# Alex Nowrasteh

> Alex Nowrasteh is Senior Vice President for Policy at the Cato Institute and one of the most cited and combative voices in the U.S. immigration debate. A self-described 'radical' for open borders, he turns the standard fears about immigration - crime, terrorism, welfare, wages, culture - into testable claims and then publishes the numbers. He co-wrote the prize-winning 'Wretched Refuse?' and the rebuttal handbook 'The Most Common Arguments Against Immigration and Why They're Wrong,' and he is a regular on Capitol Hill, on cable news, and across the op-ed pages.

- **Role:** Senior Vice President for Policy at the Cato Institute
- **Organizations:** Cato Institute, Competitive Enterprise Institute (former)
- **From:** Southern California, USA
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BA in Economics, George Mason University, MS in Economic History (dissertation on the economics of counterinsurgency strategy), London School of Economics
- **Known for:** Co-author of 'Wretched Refuse?', winner of the 2022 SDAE Prize for Best Book in Austrian Economics, Author of 'The Most Common Arguments Against Immigration and Why They're Wrong', Peer-reviewed work published in the World Bank Economic Review, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, and Public Choice

## Career timeline

- **pre-2012** — Immigration policy analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute
- **2012** — Joins the Cato Institute as an immigration policy analyst
- **2013** — Listed by ABC News as #15 among top immigration experts on Twitter; featured in National Journal
- **2016** — Publishes 'Terrorism and Immigration: A Risk Analysis' policy study
- **2020** — Co-authors 'Wretched Refuse? The Political Economy of Immigration and Institutions' (Cambridge University Press) with Benjamin Powell
- **2022** — 'Wretched Refuse?' wins the SDAE Prize for Best Book in Austrian Economics
- **2024** — Testifies before the U.S. House of Representatives on immigration
- **2025** — Testifies before House Judiciary Committee (June); promoted to Senior Vice President for Policy at Cato (October 23)

## Achievements

- Co-author of 'Wretched Refuse?', winner of the 2022 SDAE Prize for Best Book in Austrian Economics
- Author of 'The Most Common Arguments Against Immigration and Why They're Wrong'
- Peer-reviewed work published in the World Bank Economic Review, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, and Public Choice
- Authored the influential 2016 risk-analysis study quantifying the foreign-born terrorism risk to Americans
- Frequent congressional witness on immigration policy
- Promoted to Senior Vice President for Policy, overseeing Cato's organization-wide research (2025)

## Latest updates

- **2025-10** — Promoted to Senior Vice President for Policy at the Cato Institute, overseeing the organization's research and content portfolio.
- **2025-06** — Testified before the House Judiciary Committee on immigration policy.

## Links

- Website: https://www.cato.org/people/alex-nowrasteh
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-nowrasteh-463a6a16/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/AlexNowrasteh

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/alex-nowrasteh
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-02