Immigration History
Pre-1875 no laws, UK/Germany, Involuntary Migrants
1875-1920 Limited Laws, SEC European, Heyday of US immigration
1920-1970 Very small flow, “inferior”, WWI and WWII
1970-1986 Kennedy Act of 1965 - eliminated national quotas,
Unintended effect was Asian and Latin American Immigration
Immigration History (cont)
1986 Simpson-Massoli Act: provided amnesty for
undocumented immigrants who had been in US Sanctions for employers who hired
undocumented workers Failed - no enforcement
Current 800,000-1,000,00 per year
Massey’s Return to Aztlan
Virtually everyone who wants to get to the U.S. eventually does
Equal flow in each direction (Circular Migration)
The Chances of begin apprehended at the border are declining
Consequences
Hotly debated in media but often citing little evidence
Impact on Workers Empirical Studies find little impact (Bean et al 1988, Borjas
1994, Friedburg and Hunt 1995, Hamermesh 1993, Smith and Edmonston 1997)
National Research Council Report Impact on Fiscal System
Pay lower taxes from lower wages Less likely to stay to receive social security and Medicare Welfare and health care costs are negligible
Impact on Workers
Recurring fear about immigrants Potential loss to native workers But many get pushed up not out (Complement
effect) Empirical Study
National Studies of all cities comparing change in immigrants and change in wages
No evidence of job loss or lower wages for native workers
National Research Council Report
“The weight of empirical evidence suggests that the impact of immigration on the wages of competing native born workers is small - possibly only reducing them by 1 or 2 percent.” (Smith and Edmonston 1997: 220)
“The evidence also indicates that the numerically weak relationship between native wages and immigration is observed across all types of native workers…” (Smith and Edmonston 1997: 223)
Fiscal System
Often said that extraction exceeds contribution NRC report showed that immigrants and their
descendents pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits Younger, so use more school money but use less
social security and Medicare Relieve some per capita fiscal burden of native-born
for national debt and public goods (more people controbuting)