Economic Migration to the United States

To study the challenges and opportunities of skilled immigration flows to the United States, in 2020, the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) at Georgetown University Qatar launched a new project to explore the dynamics of “Economic Migration to the United States.” The aim was to bring together a group of scholars and experts to identify core areas of research that need to be undertaken to deepen our knowledge of the phenomenon. Some of the areas of focus that we aimed to include in this research effort, along with additional areas: the fluidity and challenges of migration categories, skilled migration and the changing spectrum of U.S. immigration policy, migrants’ and employment in the U.S., the H-1B visa program, international student mobility and migration, gender and migration in the U.S. The project also aimed to include particular areas of focus from different geographic lenses – including cases studies of economic migrants from East Asia, South Asia, Middle East, and Latin America.