SEPTEMBER 19-22, 2019

What’s Really Going on at the Border

Migration Policy at the US-Mexico Border:
A Complicated Panorama

​

Andrew Selee, PhD

President
Migration Policy Institute

​Key Points• Mexico is the #1 trading partner for the US –  $2 billion in goods per day• Most Mexico-US border crossings are legal – 1 million people per day• Changing demographics at the border: fewer Mexicans and more Central Americans, families, children, and asylum seekers• Solutions:– Make the asylum process efficient– Employ a case management model instead of detention– Develop employment-based opportunities for Central and South Americans in their home cities– Invest in the root causes driving migration (especially governance, rule of law)

Andrew Selee, PhD, President of the Migration Policy Institute, reminded the Forum that the US and Mexico have the largest single trade relationship between any two countries in the world, with 1 million people and almost $2 billion in goods crossing legally each day.

 Most immigration to the US overall is legal, but illegal crossings undermine the integrity of the system and require response. The challenge is that many illegal immigrants are asylum seekers seeking protection from persecution and many more are families with children or unaccompanied minors.

The need for humane policies to address these cases further complicates immigration policy and also has implications for the States where immigrants will ultimately reside. Dr. Selee reviewed the current US strategy to address these problems and proposed some realistic alternatives.

​

Senators Mary Kay Papen (NM) and Stuart Adams (UT) spoke with presenter Andrew Selee (Migration Policy Institute) about solutions to the immigration crisis.

​US-Mexico Border

© 2018 Migration Policy Institute

​More Families, More Minors

© 2018 Migration Policy Institute

​

Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins (NY) and presenter Andrew Selee (Migration Policy Institute) enjoy a lighter moment speaking with Erica Sechrist (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP), while Kevin Riordan (Anthem) and Amanda Conochalla Grimmer (Darden restaurants) listen.

Speaker Biography

​Andrew Selee  

Andrew Selee is President of the Migration Policy Institute, succeeding co-founder Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Michael Fix. He came to MPI from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, where he served as Executive Vice President from January 2014 through April 2017.

Dr. Selee has worked closely in the past on two of MPI’s signature initiatives: the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America’s Future, and the Regional Migration Study Group, which was jointly convened by MPI and the Wilson Center. He also served as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations' Task Force on Immigration.

The founding Director of the Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute, Dr. Selee is a respected scholar and analyst of Mexico and U.S.-Mexico relations. A frequent commentator in the media, he has also written and edited a number of books and policy reports on U.S.-Mexico relations, Mexican and Latin American politics, and Latino immigrant civic engagement in the United States, and is a regular columnist with the Mexican newspaper El Universal. His latest book, Vanishing Frontiers: The Forces Driving Mexico and the United States Together, was published by Public Affairs in June 2018.

​

In his role as Executive Vice President of the Wilson Center and previously as Vice President for Programs, Dr. Selee was involved with the Center’s wide-ranging initiatives in Europe, Asia, Africa, Eurasia, and the Middle East. He is also the author of a major book on think tank strategy, What Should Think Tanks Do? A Strategic Guide to Policy Impact (Stanford 2013).

Dr. Selee has regularly taught courses at Johns Hopkins University and George Washington University since 2006 and was a visiting professor at El Colegio de Mexico.

Prior to joining the Wilson Center as an associate in the Latin American Program in 2000, he was a professional staffer in the U.S. House of Representatives and worked for five years with the YMCA of Baja California in Tijuana, Mexico, helping to start a community center and a home for migrant youth. He later served on the National Board of the YMCA of the USA and chaired its International Committee.

Dr. Selee holds a Ph.D. in policy studies from the University of Maryland, an M.A. in Latin American studies from the University of California, San Diego, and a B.A. in Latin American studies (Phi Beta Kappa) from Washington University in St. Louis.

SEPTEMBER 19-22, 2019

What’s Really Going on at the Border

Migration Policy at the US-Mexico Border:
A Complicated Panorama

​

Andrew Selee, PhD

President
Migration Policy Institute

​Key Points• Mexico is the #1 trading partner for the US –  $2 billion in goods per day• Most Mexico-US border crossings are legal – 1 million people per day• Changing demographics at the border: fewer Mexicans and more Central Americans, families, children, and asylum seekers• Solutions:– Make the asylum process efficient– Employ a case management model instead of detention– Develop employment-based opportunities for Central and South Americans in their home cities– Invest in the root causes driving migration (especially governance, rule of law)

Andrew Selee, PhD, President of the Migration Policy Institute, reminded the Forum that the US and Mexico have the largest single trade relationship between any two countries in the world, with 1 million people and almost $2 billion in goods crossing legally each day.

 Most immigration to the US overall is legal, but illegal crossings undermine the integrity of the system and require response. The challenge is that many illegal immigrants are asylum seekers seeking protection from persecution and many more are families with children or unaccompanied minors.

The need for humane policies to address these cases further complicates immigration policy and also has implications for the States where immigrants will ultimately reside. Dr. Selee reviewed the current US strategy to address these problems and proposed some realistic alternatives.

​

Senators Mary Kay Papen (NM) and Stuart Adams (UT) spoke with presenter Andrew Selee (Migration Policy Institute) about solutions to the immigration crisis.

​US-Mexico Border

© 2018 Migration Policy Institute

​More Families, More Minors

© 2018 Migration Policy Institute

​

Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins (NY) and presenter Andrew Selee (Migration Policy Institute) enjoy a lighter moment speaking with Erica Sechrist (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP), while Kevin Riordan (Anthem) and Amanda Conochalla Grimmer (Darden restaurants) listen.

Speaker Biography

​Andrew Selee is President of the Migration Policy Institute, succeeding co-founder Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Michael Fix. He came to MPI from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, where he served as Executive Vice President from January 2014 through April 2017.

Dr. Selee has worked closely in the past on two of MPI’s signature initiatives: the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America’s Future, and the Regional Migration Study Group, which was jointly convened by MPI and the Wilson Center. He also served as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations' Task Force on Immigration.

The founding Director of the Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute, Dr. Selee is a respected scholar and analyst of Mexico and U.S.-Mexico relations. A frequent commentator in the media, he has also written and edited a number of books and policy reports on U.S.-Mexico relations, Mexican and Latin American politics, and Latino immigrant civic engagement in the United States, and is a regular columnist with the Mexican newspaper El Universal. His latest book, Vanishing Frontiers: The Forces Driving Mexico and the United States Together, was published by Public Affairs in June 2018.

​

In his role as Executive Vice President of the Wilson Center and previously as Vice President for Programs, Dr. Selee was involved with the Center’s wide-ranging initiatives in Europe, Asia, Africa, Eurasia, and the Middle East. He is also the author of a major book on think tank strategy, What Should Think Tanks Do? A Strategic Guide to Policy Impact (Stanford 2013).

Dr. Selee has regularly taught courses at Johns Hopkins University and George Washington University since 2006 and was a visiting professor at El Colegio de Mexico.

Prior to joining the Wilson Center as an associate in the Latin American Program in 2000, he was a professional staffer in the U.S. House of Representatives and worked for five years with the YMCA of Baja California in Tijuana, Mexico, helping to start a community center and a home for migrant youth. He later served on the National Board of the YMCA of the USA and chaired its International Committee.

Dr. Selee holds a Ph.D. in policy studies from the University of Maryland, an M.A. in Latin American studies from the University of California, San Diego, and a B.A. in Latin American studies (Phi Beta Kappa) from Washington University in St. Louis.