Leveraging the Links between Migration and Development: US Government Policy, Practice, and Potential

International migration generates massive development resources for countries of migrant origin. US development policies and programs still have not incorporated the insights of more than a decade of research and observation on the development gains to be derived from the bridges that migrants build between countries of origin and destination. This paper reviews the positions and activities of the US government that have linked international migration with social, political and, above all, economic development in migrants’ countries of origin, through 2016. It specifies major opportunities for the government to do more for its overseas development policy goals by shaping the terms on which migration occurs, including in times of restricted immigration.