Migration Policy Institute Podcasts

Latest Episodes:

SI4RI Conference: The COVID-19 Crisis: A ”Make-or-Break” Moment for Social Innovation for Inclusion? Dec 10, 2021

Show notes

In this session Kenny Clewett, Director, Ashoka Hello Europe Initiative; Mustafa Alio, Managing Director, R-SEAT (Refugees Seeking Equal Access at the Table); Fayrouz Saad, Director of Public Engagement, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID); and Kava Spartak, Managing Director, YAAR e.V, Germany discuss the following questions in a conversation moderated by MPI Europe Policy Analyst Liam Patuzzi.

What role has social innovation played in responding to new forms of marginalization and inequality exacerbated by COVID-19, supporting the most vulnerable while preventing rifts within diverse communities?
How has the pandemic affected the operations of civil society, social enterprises, public service providers and other key players that have propelled social innovation for inclusion in recent years—on both sides of the Atlantic?
What models of engagement and service provision have suffered, and which ones have proven more resilient? What new forms of community engagement and solidarity have originated amid crisis, and how sustainable are they?
What main adaptation strategies have we observed—from shifting to digital to expanding emergency services, from seeking new funding/financing sources to strengthening collaboration with community leaders and other stakeholders?
What short- and long-term impact could these transformations and adaptations have on refugee and migrant inclusion?
After years of vitality and experimentation, but also persisting weaknesses and sustainability challenges, how well-placed is the ‘infrastructure of inclusion’ to address urgent and long-term needs of newly arrived refugees—both in Europe and North America?

WELCOMING REMARKS - Social Innovation for Refugee Inclusion (SI4RI): Sowing Innovation in the Cracks of Crisis Dec 10, 2021

Show notes

This virtual conference explores how the diverse landscape of partnerships, social enterprises, participatory models, and community-led initiatives spearheading social innovation for inclusion has fared during COVID-19. It also focuses on how this ecosystem can emerge strengthened from the pandemic, and be a vital force in addressing new humanitarian challenges.

Welcoming Remarks by:

Hanne Beirens, Director, MPI Europe

Brian Street, Refugee and Migration Affairs Officer, U.S. Mission to the European Union

Mary Coulter, Counsellor for Migration, Mission of Canada to the European Union,

Paul Soete, President of the Thematic Study Group on Immigration and Integration, European Economic and Social Committee

Moving Beyond Pandemic: The Corporate World’s Response to COVID-19 Pandemic, its Omicron Variant, Digital Nomad Visas & More Dec 09, 2021

Show notes

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a dramatic effect on the corporate sector, disrupting operations, ushering in changed thinking about the office environment, and chilling business travel. How has the business world responded? And in what way are COVID-19 protocols, new innovations, and trends in working practices affecting the decisions that companies make about the mobility of their workforce? In this episode, we speak with two former government officials who are now in the private sector—Ian Robinson of the immigration law firm Fragomen and Brendan Ryan, CEO of Nomadic, which provides digital solutions for corporate travel—about the trends and policy environment shaping business mobility decisions, whether the rise of the Omicron variant might scupper plans to restart travel, and whether the rise of digital nomad visas represent a fad or permanent shift.

The Importance of Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care for Immigrant and Dual Language Learner Families Dec 02, 2021

Show notes

Child care provided by family, friends, and neighbors (FFN) has long been critical in supporting immigrant and Dual Language Learner (DLL) families who are seeking to find safe, affordable, and culturally and linguistically relevant child-care options for their young children. While FFN caregivers offer important and resource-intensive services to these families, these types of care continue to be left out of policy conversations, professional development efforts, and funding considerations. With FFN care providers and the families that depend on them already significantly underserved by child-care and other systems, efforts to expand and improve child care that fail to take account of their needs may ultimately exacerbate gaps in quality and equity.
In this webinar, MPI Senior Policy Analyst Maki Park provides an overview of a policy brief she coauthored that discusses the importance of FFN care for immigrant and DLL families as well as barriers that immigrant-serving FFN caregivers face in accessing subsidies and other public supports. Lorena Garcia, Executive Director of the Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition (CSPC), spoke about program and policy approaches to more equitably serve FFN caregivers that CSPC has supported in Colorado. Natalie Renew, Director of Home Grown, discusses opportunities to leverage historic new investments contemplated for child-care systems to better support FFN care providers and the families in their care.

MPI 20th Anniversary Conference: Migration & Humanitarian Protection in a Rapidly Evolving World - Armchair Discussion Dec 02, 2021

Show notes

In the 20 years since the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) was founded, international migration trends and policies have changed in dramatic ways. The number of migrants has increased, many more migrants are in mixed flows with humanitarian protection needs, and migration has become a much more salient political issue in countries around the world. What do these trends presage for the future in terms of international migration governance and humanitarian protection?

During an armchair discussion, the Director-General of the International Organization for Migration, António Vitorino, and MPI cofounder and President Emeritus Demetrios G. Papademetriou discussed the evolution of international migration governance and its possible future. The conversation was moderated by Meghan Benton, Director for International Research, MPI and MPI Europe.

