Resources for Migration Researchers

The Institute for Immigration Research (IIR) makes its research and Immigration Data on Demand (iDod) fact sheets publicly available for your migration-related research and information. For your research needs that extend beyond the IIR's available resources, we recommend the following additional resources: 

Migration Studies Collection - George Mason University Libraries

For a select list of books related to global migration and U.S. immigration, please visit the George Mason University Libraries' Migration Studies Collection page. This collection includes foundational books on migration and immigration studies and recent texts shaping academic and policy conversations about immigration.

There are many more books in the George Mason University Libraries and beyond. Please contact Young-Joo Lee, Social Sciences Librarian, for assistance in locating materials that may be relevant to your topic or to suggest a book to be added to the collection page.

U.S. Immigration Data Sources


IPUMS USA: This is a source of US Census data for social, economic, and health research. IPUMS USA collects, preserves, and harmonizes U.S. census microdata and provides easy access to this data with enhanced documentation. Data includes decennial censuses from 1790-2010 and American Community Surveys (ACS) from 2000 to the present.

Immigration Data Matters: This useful online guide published by the Migration Policy Institute links users directly to the most credible, high-quality data on immigrants and immigration in the United States and internationally. The easy-to-use publication includes more than 250 data resources compiled by governmental and authoritative nongovernmental sources. The guide covers a wide range of topics, among them foreign-born population stocks and flows, humanitarian and labor migration, naturalization, education and language attainment, labor force participation, income and poverty rates, remittance size and flow, immigration enforcement actions, public opinion, religious affiliation, and development indicators.

Office of Immigration Statistics: The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration Statistics (OIS) leads the collection and dissemination to Congress and the public of statistical information and analysis useful in evaluating the social, economic, environmental, and demographic impact of immigration laws, migration flows, and immigration enforcement. The Office establishes standards of reliability and validity for the Department’s immigration statistics. The Office also develops other immigration-related reports and conducts research at the direction of the Secretary.

The Immigration Policy Tracking Project: This resource is a comprehensive compilation of the Trump administration immigration policies. 

Immigration Priorities of the Incoming Trump Administration and Implications for Higher Education: This resource examines the policy priorities of the Trump administration, focusing on their potential impact on immigration issues critical to U.S. higher education. It provides brief summaries of policy proposals affecting DACA recipients and undocumented students and graduates without DACA, international students and scholars, and refugee and displaced students and scholars within higher education institutions.

Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States: This resource from Migration Policy Institute contains data on the sociodemographic and economic characteristics of immigrants in the United States

Bureau of Labor Statistics: The Bureau of Labor Statistics is a unit of the United States Department of Labor. It is the principal fact-finding agency for the U.S. government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics and serves as a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System.

Refugee Processing Center WRAPS Data on Refugees

Global Migration Data Sources

UNHCR: UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is a global organization working to save lives, protect rights and build a better future for refugees, internally displaced communities and stateless people. We work to ensure that everybody has the right to seek asylum and find refuge from violence or persecution.

Geospatial Data and Information

Social Explorer: Provides data and data visualizations on a wide range of topics.

ESRI Resources

Virginia Geographic Information Network: The Virginia GIS Clearinghouse is mandated by the Code of Virginia; it fosters a comprehensive coordinated system of geographic products, provides a catalog consisting of descriptions of GIS coverages maintained by individual executive branch and local government agencies, and meets several other legislative requirements for the benefit of the broader GIS community.  

Fairfax County, Virginia Open Geospatial Data

Select Datasets for Research