The Niskanen Center is committed to the premise that immigration is an irreplaceable pillar of America’s economic, civic, and cultural strength. Our ability to attract the brightest minds and hardest workers worldwide has helped usher in an unprecedented period of U.S. innovation and dynamism. Our economic health depends on newcomers who fill critical gaps in our workforce, pay billions of dollars in taxes every year, and employ millions of Americans in their businesses.

Still, inaction has come to be the hallmark of contemporary immigration policy. Years of partisan and congressional gridlock have instilled a sense of complacency in the face of mounting backlogs and challenges.

Niskanen’s immigration department works to address these issues through four concrete policy areas that can garner bipartisan support: The involvement of everyday Americans in an expanded refugee sponsorship and resettlement system; the creation of reformed legal pathways that encourage economic growth; the enhancement of domestic and national security through the deployment of soft power and security initiatives; and the rebuilding of an effective immigration system.

Immigration was integral to America’s past, and by focusing on these policy issues, the Niskanen Center works to ensure it will also be central to our future economic and cultural health and prosperity.