Could prosperity at home curb migration?

Jun 27, 2019
A new report suggests sending aid abroad could help ease a surge in inward migration.
A Guatemalan migrant recently released from federal detention holds an envelope with a message written in English as he waits inside a bus depot on June 11, 2019, in McAllen, Texas.
LOREN ELLIOTT/AFP/Getty Images

Short-notice tariffs: a wrench in the border machine

Jun 6, 2019
The prospect of pop-up tariffs hitting everything coming across the border has the people who work in the export-import trade worried.
Cargo trucks line up to cross into the U.S. at the Otay Mesa crossing port in Tijuana, Mexico, in April.
Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty Images

Trump prompts protests with promise of new Mexican tariffs

May 31, 2019
Donald Trump says he is placing a 5% tariff on Mexican imports, effective June 10, to pressure the country to curb immigration into the U.S. by undocumented migrants.
Aerial view of cargo trucks heading to the United States lining up near the commercial port of entry in Otay, in Tijuana, Baja California state on May 30, 2019.
GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP/Getty Images

Why it's the "nonfarm" payrolls report

May 1, 2019
The Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly report doesn't count jobs down on the farm. We explain why.
Farmworkers pull weeds in a spinach field near El Centro, California, in January.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

H-2A visas: A primer

Apr 25, 2019
The U.S. government issued a record 240,000 H-2A work visas last fiscal year. Farmers employ temporary workers from Mexico, Central American nations and other countries to plant, maintain and harvest their crops.
A farm worker harvests lettuce in a farm field near have the border town of Calexico, California.
HECTOR MATA/AFP/Getty Images

What does a citizenship question mean for census data and dollars?

Apr 23, 2019
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether the 2020 census should include a citizenship question.
Demonstrators rally at the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on April 23, 2019, to protest a proposal to add a citizenship question in the 2020 Census.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Travel ban takes its toll on small businesses

Apr 12, 2019
Businesses are struggling with hiring, access to capital and family separation.
Shahab Mothena, co-owner of Amir Deli in Brooklyn, is waiting for his Yemeni wife, currently living in Egypt, to be issued a visa. 
Nina Roberts for Marketplace

Closing Mexico border could bring U.S. auto production to a halt

Apr 2, 2019
The White House is backtracking slightly on President Trump’s recent threats to close the U.S.-Mexico border on security concerns. Today, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said there’s no specific timeline and that it’s “not our first choice,” but she also said it may be the best decision. However, the economic consequences of closing the southern border […]
A Mexican girl walks near by the metal fence between Ciudad Juarez, Cihuahua state, Mexico and Sunland Park, New Mexico, U.S., on May 3, 2018.
PEDRO PARDO/AFP/Getty Images

U.S. cuts aid to Central America over immigration; critics say that will backfire

Apr 1, 2019
In an effort to slow the flow of Central America migrants into the U.S., President Trump said he’s cutting direct aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The U.S. sends money to those countries to help them combat drug trafficking, gang violence and to promote economic growth. Click the audio player above to hear the full […]
Honduran migrants leave the Metropolitan Center of San Pedro Sula, 300 kms north of Tegucigalpa, to travel to the Guatemala border.
ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP/Getty Images