Migration, Immigration, Diasporas, and Refugees

U.S. Census Bureau Migration and Geographic Mobility Statistics - Information about surveys/programs that collect information about internal/domestic migration and estimates of international migration, including:

• The American Community Survey (includes place of birth, year of entry, residence one year ago, citizenship status, county-to-county migration flows) 
• Net Migration by Decade, 1950-2020 provides estimates of net migration broken down by age, race, Hispanic origin, and sex for all U.S. counties and states each decade from 1950 to 2020. See also Demographic Characteristics of the Population of the United States, 1930-1950: County-Level
• Current Population Survey Monthly survey conducted by Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census bureau.  Create data tables on various topics, including foreign born workers. Special topical modules of the survey have included immigration. A chart of those supplements indicates the topics, the months and years they were administered, and whether or not the data are available. Microdata can be obtained via several sources.
• Population Estimates (see Geographic Mobility tables)
• Decennial Census (see 2000 and earlier) 
• Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) - Domestic migration and length of time at current residence.

Note: Governments vary in the way they collect statistics on international and internal migrants and many do not count the number of individuals who emigrate from the country. The sources below provide comparative figures calculated by the issuing organization. For more detailed information, it may be helpful to examine publications from individual country statistical offices. In addition, Stokes Library houses a print collection of international census publications and vital statistics. They may be found by searching the Library catalog with the following Subject headings: (country name) -- Census or (country name) -- Statistics, Vital (for example, Argentina--Census or Nigeria--Statistics, Vital). To find microdata about immigration available through Princeton University Libraries, see Data and Statistical Services. 

Migration Policy

In addition to the following, see also the DEMIG Policy dataset listed above.

The following resources provide focused reviews of the scholarship and research relating to various aspects of migration, which can help you understand the context of your research question as well as identify sources for further exploration.

Here are some examples of what you might find:

Several subject headings exist to search in the catalog for works about immigration, migration, and immigrants.

• Migration: search by receiving country and then --Emigration and immigration, for example United States--Emigration and immigration​
  • may be futher subdivided by topics like --government policy, --economic aspects, --history, --statistics
• Immigrants
  • may be subdivided by names of places where immigrants settle, e.g. immigrants--France or by key topics like --education, --employment, --government policy, --political activity, or both, like immigrants--France--social conditions 
• Children of immigrants or immigrant children or women immigrants
• Undocumented immigrants or undocumented immigrant children or children of undocumented immigrants and their host country --United States
• Refugees and their host country --Germany
• Diasporas: nationality group and the place in which they live, e.g. Hungarians--Romania or Chinese--Southeast Asia or
• Migration, Internal and the country of interest --United States
• Return migration and the country of interest --Mexico
• Forced migration and the country of interest --Russia (Federation)
• Deportation and the country of interest --United States
• Migrant labor or Migrant agricultural laborers or Foreign workers
• Immigrants in literature or Immigrants' writings
• Intercountry adoption