Feature
Counting the Uncountable: Overseas Americans
The immigration debate in the United States often focuses on how many foreign born enter and reside in the country. Much less attention is paid to Americans who live abroad — a population estimated at anywhere from 2 million to 7 million. This article examines the challenges of enumerating this population and also explores top destinations for American expats, their livelihoods, and motivations for leaving the United States.

[Source: Migration Information Source]

Bureau of Labor Statistics: The Editor’s Desk

The Editor’s Desk (familiarly shortened TED) at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, brings out daily “fresh information from all over the Bureau,” coupled with intriguing data and links of note. On the site’s homepage, visitors will find sections like Topics, Archive by Year, Archive by Program, and About TED. The Topics area includes a panoply of subjects, such as Benefits, Projections, and Technology. The Recent Articles area contains links to pieces on job openings, payroll employment, and large technology firms. Additionally, the site contains an On Interest area which features statistical overviews of major trends in employment, health care, and collective bargaining.

[Source: Scout Report, Volume 19, Number 20, May 17, 2013]

Feature
Integrating Europe’s Muslim Minorities: Public Anxieties, Policy Responses
Muslim integration is one of the most contentious issues in the immigration debate in Europe, and one that gets to the heart of public anxieties about immigration. This article explores public perception toward Muslims in Western Europe and the array of integration policies that countries in the region have adopted during the past several years.

[Source: Migration Information Source]

The Leitner Center for International Law and Justice has launched a new report, “International Criminal Tribunals: A Visual Overview”.  For public interest law focus, this new 90-page report provides analysis and information through visual summaries in infographics to introduce the work of the international criminal courts and tribunals. The report also reviews the conflicts that led to the establishment of each court; their costs and funding; the crimes the courts are charging, the status of each case, and their conviction rates; sentencing; and reparations.  The report is available now for download at http://www.leitnercenter.org/files/News/International Criminal Tribunals.pdf

For more details, please read the Leitner news at http://www.leitnercenter.org/news/99/

Urban Institute: CHA Families and the Plan for Transformation

The Urban Institute provides high-quality research on economic and social policy, addressing topics such as education, employment, crime, and governance. This clutch of documents looks at the transformation of the Chicago Housing Authority and the provision of public housing in the city. The five briefs “describe key successes and challenges faced by CHA and its residents.” Titles address topics like “How Chicago’s Public Housing Transformation Can Inform Federal Policy?” and “Chronic Violence: Beyond the Developments.” Along with these insightful documents, you can also look over the Previous Briefs area. Here you will find “The Health Crisis for CHA Families,” “CHA After Wells-Where are the Residents Now?” and a dozen other briefs.

[Source: Scout Report, Volume 19, Number 17, April 26, 2013]

OECD Working Papers Series
The mantra of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is “Better Policies for Better Lives.” OECD’s work spans the world and features a team of economists, sociologists, and others working on problems as diverse as higher education, access to clean water, and energy policy. The OECD Working Papers Series spans 19 crucial areas, including agriculture, development, environment, finance, and health care. You should definitely check out the Tourism papers, as they include the compelling work “Green Innovation in Tourism Services.” The Local Economic and Employment (LEED) papers are quite good as well, covering timely topics like urban governance and regional policy decision making. You can sign up to receive updates about new papers as they are released to the site.

[Source: Scout Report, Volume 19, Number 18, May 3, 2013]

Policy Beat
Sweeping Senate Bill Sets the Stage for Fundamental Overhaul of US Immigration System

After months of negotiations, a bipartisan group of US senators informally called the “Gang of Eight” in mid-April introduced long-awaited legislation for sweeping reform of the US immigration system. This article provides a summary of the Senate bill’s provisions and outlines the main critiques and obstacles ahead, including a tight legislative calendar, a difficult political dynamic in the House of Representatives, and an early stumbling block precipitated by the Boston Marathon bombing.

[Source: Migration Information Source]

Free journal articles For April:

1. Persistent poverty and children’s development in the early years of childhood - Policy & Politics

HKUL users can continue to access Policy & Politics.

2. Evidence, policy and pragmatics: a case study on the development of a national research and data strategy on children’s lives and the role of knowledge exchange - Evidence & Policy

HKUL users can continue to access Evidence & Policy.

3. Poor and dissatisfied? Income poverty, poverty transitions and life satisfaction in Chile - Journal of Poverty & Social Justice

HKUL users can continue to access Journal of Poverty & Social Justice.

4. Building better neighbourhoods? Insights into the contributions of local faith-based organisations - Voluntary Sector Review
5. Still a woman’s job: the division of housework in couples living with dementia - Families, Relationships & Societies

[Source: The Policy Press]

Immigration in the United States: New Economic, Social, Political Landscapes with Legislative Reform on the Horizon
Immigration has contributed to many of the economic, social, and political processes that are foundational to the United States as a nation since the first newcomers arrived over 400 years ago. After brushes with immigration reform that began in 2001 and continued in 2006 and 2007, the United States seems to be on the threshold of overhauling the legal immigration system in the most substantive way since 1965. This article provides a comprehensive overview of major legislation and events affecting US immigration throughout history, legal and illegal immigration flows, postrecession immigration trends, and more.

[Source: Migration Information Source]

Top Five Reasons Why Africa Should Be a Priority for the United States

Released in March 2013, this report from the Brookings Institution’s African Growth Initiative provides compelling information on why the African continent should be a public policy priority for the United States. The report is divided into five short sections, including “China in Africa: Implications for U.S. Competition and Diplomacy,” “Transforming the U.S.-African Commercial Relationship,” and “Advancing Peace and Security in Africa.” It’s a timely work that sets out a cogent argument and will be of particular interest to public policy scholars, journalists, and others interested in global politics.

[Source: Scout Report, Volume 19, Number 15, April 12, 2013]

To share ideas of outreach activities, promote interests in global UN issues and encourage the use of UN information resources, Dag Hammarskjöld Library has recently launched a Global Outreach Map.  With this map, feedback about the kind of research works related to the collection of UN documents and publications, list of promotional activities and training workshops organized by the UN Depository Libraries will be published.  Click on link to view the map now,  http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/deplib/index.html