MPI 20th Anniversary Conference: Migration & Humanitarian Protection in a Rapidly Evolving World - Opening Panel Dec 02, 2021

Show notes

The conference opened with a panel discussion on humanitarian protection with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, MPI co-founder Kathleen Newland, and Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) President Wendy Young.

Changing Migration to Costa Rica and Implications for Immigrant Integration Policy Dec 01, 2021

Show notes

Within Latin America, Costa Rica is a top immigrant-destination country. New dynamics emerged beginning in 2015 as migration flows became increasingly mixed, with the arrival of refugees, seasonal and permanent immigrants, and extracontinental migrants transiting the country en route to destinations further north. With increasing numbers of Venezuelans and extracontinental migrants, and more recently a surge in Nicaraguan arrivals, there are greater pressures on the Costa Rican migration system’s capacity. The arrivals also have tested society’s acceptance of immigrants amid the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic, which strained government resources and presented unique challenges for migrants. Yet migration holds opportunities as Costa Rica potentially stands to benefit from this influx of human capital if properly managed.

This webinar marks the release of a report examining the state of Costa Rica’s institutional framework and initiatives supporting the integration of migrants and refugees, a particularly critical policy area as the immigrant population continues to grow. The discussion, which features key Costa Rican government officials and members of the private sector and civil society, explores where the migration system is most advanced and where challenges remain, along with how to better foster immigrant integration, in particular for recent arrivals, as well as social cohesion. Topics include regularization and registration, health, employment, and education.

The event was in Spanish and this is the live English interpretation.

How the Child Welfare System Can Better Respond to Needs of Children from Immigrant Families Dec 01, 2021

Show notes

One out of four children in the United States has an immigrant parent, and while the great majority of those parents are in the United States lawfully, 5 million children live with at least one parent who is an unauthorized immigrant. These families face many of the same issues and needs as other families and some have contact with state and local child welfare systems. Families with immigrant members interacting with state and local child welfare systems may face distinctive issues and challenges relating to a child or parent’s immigration status, barriers to service access resulting from linguistic and cultural differences, and fear or distrust toward public systems.

All child welfare agencies can take important steps to improve their responsiveness to the needs of these families and promote the well-being of these children. On this webinar, speakers will explore considerations for the child welfare field, along with promising state and local practices, and recommendations for staff training, procedures, child placement, and child welfare intersections with the immigration system.

The conversation draws on findings from Immigrant Families and Child Welfare Systems: Emerging Needs and Promising Policies, an MPI report done in collaboration with the American Public Human Services Association that explores recent developments and issues arising in states and local communities.

Effects of the Pandemic on High School English Learners and Ways to Help Them Recover Dec 01, 2021

Show notes

It is well established that the pandemic has upended the rhythms of school life, perhaps most acutely for high school English Learners (ELs) who are already racing to complete graduation requirements before aging out of the K-12 system. For many, the responsibility to care for family members or to earn family income took precedence over school, and for others, lack of digital access hampered regular attendance while most schools were engaged in distance learning. Beyond these major obstacles, students coped with disruptions to college and career planning, and missed out on academic, linguistic, and social-emotional supports, and the many extracurricular and community-based activities that often deepen and add meaning to students’ high school years.

This webinar illuminates these and other challenges experienced over the last two years. Speakers describe state- and district-level efforts to help ELs re-engage in high school, recover academically, and address mental health needs. Participants also hear the results of new research on the postsecondary aspirations of immigrant-background Latina/o students and how the pandemic may have helped shape their decisionmaking.

Cambios migratorios en Costa Rica e implicaciones para la política de integración de migrantes Dec 01, 2021

Show notes

Dentro de América Latina, Costa Rica es uno de los países principales de destino de migrantes. Desde el 2015, han surgido nuevas dinámicas a raíz de la diversificación de los flujos migratorios, dado la llegada de refugiados, migrantes estacionales y permanentes y migrantes extracontinentales que transitan por el país en ruta hacia destinos más al norte. Con un número creciente de venezolanos, migrantes extracontinentales, y más recientemente un aumento en las llegadas de nicaragüenses, el sistema migratorio costarricense ha enfrentado mayores presiones de capacidad. Las llegadas también han puesto a prueba la aceptación de los migrantes por parte de la sociedad en medio de la pandemia de COVID-19, que ha agotado los recursos gubernamentales y ha presentado desafíos para los migrantes. Sin embargo, la migración ofrece oportunidades y Costa Rica podría beneficiarse de esta afluencia de capital humano si se gestiona adecuadamente.
Este webinar marca la publicación de un informe que examina el marco institucional y las iniciativas del estado de Costa Rica que apoyan la integración de migrantes y refugiados, un área de política particularmente crítica a medida que la población migrante continúa creciendo. El debate, que conta con funcionarios de alto nivel del gobierno de Costa Rica y miembros del sector privado y la sociedad civil, explora dónde está más avanzado el sistema migratorio y dónde persisten los desafíos, junto con cómo fomentar mejor la integración de los inmigrantes, en particular para los recién llegados. Los temas incluyen la cohesión social, regularización y registro, salud, empleo y educación.