Immigration Reform: The Effects of Employer Sanctions and Legalization on Wages

1995 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 472-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah A. Cobb-Clark ◽  
Clinton R. Shiells ◽  
B. Lindsay Lowell
Keyword(s):  
Immigration Reform ◽  
Employer Sanctions

The Context and Consequences of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank D. Bean ◽  
Thoa V. Khuu
Keyword(s):  
18Th Century ◽  
The United States ◽  
Agricultural Workers ◽  
Temporary Workers ◽  
Immigration Reform ◽  
Large Shift ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Employer Sanctions ◽  
And Control

The United States often views itself as a nation of immigrants. This may in part be why since the early 20th century the country has seldom adopted major changes in its immigration policy. Until 1986, only the 1924 National Origins Quota Act, its dismantlement in the 1952 McCarran-Walter Act, and the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, also known as the Hart-Celler Act, involved far-reaching reforms. Another large shift occurred with the passage of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) and its derivative sequel, the 1990 Immigration Act. No major immigration legislation has yet won congressional approval in the 21st century. IRCA emerged from and followed in considerable measure the recommendations of the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy (1979–1981). That body sought to reconcile two competing political constituencies, one favoring the restriction of immigration, or at least unauthorized immigration, and the other an expansion of family-based and work-related migration. The IRCA legislation contained something for each side: the passage of employer sanctions, or serious penalties on employers for hiring unauthorized workers, for the restriction side; and the provision of a legalization program, which outlined a pathway for certain unauthorized entrants to obtain green cards and eventually citizenship, for the reform side. The complete legislative package also included other provisions: including criteria allowing the admission of agricultural workers, a measure providing financial assistance to states for the costs they would incur from migrants legalizing, a requirement that states develop ways to verify that migrants were eligible for welfare benefits, and a provision providing substantial boosts in funding for border enforcement activities. In the years after the enactment of IRCA, research has revealed that the two major compromise provisions, together with the agricultural workers provision, generated mixed results. Employer sanctions failed to curtail unauthorized migration much, in all likelihood because of minimal funding for enforcement, while legalization and the agricultural measures resulted in widespread enrollment, with almost all of the unauthorized migrants who qualified coming forward to take advantage of the opportunity to become U.S. legalized permanent residents (LPRs). But when the agricultural workers provisions allowing entry of temporary workers are juxtaposed with the relatively unenforceable employer-sanctions provisions, IRCA entailed contradictory elements that created frustration for some observers. In sociocultural, political, and historical terms, scholars and others can interpret IRCA’s legalization as reflecting the inclusive, pluralistic, and expansionist tendencies characteristic of much of 18th-century U.S. immigration. But some of IRCA’s other elements led to contradictory effects, with restriction efforts being offset by the allowances for more temporary workers. This helped to spawn subsequent political pressures in favor of new restrictive or exclusive immigration controls that created serious hazards for immigrants.

scholarly journals Employers as Junior Immigration Inspectors: The Impact of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen W. Yale-Loehr
Keyword(s):  
National Origin ◽  
Immigration Reform ◽  
Citizenship Status ◽  
Immigration And Naturalization Service ◽  
International Lawyer ◽  
Immigration Legislation ◽  
Employer Sanctions ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Prospective Employee

21 International Lawyer, (1987)Maurice A. Roberts and Stephen W. Yale-LoehrThe Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), also known as the Simpson-Rodino Act, is the most significant piece of immigration legislation in over thirty years. It radically revamps this already complicated area of law. Its impact on employers is particularly great, and can be seen in three ways. First, fines of up to $10,000 and even jail sentences can be imposed on businesses that knowingly hire undocumented aliens. Second, every employer must now verify and maintain records on the immigration and citizenship status of each prospective employee, even if the applicant is a U.S. citizen. Third, antidiscrimination provisions prohibit all but the smallest employers from discriminating in hiring or firing on the basis of an individual's national origin or citizenship status. Persons who feel they have been discriminated against may initiate an action against the employer.These provisions create major new responsibilities for businesses, and in effect deputize them as junior immigration inspectors. Employers must now provide the sort of enforcement check that the woefully undermanned Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is unable to perform. Lawyers will feel these duties and prohibitions doubly: first in advising their business clients, and second in having to comply themselves, in their own role as employers.This article analyzes the employer sanctions and antidiscrimination provisions of the Simpson-Rodino Act. The article points out ambiguities, gaps, and unanswered questions in the statute and supplementing regulations, and provides practical pointers for attorneys, businesses, and individuals.

