous reforms to highly skilled admissions. This project develops projection of highly skilled workers who might be admitted under the proposed legislation.
Title: Poultry, Apples, and New Immigrants in the Rural Communities of the Shenandoah Valley: An Ethnographic Case Study
Funder: US Department of Agriculture
Funding Level: $185,000 (September 2003-August 2006)
Description: The project focuses on the new settlement areas for migrants in the Shenandoah Valley. It studies the processes of industrial restructuring and rural industrialization in the Shenandoah Valley and the ways in which company policies, driven by market forces, can set in motion processes that go beyond the plant gates and orchards to recast the configuration of whole communities.
Title: International Migration
Funder: International Organization for Migration
Funding Level: $238,470 (January 2002-December 2005)
Description: This grant provides support to ISIM to edit the journal International Migration, which is one of the principal peer-reviewed journals in the field of migration studies.
Title: Cooperative Efforts to Manage Emigration
Funder: Migration Dialogue, administering funds from German Marshall Fund and Hewlett Foundation
Funding Level: $50,000 (May 2001-December 2005)
Description: The project examines ways in which immigration destinations can work more effectively with source and transit countries to coordinate movements and reduce emigration pressures. CEME seeks models/best practices that 1) spur economic development and promote democratization and respect for human rights in the countries of origin, with special focus on programs targeted at specific communities and population groups with large numbers of actual and potential migrants; 2) enable migrants in destination countries to work more effectively with their communities of origin to reduce emigration pressures (e.g. strengthening programs that match remittances with other funds to speed up job-creating development); and promote cooperation between countries of origin, transit and destination in managing migration.
Title: Women and Migration
Funder: UN Division for the Advancement of Women
Funding Level: $30,000 (November 2003-June 2004)
Description: This project analyzed issues such as the role of women migrants in fostering development, female labor migration, refugee and displaced women, trafficking in women and girls, and changing gender roles resulting from migration.
Title: Refugees Resettled in Hawaii
Funder: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Funding Level: $25,000 (March 2004-Februrary 2005)
Description: This project assessed the situation of refugees resettled in Hawaii to identify their service needs. The results were published in a white paper.
Title: Remittance Transfers within Latin America
Funder: InterAmerican Development Bank
Funding Level: $45,000 (June 2003-December 2003)
Description: This project examined the transfer of worker remittances from migrants working in middle level income countries to poorer countries. Case studies included Nicaraguan immigrants in Costa Rica, Haitian immigrants in Dominican Republic and Bolivian immigrants in Argentina. The project looked at the modes of transfer as well as the impact of the remittances themselves.
Title: Improving Migration Studies
Funder: Mellon Foundation
Funding Level: $25,000 (July 2002-December 2004)
Description: Under this grant, ISIM identified and discussed ways to improve the study of international migration in universities. The project examined the current standing of migration studies both within and across academic disciplines.
Title: Immigration and New Settlement Areas
Funder: Private Foundation
Funding Level: $220,000 (January 2001-December 2003)
Description: This project identified and mapped new areas of immigrant settlement in the United States, examined the impact of these new settlement patterns on immigrants and the receiving communities, including barriers to full social and economic integration, and identifies innovative approaches for addressing integration and impact problems. The resulting product was an edited volume on new settlement areas entitled Beyond the Gateway: Immigrants in a Changing America and workshops for community leaders to introduce them to the best practices.
Title: Immigration and New Settlement Areas
Funder: Carnegie Corporation
Funding Level: $50,000 (February 2003-January 2004)
Description: This project focused on providing trainings and workshops on integration in new settlement areas.
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Immigration and Development
Title: Methodology Meeting: Research on Remittances
Funder: International Development Research Center
Funding Level: $64,950 (May 2007-October 2007)
Description: ISIM conducted a workshop on May 25-26, 2007 entitled “Research Methods: Remittances and Countries in Crisis”. Twenty seven researchers from both Northern and Southern institutions attended the workshop. The meeting at Georgetown followed a complementary gathering on diaspora research held at George Washington University. The researchers came from a wide range of disciplines, including economics, anthropology, sociology, law, political economy, migration studies, refugee studies, development studies, and peace and conflict studies, among others. European and North American, as well as Southern researchers from/or working in institutions in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America were active participants in the discussion, contributing valuable insights and leading panel discussions. In addition to southern scholars from southern institutions, there were southern scholars based in the north, northern scholars based in the south, and northern scholars from northern institutions. They shared interest and expertise in research on diasporas and remittances to hard-to-access populations in conflict and crisis areas. ” In contrast to most discussions on remittances, which tend to focus on the results of data and analyses—using primarily financial data--the discussions at this workshop centered on methods of achieving valid results in contexts that are difficult to research. The methods reviewed covered surveys, focus groups and various forms of qualitative interview profiles, as well as ways to use various methods in complementary fashion. The agreed on goal is to more comprehensively document transfer patterns, the motives behind them and the impacts on different categories of recipients. The meeting reinforced interest among participants in the Research Consortium on Remittances in Conflict and Crises, the Secretariat of which is at Georgetown University. As a result of the May 2007 meeting, Participants organized two panels for the January 2008 meeting in Cairo of the International Association for the Study of International Migration.
Title: Gender-Specific Determinants of Remittances and Gender-Specific Remittance Mechanisms
Funder: World Bank Group
Funding Level: $24,975 (February 2006-June 2006)
Description: There is relatively little research that specifically examines differences in female and male migrants’ remitting behavior. This research paper explicitly assess gender and remittances with random surveys of formal remittance senders from 18 different countries— from Latin America, the Caribbean, and West Africa—and residing in the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. In particular, it examines whether women remit more relative to men and do so to more distant relations.
