While scholars have long sought to understand how immigrants adapt to their new homes and to a new way of living, immigration policy has become increasingly consequential in recent years in shaping how immigrants and their children experience life in the United States and abroad.
The Immigration Initiative at Harvard (IIH) advances interdisciplinary scholarship, original research, and intellectual exchange on issues related to the nature, effects, and implications of immigration on children, youth, families, and communities, with a special focus on the intersection of immigration with education. The IIH serves as a place of convening for scholars, students, policymakers, community leaders, and practitioners, and we are a clearinghouse for the translation of rigorous research into promising, evidence-based practices.
Much of the work of IIH focuses on the children of immigrants - the fastest growing child and youth population in our country. Currently, the children of immigrants account for 27% of children and 33% of all young adults.