The Migrant Rights Initiative conducts cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research on the human rights of migrants and fosters opportunities for innovative action that reshapes the way governments treat people who cross international borders.. The mission of the Migrant Rights Initiative is to help ensure that the human rights of all international migrants are protected, regardless of the impetus for their migration. The Initiative supported the drafting and adoption by the human rights bodies of the Organization of American States and African Union, respectively, of the 2019 Inter-American Principles on the Human Rights of All Migrants, Refugees, Stateless Persons, and Victims of Human Trafficking, and the 2023 African Guiding Principles on the Human Rights of All Migrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers. Together, these soft law principles apply to close to half of U.N. member states. The African Guiding Principles include the first definition of “climate migrant” and “climate refugee” ever to be adopted by an international body. The Initiative’s Migrant Rights Database (MRD) is the first global data source benchmarking the extent to which states fulfill international obligations in national law and how they implement these protections. The database applies a novel instrument that permits an objective, cross-national account of the laws protecting migrants’ rights enshrined in national legal frameworks. This novel data, covers national protection of migrant rights in 45 countries hosting more approximately 75 percent of the world’s migrants, and including observations from 2020 and 2023. The database stands to strengthen law and governance, crystalizing global compliance with the core human rights of all migrants.