January 8, 2025 Dear John, As the country reflects on the life and legacy of Jimmy Carter, one aspect of his presidency has received scant attention: His administration’s actions in the humanitarian protection and immigration policy realm. Yet they were significant and hold lessons for the present day, as Doris Meissner and Muzaffar Chishti write in a new short read. Carter’s embrace of human rights as a defining principle of public policy was central to his administration, and this extended to the U.S. approach to refugees. From pivotal responses during the Indochina refugee crisis and Cuba's Mariel boatlift to his signing into law of the Refugee Act of 1980, which moved the country from ad hoc crisis response to a modern resettlement system, his administration laid the foundation for policies that continue to guide U.S. immigration today. The piece notes Carter’s use of authorities including parole and the creation of lawful pathways to incentivize orderly admissions, as well as his support for legislative solutions that balanced legalization for unauthorized immigrants with enforcement. “The values, leadership, and scope of solutions that Carter demonstrated constitute a legacy of enduring imprints and insights that remain relevant for immigration policymaking going forward,” Meissner and Chishti write. As the country’s 39th president is honored this week in Washington, DC, we invite you to read this insightful reflection on his lasting influence on immigration: www.migrationpolicy.org/news/carter-immigration-legacy. |
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| The Migration Policy Institute is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank in Washington, D.C. dedicated to analysis of the movement of people worldwide. MPI provides analysis, development and evaluation of migration and refugee policies at the local, national and international levels. For more on MPI, please visit www.migrationpolicy.org. |
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