The Center for Migration Research at the University of Kansas promotes, coordinates, and facilitates innovative high-quality interdisciplinary research on how human migration both shapes and is shaped by the social landscapes in which it takes place at the local, regional, national, and global levels. The Center strives to generate research-based knowledge that addresses pressing societal concerns and provides guidance for policy interventions.

New Report

The report titled, Temporary Protected Status in the United States: The Experiences of Honduran and Salvadoran Immigrants, is based on a comprehensive, national-level survey of the immigrant population on Temporary Protected Status conducted in 2016 through the Center for Migration Research. It provides information about this population's demographic profile, family composition, economic activities and fiscal contributions, remittances, community participation and civic engagement. Read the full report here.


Upcoming Events


All events for the 2020-2021 academic year will be hosted in collaboration with the Hall Center for the Humanities as part of their Migration Stories Lecture Series. You can also check out our Migration Seminar Series.

All events will be presented via Crowdcast. Register



Image of Donna Gabaccia and her book, Gender and International Migration: From the Slavery Era to the Global Age Donna Gabaccia
 In collaboration with the Hall Center for the Humanities Migration Stories Lecture Series
Wednesday, March 3, 2021
7:30 PM
Presented via Crowdcast.
Image of Denise Brennan and her book, Life Interrupted: Trafficking into Forced Labor in the United States Denise Brennan
 In collaboration with the Hall Center for the Humanities Migration Stories Lecture Series
Thursday, March 25, 2021
7:30 PM
Presented via Crowdcast.
Image of Lual Mayen and his game, Salaam Lual Mayen
 In collaboration with the Hall Center for the Humanities Migration Stories Lecture Series
Wednesday, April 7, 2021
5:30 PM
Presented via Crowdcast.



Resources on Immigration


In The News


Racial profiling of Latino immigrants influences indigenous, non-indigenous families differently, study finds
KU News - Fri, 7/28/2017

Immigrant detention centers referred to as family centers but resemble prisons, researchers find
KU News - Tue, 7/11/2017

Welcoming Remarks Win Award
Chancellor’s Bernadette Gray-Little’s 2016 welcoming remarks to the KU Center for Migration Studies’ Symposium on Race and Immigration has won an honorable mention as part of the Cicero Speechwriting Awards, a national competition judging professional rhetoric and speeches. The 2016 symposium was the opening public event for the center.

Migration to Russia and Europe: Gender and Vulnerabilities
The KU Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies spring newsletter features an interview with the Center for Migration Research co-director, Victor Agadjanian. Read the interview here.

Negative media portrayals drive perception of immigration policy, study finds
Negative media portrayals of Latino immigrants - as much as specific policies and laws - tend to drive the perception of immigration issues in the United States, according to a recent study by a University of Kansas professor. "We find that media have a central place in shaping the public's views of immigrants and immigration," said Cecilia Menjívar, a KU Foundation Distinguished Professor of Sociology. "Laws are critical, but media messages create conditions for policies to be created and passed and for them to be implemented. So the two work hand in hand." Read more and watch the video here.

Related News


Lawrence DACA Scholarship
The Lawrence DACA Scholarship assists with education-related expenses for students who are participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Awards of $650 per semester will be made to each recipient. Application deadline is August 1, 2017. Application is available in Word and PDF.

Information regarding executive order on immigration
On January 29th, KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little issued a statement on the recent executive order suspending immigration from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Read the statement here.

The KU Provost released this statement announcing a campus forum on the executive order on February 1st.

Also see analysis of the executive order by Donald Kerwin, Executive Director, Center for Migration Studies (NY)

Ruben Hernandez-Leon (UCLA) and Victor Zuñiga (Tec de Monterrey) are guest editors of the special issue of Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos (Volume 32, Number 2, Summer 2016) on Contemporary Return Migration from the United States to Mexico-Focus on Children, Youth, Schools and Families.
Explore Issue


American Behavioral Scientist Special Issue: Measuring the Diverging Components of Race
Guest editors: Wendy D. Roth, Mary E. Campbell and Jenifer L. Bratter
Explore Issue

American Behavioral Scientist Special Issue: Migration and Identity: Perspectives from Asia, Europe, and North America
Guest editors: Eric Fong, Maykel Verkuyten and Susanne Y. P. Choi
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American Behavioral Scientist Special Issue: Citizenship, Rights, and Deservingness
Guest editors: Roberto G. Gonzales, Nando Sigona and Edelina Muñoz Burciaga
Explore Issue