Policy Reports
Economic Integration of Foreign-Born New Yorkers: Lessons Learned and Policy Implications
The nation is facing a workforce crisis. With shrinking birth rates and an aging population, there are pervasive workforce shortages in many sectors. Foreign-born residents represent a pool of workers who can offset population loss and fill some of the gaps in workforce needs. Additionally, the economic integration of foreign-born New Yorkers is a critical pathway to social, civic, and political integration. Yet, many barriers significantly hinder the ability to harness the potential of immigrant workers and curtail the opportunity structures afforded to immigrant New Yorkers.
In this brief, we present five cases adapted from real-life situations. Each case illustrates the conditions that obstruct the ability to leverage the economic contributions and facilitate the economic integration of thousands of immigrants in New York State. These conditions are unique to the immigrant experience and can be addressed through policy and practice interventions. We corroborate the cases using experts’ testimonies, offered at forums and events convened by the Institute on Immigrant Integration Research & Policy in 2023-2024. The brief discusses problems facing immigrant New Yorkers which include the inability to reach and serve the population with resources and information; limited capacity to address fiscal constraints at the micro, meso, and macro levels; policies and regulations that limit eligibility and exclude populations from benefits and protections; protectionism, prejudice and lack of awareness; and system fragmentation, lack of sufficient coordination and integration of services. The brief also offers policy and practice recommendations which include expanding access to accelerators of immigrant economic integration such as scaling culturally and linguistically sensitive workforce development, and providing greater access to capital, social, physical, and mental health services, credentialing and licensing, in-state tuition and state aid, English language learning, and labor protections. Expanding community and employer education to facilitate social cohesion and skill-based recruitment as well as strengthening cross-sector partnerships that bridge gaps in serving this population are recommendations that emerged from the experts.
<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://qa.nyimmigrants.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2025-01-Economic-Integration-FB-NY.pdf">Read the full brief</a>.</span></strong>
Immigration-Related Provisions of H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
H.R. 1—The One Big Beautiful Bill Act—is a sweeping package of new laws merging major tax cuts and business incentives for high earners, deep cuts and requirements in health and nutrition programs, massive new defense spending, rollback of clean-energy policies, and overhauls immigration enforcement—mandating border wall construction, expanding detention, and curbing asylum and parole, all while increasing the federal deficit and debt ceiling. The immigration-related provisions in H.R. 1 (119th Congress) will have broad and significant impacts across the U.S. immigration system now that it has been signed into law on July 4, 2025. It will provide an unprecedented investment in federal immigration enforcement, allocating approximately $140 billion over the next five years through FY 2029. In this brief, we provide analysis of impacts of the bill on immigrant enforcement and the immigration system.
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://qa.nyimmigrants.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/iii-obbba-brief.pdf">Read the full policy brief</a>.</strong></span>
Engineering Cohesive Communities: Social Integration of Foreign-Born Americans
In June 2025, the Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy at the Rockefeller Institute of Government hosted a virtual conference that examined the theme of “Engineering Cohesive Communities: Social Integration of Foreign-Born Americans,” and explored building inclusive communities through research, policy, and cross-sector collaboration. Key speakers included government leaders, policy makers, scholars, practitioners, and community organizers who shared personal stories, legislative initiatives, and models for social integration. They underscored the urgent need for inclusive governance and social integration of foreign-born Americans.
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://qa.nyimmigrants.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/iii-25-conf-summary.pdf">Read the conference summary</a>.</strong></span>
Policy Overview in a Minute
Essays by the Institute on Immigrant Integration's Scholars-in-Residence
The Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy’s scholars-in-residence shared research-based perspectives on the value of economic integration of immigrants in a series of brief essays. Read their analyses.