scholarly journals The Political Economy of Immigration Law: Impact of Simpson-Rodino on the United States and Mexico

1988 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 117-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clark W Reynolds ◽  
Robert K McCleery
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Migration Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Immigration Law ◽  
Immigration Reform ◽  
Poor Countries ◽  
Employer Sanctions ◽  
And Control ◽  
Market Interdependence ◽  
Year 2000

About two years ago the United States passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act, also called the “Simpson-Rodino” bill of 1986. The Act called for increased enforcement of migration policy, employer sanctions, and amnesty for those who could prove continuous residence since 1982. Despite considerable discussion and debate prior to the act, the legislation was passed without any comprehensive economic analysis of its potential impact on the United States or its main source of undocumented immigration, Mexico. In this paper we shall look at some implications of the recent immigration law for both economies, given their widely differing levels of income and productivity, the challenges each faces to restructure its economy given increased international competitiveness, and the particular problems and opportunities presented by a common border with growing labor market interdependence. By our calculations, the economic opportunity cost of Simpson-Rodino as compared to continuation of the prior status quo will add up to a present value of $110 billion between now and the year 2000. In fact, Simpson-Rodino illustrates the important role that labor mobility may play in the convergence of income and productivity between rich and poor countries. It shows how migration policy may distort or delay that process of convergence, with negative implications for both societies.

scholarly journals The “Albatross” of Immigration Reform: Temporary Worker Policy in the United States

1986 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 995-1019
Author(s):  
Vernon M. Briggs
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Illegal Immigration ◽  
The United States ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
Temporary Workers ◽  
Immigration Reform ◽  
Temporary Worker ◽  
The Past ◽  
Employer Sanctions ◽  
Supply Problem

Temporary worker policy in the United States traditionally has been advocated as a means to meet shortages for labor — a demand problem. Over the past decade, however, there has been support for the use of such policies as a means of addressing illegal immigration — a supply problem. Despite the fact that experiences show that such endeavors actually foster illegal immigration, the drive for immigration reform in the 1980s was seriously encumbered with a variety of attempts both to expand existing and to add new temporary worker programs. This article reviews the evolution of temporary worker policy and indicates how efforts to admit more temporary workers complicated the immigration reform process. Indeed, it was not until the major temporary worker proposals were finally removed from the Simpson-Rodino Act — by the adoption of a highly controversial “second amnesty” program (i.e., the Schumer Amendment) — that passage of legislation was achieved. Because this program functioned as a bargaining chip in the effort to establish a system of employer sanctions, it is unlikely that this expedient measure will set a precedent for future replication. Hence, it can be anticipated that efforts will eventually be made to revive temporary worker policy and, in the process, rekindle the debate over this contentious issue.

Illegal Immigration and Immigration Control

1988 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 101-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry R Chiswick
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Immigration Reform ◽  
Illegal Alien ◽  
Illegal Migration ◽  
Illegal Aliens ◽  
Employer Sanctions ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact

The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) was passed in the closing days of the 1986 legislative session. The primary purpose of IRCA is to remove illegal aliens from the U.S. labor market. It has two primary policy instruments. One is granting legal status or amnesty for certain illegal aliens, thereby in part “wiping the slate clean.” The other is imposing penalties, referred to as employer sanctions, against employers who “knowingly” hire illegal aliens. Employer sanctions are intended to reduce the demand for illegal alien labor. The first sections of this paper develop an economic analysis of the illegal alien labor market, including the determinants of illegal migration and the impact on the economy. Then, that model is applied to the major provisions of IRCA and used to describe its likely consequences. A concluding section argues that because IRCA does not address the economic realities it is not likely to accomplish its objectives. The partial amnesty and impotent employer sanctions have not solved the illegal alien dilemma.

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