Phillip Connor, Ph.D.

In collaboration with Center for Migration Study researchers, I supported the estimation of the temporarily protected or liminal population. This population include groups like DACA recipients, TPS holders, asylum seekers, and others, and together number an estimated 5.4 million or more than one-third of the broader undocumented population. Estimates are available by state and for a range of variables, including poverty rates, English usage, and other demographic and economic variables. 

Families being torn apart by immigration enforcement policies are not abstractions: they are U.S. citizen children, wives, husbands. With state and metro data, this report demonstrates how 900,000+ U.S. citizen children and 270,000+ U.S. citizen spouses could be separated from their undocumented parents or partner by 2029 under current policies. The scope of mass deportation is huge, separating hundreds of thousands of American families.

The numbers in this report make one thing unmistakably clear: asylum applicants are not a burden — they are an economic backbone. Over two million lawfully employed workers are building homes, stocking grocery shelves, caring for children and seniors, and paying tens of billions in taxes each year. Every policy decision that strips or delays their ability to obtain a work permit is a decision to harm American businesses, destabilize labor markets already starved for workers, and deprive communities.

When the Trump administration quietly eliminated the automatic extension of work permits in October 2025, it put as many as 3.8 million authorized workers at risk of losing their jobs — roughly 1 in every 50 workers in the U.S. workforce. They are vetted, legal residents — refugees, asylum seekers, TPS holders, and H-1B spouses — who are building their lives and careers here. The data makes clear this is a self-inflicted economic wound. Protecting work authorization isn't just the compassionate choice, it's the economically rational one.

At a pivotal moment in constitutional history, this peer-reviewed article delivers the economic case for birthright citizenship — published precisely when it matters most, ahead of amicus brief submissions and oral arguments before the Supreme Court. The findings lay bare the extraordinary scale of lifetime contributions made by birthright citizenship beneficiaries.

Black immigrants are indispensable to the American workforce and economy. Featuring the most current data on their substantial economic power — including state-by-state impact across top regions of residence — this publication has become the critical reference for journalists, policymakers, and advocates fighting to ensure these contributions are recognized and protected.

This urgent fact sheet makes an irrefutable case for extending Temporary Protected Status for Haitians. Representing 200,000 essential workers concentrated in health care and the leisure and hospitality sectors, Haitian TPS holders are woven into the fabric of everyday American life. 

At a pivotal moment in constitutional history, this peer-reviewed article delivers the economic case for birthright citizenship — published precisely when it matters most, ahead of amicus brief submissions and oral arguments before the Supreme Court. The findings lay bare the extraordinary scale of lifetime contributions made by birthright citizenship beneficiaries.

A cutting-edge, first of its kind, economic impact report showing how ending deportation protections, pursuing mass deportations, or restricting future immigration would raise costs for everyday American families.

This report met the moment—providing the critical insights needed to inform, influence, and elevate today’s immigration debate.

A powerful blend of data, personal narratives, and long-term projections that highlights the vital role DACA recipients—undocumented immigrants who arrived as children—play in the U.S. economy, workforce, families, and the nation's future.

A standout example of cross-disciplinary academic expertise—economists, sociologists, and demographers—coming together to model the long-term impact of threatened immigration policies.

Bringing together new survey data with demographic projections, the report estimates the number of future international student graduates who want to stay and work in the U.S. and their potential impact on the U.S. economy if given a straightforward path to remain in the U.S. The report provided advocates the statistics they needed to influence the administration and Congress.

At a moment when deportation threats are rising, an estimated 1 in 12 Christians in the U.S. are either vulnerable to deportation themselves or live alongside someone who is. This collaborative project pairs Phillip’s expert data work with the voices and stories of impacted communities—bringing numbers to life and driving real change.

Peer-reviewed articles in leading journals provide the credibility Phillip and his team needs to reassure advocates, policy makers, and legislators that the numbers they develop are accurate. This study not only shows the shifting statuses of undocumented immigrants, but also provides a methodological treatise of how similar data used in other studies is reliable.