Title: Transnationalism and Development: Central America and the Caribbean in Perspective
Funder: Rockefeller Foundation
Funding Level: $106,000 (December 2003-May 2005)
Description: The project focuses on the role of expatriates in the development of their home countries. It will examine the role of transnational communities in such areas as tourism, transportation, telecommunication, transfer of remittances and nostalgic trade. The project seeks to understand transnationalism by looking at inter- household linkages, the magnitude and costs incurred by poor transnational communities, the effects at the macroeconomic level, and the extent of its impact on development.
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Refugee and Humanitarian Emergencies
Title: Women’s Involvement in Local Leadership
Funder: CHF International
Funding Level: $ 29,000 (October 2005-September 2007)
Description: The Women’s Involvement in Local Leadership (WILL) research program was designed to examine the factors believed to contribute to the cultivation of sustainable and credible women’s leadership at the local level in conflict-affected communities in Colombia, Iraq and Serbia. The research focused particularly on: 1) project formulation and implementation aimed at promoting greater and more democratic participation among women in local and community organizations; and 2) the respective roles that men and women play within the observed economic and social settings, and the impact of these roles on women’s participation and leadership.
Title: Improving Disaster Response
Funder: Fritz Family Foundation
Funding Level: $264,000 over 3 years (March 2004-Feb 2007)
Description: Provides support for teaching and training aimed at improving international responses to natural and manmade disasters, with particular emphasis on complex humanitarian emergencies. The grant supports the Certificate on Refugee and Humanitarian Emergencies and mid-career leadership training for officials in government, international and nongovernmental agencies involved in disaster relief. It also supports the Fritz Lecture on Humanitarian Relief.
Title: Internally Displaced Persons
Funder: Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement
Funding Level: $125,000 (June 2006-July 2007)
Description: ISIM will conduct research in support of the mandate of the Representative of the Secretary General on Internally Displaced Persons. Projects include an analysis of when internal displacement ends, a study of the integration of internal displacement issues into peace processes, and development and maintenance of a database on international, regional and national standards and laws related to internally displaced persons.
Title: Assessment of Disaster Relief Grantmaking
Funder: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Funding Level: $ 48,511 (September 2005–September 2006)
Description: This project enabled ISIM to make recommendations on ways to improve philanthropic giving for natural disaster and humanitarian emergency relief around the globe. It resulted in a report, “Philanthropic Grantmaking for Disaster Management: Trend Analysis and Recommended Improvements,” that includes steps that must be taken to address the full range of needs associated with disasters. In particular, the report’s authors suggest that donor organizations should employ a more comprehensive approach beyond immediate relief to focus on prevention, response and recovery.
Title: Building Capacity to Respond to Humanitarian Emergencies in Developing Countries
Funder: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Funding Level: $291,164 (December 2003-June 2005)
Description: Provides support for regional workshops to bring together nongovernmental organizations, academic institutions, and government officials in developing countries to plan for ways to improve their capacity to respond to natural and manmade disasters and to develop an inventory of best practices in capacity building.
Title: Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies
Funder: Mellon Foundation
Funding Level: $300,000 over 3 years (July 2003-June 2006)
Description: Provides support for teaching and research activities related to refugees and humanitarian emergencies. Through this grant, ISIM offers a Certificate in Refugee and Humanitarian Emergencies to Masters level students at the School of Foreign Service. The students take six courses related to humanitarian issues, forced migration, human rights and conflict prevention and resolution. The grant also permits ISIM to conduct research, hold symposia and workshops and undertake other activities aimed at improving responses to these crises.
Title: Improving Disaster Response
Funder: Fritz Family Foundation
Funding Level: $264,000 over 3 years (March 2004-Feb 2007)
Description: Provided support for teaching, research and workshops aimed at improving international responses to natural and manmade disasters, with particular emphasis on complex humanitarian emergencies. The grant supported the Certificate on Refugee and Humanitarian Emergencies, mid-career leadership training for officials in government, international and nongovernmental agencies involved in disaster relief, and workshops on improving logistics in humanitarian emergencies.
Title: Partnership to Enhance Capacities to Address Issues of Forced Migration in Eastern Africa
Funder: Mellon Foundation
Funding Level: $280,000 (January 2002-December 2004)
Description: This grant supported a partnership between Georgetown University and the University of Dar es Salaam, Makerere University and Moi University to enhance the capacity of the east African universities to address issues of forced migration. The grant supported regional workshops on refugee and humanitarian issues in east Africa, visiting scholars programs and institutional capacity building.
Title: Complex Forced Migration and the Humanitarian Regime
Funder: MacArthur Foundation/Lexington Books
Funding Level: $300,900 (January 2001-June 2003/December 2003-to complete book contract)
Description: This grant supported a collaborative project (with the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford, University of Dar es Salaam, Regional Center for Security Studies in Sri Lanka, and Brookings Institution) to examine the evolving humanitarian regime for addressing issues of forced migration. Looking at both external and internal movements, the project involves site visits to Sri Lanka, Burundi/Tanzania, Georgia, the Timors and Colombia, as well as headquarters interviews at the major UN agencies, donor governments and nongovernmental organizations. After developing options to improve international responses, the project team convened consultations in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia to discuss the project recommendations. Two volumes will be published out of this project, one on case studies and the other on policy proposals.
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Human Rights
Title: Human Rights Forum
Funder: Advocacy Project
Funding Level: $50,000
Description: ISIM has initiated a series of human rights events for visiting speakers, to be held on the Georgetown campus. This program is being jointly sponsored by the Advocacy Project, based in Washington, D.C. The broad goal is to encourage more discussion about human rights, and the “rights-based” approach to policy issues. As a result, special emphasis is given to migration (forced and voluntary), and the human rights implications of complex humanitarian emergencies.
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