An Evidence-Based View of Contemporary Immigration Policy Debates

Featuring Brian Kovak

The current structure of U.S. immigration policy was created 50 years ago. Substantial changes in the economic, social, political, and security landscape during the intervening decades have motivated many unsuccessful attempts to fundamentally reform the system. The past few years have seen unprecedented policy changes and associated legal challenges, along with proposals to construct a wall along the entire length of the U.S.-Mexico border. In this lecture, Professor Brian Kovak will discuss recent immigration policy debates from the perspective of quantitative research and policy analysis.

Brian Kovak is an Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College. He received a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan in 2010 and his research focuses on the labor market impacts of international trade and migration. His research has been published in journals such as the American Economic Review, the Review of Economics and Statistics, the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, and Demography. Prof. Kovak is a Faculty Research Fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a Research Fellow of IZA, and serves as an Associate Editor at the Journal of Development Economics. His research has been covered by various media outlets including the Atlantic, Financial Times, LA Times, Slate, and the Wall Street Journal.