Current Issue

Behind the Smoke and Mirrors of U.S. Immigration Policy:
Research from the Mexican Migration Project

Guest Editors: Jorge Durand and Douglas S. Massey

Vol. 684, July 2019

Who is migrating from Mexico to the United States, and why are they migrating? Since 1982, the Mexican Migration Project (MMP), co-directed by this volume’s special editors, has annually gathered data on documented and undocumented migration to the United States from random samples of households in sending communities located throughout Mexico and in US destination areas. Over the years, the project has compiled an extensive database of valid and reliable information on the patterns and processes of recent Mexican migration to the United States—and what the information reveals is surprising given the nature of national discussion on the topic in recent years.

This volume gathers contributions from scholars who draw on official statistics and MMP data to address the gap between public perceptions of U.S.-Mexico migration and the ramifications of these perceptions for U.S. policy. The research here cuts through ideological rhetoric, anecdotal evidence, lingering misconceptions, and untested theories to provide clear and solid analysis to better inform immigration policymaking moving forward.

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From the Archives

Truth as a Weapon in the Free World
Vol. 278, November, 1951
Richard Brecker

From the Introduction

In an address to the American Society of Newspaper Editors on April 20, 1950, President Truman declared that it was necessary for us to, “make ourselves heard round the world in a great campaign of truth”.   Calling attention to the vital importance of the psychological front in the present battle for world friendship, the President noted that the task of presenting the truth, “to the millions who are uninformed or misinformed or unconvinced… is not separate and distinct from other elements of our foreign policy. It is as important as armed strength or economic aid.  “We must,” he said, “pool our efforts with those of the other free peoples in a sustained, intensified program to promote the cause of freedom against the propaganda of slavery.”