Globally, about 13 million people are refugees, having been displaced from their homes and forced to seek safety in other countries. School of Foreign Service professor Susan Martin discusses some of the major immigration issues around the globe and the U.S. policies in place to help refugees and displaced persons. She also discusses how the global economic crisis is affecting immigration and what Americans can expect from the Obama administration in terms of immigration reform.

Susan Martin, the Donald G. Herzberg associate professor of international migration, serves as the executive director of the Institute for the Study of International Migration in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. A long-time expert on immigration and refugee policy, Martin came to Georgetown after having served as the executive director of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform and director of research and programs at the Refugee Policy Group. Martin has authored Refugee Women, as well as numerous monographs and articles on immigration and refugee policy.