Ec-980u: Immigration Economics: Introduction

George J. BorjasHarvard University

© 2010. Do not distribute or copy without permission from the author.

2. Worldwide resurgence of large-scale immigration

Almost 3% of world’s population—and 9.5% of population in “more developed countries”—lives in a country where they were not born.Denmark: 7.2% Sweden: 12.4%

UK: 9.1% Portugal 7.3% Greece: 8.8% France: 10.7% USA: 12.9%Germany: 12.3% Austria: 15.1%Canada: 18.9% Australia: 20.3%Source: http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/2006Migration_Chart/2006IttMig_chart.htm

3. Number of legal immigrants, by decade

4. Percent of population that is foreign-born

5. The national origin mix of legal immigrants

6. Legal immigration, by country of origin

Percent originating in: 1971-80 1991-2000

Germany 1.7 1.0

Ireland 0.3 0.6

Italy 2.9 0.7

China 2.8 4.6

India 3.7 4.0

Korea 6.0 1.8

Philippines 7.9 5.5

Mexico 14.3 24.7

Cuba 5.9 1.9

Dominican Republic 3.3 3.7

Haiti 1.3 2.0

7. Illegal immigration Two types of illegal immigration: EWIs (entry without

inspection) and visa overstayers. Jan. 2009: 10.8 million Jan. 2008: 11.6 million Jan. 2007: 11.8 million Jan. 2005: 10.5 million Jan. 2000: 8.5 million

2.9 million live in CA (25%); 1.7 million in TX (14%) 6.7 million (62%) come from Mexico. Other leading source

countries: El Salvador (530,000). Guatemala (480,000) and Philippines (270,000).

But: Census undercounts illegal immigrants

Source: http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/ois_ill_pe_2009.pdf

8. Illegal immigrants apprehended, 1960-2008

9. Legislative history, 1798-1882

Aliens Act of 1798: First federal regulation (though it was never enforced). Authorized President to arrest and/or deport any alien deemed dangerous to the United States. The law expired two years after its enactment.

Act of 1875: Established first prohibition on entry of undesirable immigrants. The law excluded criminals and prostitutes from admission, and prohibited the entry of any Oriental person without their free and voluntary consent.

Henderson v. New York and Chy Lung v. Freeman, 1876. The Supreme Court invalidated all state efforts to restrict immigration (such as prohibiting the entry of poor immigrants), and granted sole authority to control immigration to the federal government

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882: Suspended immigration of Chinese labor for 10 years; barred Chinese from naturalization.

10. Legislative history, 1882-1917

Congress expanded list of “excludables” to: persons likely to become a public charge (1882); persons suffering from contagious diseases, felons,

polygamists (1891); (extended exclusion of) Chinese (1902); anarchists (1903); Imbeciles; persons with physical or mental defects

which affect their ability to earn a living; persons afflicted with tuberculosis (1907);

illiterate aliens (1917); In 1917, Congress also created the “barred zone”, which

permanently restricted the immigration of Asian persons (1917).

11. Legislative history, 1924-1965

Immigration Act of 1924: First permanent numerical limitation on immigration (150,000 visas to the Eastern Hemisphere). Established the national origins quota system: the percentage of visas allotted to a country was equal to the percent of the U.S. population that had that national origin in 1897 (later changed to 1920).

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952: Brought all immigration regulations into one comprehensive statute. Reaffirmed the 1924 policies. Introduced a system of selected immigration by giving a quota preference to skilled aliens whose services are “urgently needed” in the country and to relatives of U.S. citizens and aliens.

1965 Amendments: Abolished national origins quota system; made family reunification the key factor in awarding visas.

12. Legislative history since 1965

Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA): Granted amnesty to illegal aliens who had resided in the United States since January 1, 1982, with special provisions for the legalization of agricultural workers. Created sanctions for employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens.

Immigration Act of 1990: Increased total immigration to a “pierceable cap” of 675,000 legal immigrants, of which 480,000 are family-sponsored immigrants; 140,000 are employment-based, and 55,000 are “diversity” immigrants.

13. Family admission categories, 2008

Family-sponsored preferences

Legislated

number (1000s)

Actual number (1000s)

1st preference

Unmarried (adult) sons and daughters of US citizens

23.4 26.2

2nd preference

Spouses, children, and unmarried sons and daughters of permanent resident aliens

114.2 103.5

3rd preference

Married sons and daughters of US citizens

23.4 29.3

4th preference

Brothers and sisters of US citizens (> 21 years old)

65.0 68.9

Subtotal 253.7 227.8

Immediate relative of adult US citizens (spouses, children, and parents)

Not limited

488.5

14. Employment admission categories, 2008

Employment-based preferences

Legislated

number (1000s)

Actual numbe

r (1000s

)

1st preference

Priority workers (aliens with extraordinary ability; outstanding researchers)

41.9 36.7

2nd preference

Professionals with advanced degrees; aliens of exceptional ability

41.9 70.0

3rd preference

Skilled workers, professionals, needed unskilled workers

41.9 48.9

4th preference

Special immigrants 10.5 9.5

5th preference

Investors 10.5 1.4

Subtotal 146.5 166.5

15. Miscellaneous admission categories, 2008

Other categories

Legislated

number (1000s)

Actual number (1000s)

Diversity program

Lottery awarding visas to persons originating in “underrepresented” countries or in countries adversely affected by the 1965 Amendments

55.0 41.8

Refugees

Number of visas and eligible population is determined annually by the President and Congress

90.0

Grand total, 2008 1,107.1

Grand total, 2007 1,052.4

Grand total, 2006 1,266.1