Threatened peoples, threatened borders

International migration has risen rapidly to the top of the agenda for both foreign and domestic U.S. policy. As a foreign policy challenge, migration has joined a list of critical global issues that includes the environment, population, and the international economy.

Human dramas involving millions of refugees from Rwanda, Haiti, Cuba, and Bosnia, among many others, have been the focus of extensive media attention, and international migration has also become a decisive element in U.S. domestic politics, as in recent California and Florida elections.

The influx of refugees, asylum seekers, and other international migrants is increasingly regarded as a major humanitarian challenge and a threat to national and international security. The full range of U.S. foreign policy issues must be involved, beyond those concerning refugees and migration policies alone. Can U.S. aid, trade, and investment policies affect the exodus of illegal migrants from sending countries? Can U.S. population and environmental policies have an impact?

In this collection of original essays, sponsored by The American Assembly, some of America's leading authorities from government, academia, religious and other nonprofit organizations, the law, and the media examine the critical issues at hand for U.S. policy on migration.