Upcoming Panel: The Weaponization of Immigration

The Center for Immigration Studies will host a panel discussion examining how immigration is used as a political, economic, and strategic tool by governments, non-state, and sub-state actors worldwide. Whether through mass migration crises, policy-driven border surges, or the manipulation of refugee flows, immigration has become a powerful geopolitical weapon and a means of waging hybrid warfare. Examples have included Cuba’s use of the Mariel boatlift in 1980 or the more recent efforts by Belarus to coordinate illegal immigration to the EU.

This panel will explore the concept of immigration warfare – how immigration is leveraged to gain political leverage; influence legislation, elections, and the economy; shape public opinion; and even destabilize a country. Discussion will also cover how nations can respond to this growing challenge.

The discussion is an activity of the International Network for Immigration Research (INIR), a collaboration among independent policy organizations on three continents sharing the perspective that each sovereign nation has the right to pursue its chosen immigration policies.

Date: Friday, April 4, 2025, at 11:00 am EDT 
Location: Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2237 45 Independence Ave SW, Washington, D.C.
Streamed: YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter
RSVP: [email protected]

Participants:

Viktor Marsai, Director, Migration Research Institute, Budapest
Phillip Linderman, Retired senior Foreign Service officer, State Department; Board Member, Center for Immigration Studies
Eric Ruark, Director of Research. Numbers USA, Washington, D.C.
Mark Krikorian, Moderator, Executive Director, Center for Immigration Studies