Cecilia Esterline

Cecilia Esterline is a Senior Immigration Policy Analyst at the Niskanen Center, where she focuses on employment-based visa policy, international student retention, and economic analysis. Her writing has been published in a variety of outlets, including The Washington Post, The Hill, and The Milken Institute Review. Her research and commentary have been featured on CNBC and NPR and in various print and online sources, including Bloomberg, Newsweek, POLITICO, and The Washington Post, among others.

Cecilia holds a Master of Science in International Migration and Public Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies: World Politics & Diplomacy and Latin American, Latino, and Iberian Studies from the University of Richmond.

Cecilia Esterline posts

Commentary
Immigration

Reforming the international student work authorization programs

04 Feb 2026 Cecilia Esterline
Media
Immigration
Labor Immigration

Esterline on Envoy Global

17 Oct 2025 Cecilia Esterline
Testimony
Immigration
Labor Immigration

Public comment: Weighted selection process for registrants and petitioners seeking to file cap-subject H-1B petitions

16 Oct 2025 Cecilia Esterline
Commentary
Immigration
Labor Immigration

Modernizing the H-2A visa: practical reforms to fuel American farms

08 Oct 2025 Cecilia Esterline

Legal immigration in numbers: Student consular wait times

01 Oct 2025 Cecilia Esterline
Commentary
Immigration

Legal Immigration in Numbers: January 2026 Status Update

30 Sep 2025 Cecilia Esterline
Commentary
Immigration

Interviewing babies: The latest in consular inefficiency

20 Aug 2025 Cecilia Esterline
Commentary
Immigration

ICE rewrites international student data without explanation

12 Aug 2025 Cecilia Esterline
Commentary
Social Policy

Saving lives and money by incentivizing living organ donation

12 Aug 2025 Lawson Mansell, Cecilia Esterline
Commentary
Immigration

Chaos, confusion, and uncertainty: Legal immigration under the Trump administration

24 Apr 2025 Cecilia Esterline
Media
Immigration

Esterline on USA Today

03 Apr 2025 Cecilia Esterline
Studies
Immigration
Social Policy
Health
Labor Immigration

Unlocking potential: How states can remove barriers for internationally trained physicians

20 Mar 2025 Lawson Mansell, Cecilia Esterline
Media
Immigration

Op-ed: The H-1B visa, explained

07 Jan 2025 Cecilia Esterline
Commentary
Immigration

Immigration and the macroeconomy after 2024

16 Oct 2024 Wendy Edelberg, Cecilia Esterline, Stan Veuger, Tara Watson
Commentary
Immigration

The bipartisan DOCTORS Act is a common-sense solution to retain 100+ immigrant physicians and address physician shortages in rural America

09 Oct 2024 Lindsey Warburton, Cecilia Esterline
Commentary
Immigration

A year in: Canada's new visa recruits just 1,200 U.S. H-1B holders

23 Sep 2024 Cecilia Esterline
Media
Immigration

Esterline on The Business Immigration Benchmark Podcast

09 Sep 2024 Cecilia Esterline
Testimony
Immigration

Public comment: STEM OPT Designated Degree Program list

14 Aug 2024 Cecilia Esterline
Commentary
Immigration

The fifteen categories of immigration cut off by Project 2025

12 Aug 2024 Cecilia Esterline
Commentary
Immigration

Green card backlogs block billions in rural investments

06 Jun 2024 Cecilia Esterline