Need to understand how an immigrant group is adjusting to their new lives in the U.S.? Rigorous surveying of newly-paroled immigrants show that most are working, economically independent, and have long-term plans to live in the U.S. This study shows how good research needs to think ahead several months ahead of the policy issues on the horizon. By getting an early start, the results hit just at the right moment for legal challenges to policy actions.

With relevant data already in hand, Phillip was able to prepare estimates for the administration's policy plans, offering them and other advocates the best estimates of the impacted population eligible for the policy. The estimates were cited by all media reporting on the policy, offering organizational relevance for future policy proposals, congressional engagement, and future fundraising.

Annual studies provide the regularity and dependence that organizations and congressional leadership rely on when a policy is being expanded or under threat. In its fourth year of reporting, the estimates in this report provide the media and members of Congress the data they need to demonstrate the impact of Temporary Protected Status on communities across the country.

Effective advocacy means reaching beyond the usual audiences—and meeting people where they are. This report engages rural communities on the urgent issues they face today: population decline and economic uncertainty. By highlighting how immigration can be part of the solution, it opened new doors and reframed the conversation on immigration. 

Sometimes the most powerful estimates can be the most critically-timed data. In the matter of a few days, with partners at American University, Phillip was asked to prepare an estimate for the number of Afghans that had worked with U.S. personnel and would be eligible for evacuation under immigration rules at the time, all in the effort to prolong the administration's timeline in evacuating as many wartime allies as possible. The data were featured in The New York Times.

This innovative study turned to an unconventional but powerful source—Google search data—to track the real-time flow of refugees across Europe. By analyzing search activity, it revealed the pathways refugees followed, from arrival in Greece to resettlement in countries like Germany. This study demonstrates how organizations can harness unconventional data sources like digital behavior to answer urgent policy questions and stay ahead of the curve.

This landmark research broke new ground, using over 1.5 million data points to map the religious dimensions of global migration. It revealed how religion is shaped by movement—and how some religious groups are far more mobile than others. The study’s findings were brought to life through a striking data visualization, making complex global patterns instantly accessible.

Stories and data combine to show how the faith of immigrants has a bearing on movement, their religious activity, and their integration into their destination country.  By using a comparative frame across global regions, the analysis demonstrates that the revealed patterns are more broadly experienced no matter where immigrants live.

After years of Pew Research Center producing trusted estimates of the unauthorized immigrant population in the U.S., Phillip had the unique privilege of partnering with Jeffrey Passel—the pioneer of U.S. estimates of the unauthorized population—to break new ground: producing the first post-refugee crisis estimates of the unauthorized immigrant population in Europe. 

Find matching data across two different contexts, and you have a comparison. This study draws on multiple data sources to show policy makers the demographics for their group of concern, and how they compare across regions. In doing so,  it demonstrates that not all policies can be applied summarily in all places.

Phillip's most cited academic article, this peer-reviewed study shows the unique economic and health challenges refugees experience compared with other lawful immigrants. It is a prime example of taking existing, yet innovative, data and maximizing its policy relevance for a specific immigrant group.

Before it’s even available online, this book project is already speaking to the moment. Yes, it includes data—but what sets it apart is how it weaves personal stories with centuries of wisdom to challenge, inform, and inspire change. MAKE RIGHT offers a bold and timely vision for confronting the injustices we encounter every day.

Using data from around the world, both for religion and economies, this joint venture shows that the future economic growth will be conditioned by religious groups. A first-of-its-kind project, it is an example of a brainstorming idea that went from concept to execution in a defined period of time, using data already publicly available. 

Leaders do know best. This survey of organization leadership allowed for the sponsoring organization to better understand new opportunities in reshaping and expanding their work. Phillip can conduct national surveys or come in after the fact, as in this report, to conduct the data analysis and prepare the final product.

Program and organizational evaluation is critical for advancing underlying goals. Understanding what is happening in the field offers a unique perspective in proposing changes for improvement. This project surveyed hundreds of churches, using robust data analysis to discover patterns of success.