Immigration: Trends, Consequences and Prospects for the United States, Volume 27

List of Contributors......Page 1
Historical Background......Page 3
Outline of this Volume......Page 5
Acknowledgments......Page 8
Migrants to America Since 1986......Page 9
IRCA Amnesties......Page 10
Diversity Visas......Page 11
Refugees and Asylum......Page 12
Response to Terrorism......Page 17
Extended Voluntary Departure and Temporary Protected Status......Page 18
Highly Skilled Workers......Page 19
Flows of Immigrants......Page 20
Naturalization......Page 23
The Mexican-United States Border......Page 24
Undocumented Immigrants Themselves......Page 26
Non-Immigrant Border Crossers......Page 27
Tourists and Businessmen......Page 29
Students and Scholars......Page 30
Temporary Workers......Page 31
Highly Skilled Workers......Page 34
Conclusion......Page 35
Notes......Page 36
Immigrant Skill Transferability and the Propensity to Invest in Human Capital......Page 43
Immigrant Earnings Assimilation and Admission Policies......Page 44
Immigrant Skill Transferability and the Propensity to Invest in Human Capital......Page 49
Low-Skill-Transferability, the Propensity to Invest in Human Capital, and Flexibility in the Economy......Page 52
Immigrant Skill Transferability, the Propensity to Invest in Human Capital, and Innovation......Page 54
Skill Transferability, the Propensity to Invest in Human Capital, and the Family......Page 57
Low-Skill-Transferability, Enclaves, and the Development of Specific Kinds of Businesses......Page 60
Skill Transferability and the Labor Market Effects of Immigration on Natives......Page 61
Skill Transferability and Permanence......Page 63
Immigrant Economic Assimilation and the Education Levels of Immigrants......Page 65
Conclusion: Focusing on the Long Term......Page 66
Notes......Page 69
References......Page 71
Modeling Immigrants’ Language Skills......Page 74
Introduction......Page 75
Model of Dominant Language Proficiency......Page 76
Language Measures......Page 79
Exposure Factors......Page 80
Efficiency Factors......Page 83
Economic Factors......Page 87
Estimates: Male Immigrants......Page 89
Estimates: Female Immigrants......Page 99
Analyses of Mother Tongue Retention......Page 103
Summary and Conclusion......Page 111
Notes......Page 115
References......Page 118
Appendix A. Definitions of Variables......Page 119
Green Cards and the Location Choices of Immigrants in the United States, 1971-2000......Page 128
Introduction......Page 129
A Brief Overview of Admission Categories......Page 130
Data......Page 133
How Many Immigrants? From Where? To Where?......Page 135
Where Did the Immigrants Come from?......Page 137
Where Did the Immigrants Go?......Page 141
Green Cards and the Skills of Immigrants......Page 152
Admission Categories and Determinants of Immigrants’ Location Choice......Page 157
Conclusions......Page 171
Notes......Page 173
References......Page 175
Region of Birth Groups......Page 176
Ordered Logit Estimates and Skill Imputation......Page 178
Introduction......Page 181
Homeownership Issues......Page 183
The Empirical Strategy......Page 185
Data......Page 186
Variables......Page 187
Homeownership, Immigration, and Citizenship......Page 189
Preliminary Analysis and Discussion......Page 192
Homeownership......Page 195
Home Value......Page 200
Equity......Page 201
Putting it All Together......Page 204
Notes......Page 207
References......Page 209
First- and Second-Generation Immigrant Educational Attainment and Labor Market Outcomes: A Comparison of the United States and Canada......Page 210
United States......Page 215
Canada......Page 216
Immigration Status and Demographics for the Entire Population......Page 217
Educational Outcomes......Page 225
Labor Market Outcomes......Page 229
Regression Results......Page 232
Education Regressions......Page 233
Counterfactual Education Predictions......Page 241
Basic Earnings Regressions......Page 245
Earnings Regressions that Allow for Generation-Specific Earnings Effects......Page 250
Discussion and Conclusion......Page 260
Notes......Page 263
References......Page 264
Immigration Amnesty and Immigrant’s Earnings......Page 266
Introduction......Page 267
Legal and Political Background in the US......Page 270
Aspects of the Economic Theory of Immigration Amnesty......Page 275
Amnesty, Size and Allocation of Illegal Migrants: An Illustrative Model......Page 277
Data and Analysis......Page 285
Descriptive Analysis - Mexican Migration Project Data......Page 286
Legalization Categories and Earnings......Page 290
Multinomial Logit Results......Page 293
Earnings Estimations......Page 294
Earnings Premium of Legalization......Page 296
Conclusion......Page 298
Notes......Page 299
References......Page 300
Welfare Reform and Immigrants: Does the Five-Year Ban Matter?......Page 303
Immigrant Use of Means-Tested Benefits Pre- and Post-Welfare Reform......Page 306
Did Welfare Reform Cause the Change in Means-Tested Benefit Use?......Page 313
Implications for Current Research......Page 318
Research Design......Page 319
Data......Page 323
Results......Page 324
Conclusions......Page 334
Notes......Page 336
References......Page 338
Impacts of the Point System and Immigration Policy Levers on Skill Characteristics of Canadian Immigrants......Page 340
Introduction......Page 341
Canada......Page 344
The United States......Page 347
Canadian Immigrant Landings Since 1980: General Features......Page 348
Testing Hypotheses on Immigration Policy Levers and Landings Characteristics......Page 358
Basic Hypotheses of Interest......Page 360
Regression Specification and Estimation Groups......Page 361
Effects on Educational Attainment......Page 365
Effects on Age at Time of Arrival......Page 372
Effects on Official Language Fluency......Page 376
Cross-Weight Effects of Skill Points......Page 381
Conclusions: Lessons for US Immigration Policy......Page 386
Notes......Page 389
References......Page 390