The Triennial Comprehensive Report on Immigration

Executive Summary

In 1986, the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) was signed into law. It represented a new approach on the part of the United States to control immigration, especially illegal immigration. While IRCA is best known for its amnesty and employer sanctions provisions, it also contains a number of other provisions, including major reporting requirements on the implementation and impact of the new law. The most comprehensive of these is a triennial report on immigration, mandated in Section 401.

Each report must provide the following for the preceding 3-year period and project it for the succeeding 5-year period:

The report may also include recommendations on changes in numerical limitations or other policies under Title II of the INA bearing on the admission and entry of aliens to the United States.

Responsibility for the Triennial Report

The lead responsibility for the development and production of the report was given to the Attorney General in coordination with the Secretary of Labor by Executive Order on February 10, 1992. On behalf of the Attorney General, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) contacted 10 other Federal agencies whose responsibilities fall in the areas to be addressed in the report. Most of them were able to submit relevant material, although their focus on immigration and their ability to provide information regarding the effect of immigration on their program areas varies widely. The INS prepared a section on the number, categories, and location of aliens in the United States. The INS also compiled the sections contributed by the other agencies and used material on the foreign-born population from the 1990 Census of Population to prepare additional material, including introductions to selected sections.

The report includes five parts.

Part I, Population Impacts: Migration and Population Change . This section addresses the effect of immigration on the population of the United States . Chapter 1, International Migration to the United States, which was prepared by the INS, summarizes information on the flow of migrants to the country. The primary focus is on lawful permanent migration, but material is also presented on temporary migration and on other categories. Estimates of the population residing illegally in the United States and of emigration are included.

Legal immigration (the admission of foreign-born persons for lawful permanent residence) grew substantially during the period covered by the report. During the 1988-1990 period, legal migration averaged 637,000 yearly (excluding persons legalizing under the provisions of IRCA), and by the 1992-1994 period, it averaged 830,000. Much of this increase was because of the Immigration Act of 1990, which began to take effect in 1992. That law more than doubled the number of visas available to persons who qualify for employment-based immigration. Other special provisions included the transition to a system of allocating some visas to achieve greater diversity in the immigrant population and a 3-year allocation of visas to the spouses and children of legalized aliens. In addition, 2.676 million persons gained lawful permanent residence as a direct result of IRCA. Most of them had been in residence since before January 1, 1982, and the others had worked in agriculture in the United States during the mid-1980's. Legal immigration is projected to continue increasing to an average of about 900,000 yearly by the late 1990's, as persons who legalized under IRCA become citizens and are able to petition for their immediate relatives.

In other categories, the number of temporary visitors (nonimmigrants) to the United States grew from 14.6 million in 1988 to 22.1 million in 1994. The typical visitor is a tourist, but millions of others arrive as visitors on business, as students or exchange visitors, and in a number of other categories. Nonimmigrant admissions are projected to exceed 30 million by the late 1990's. As of October 1996, the INS estimated the number of aliens residing illegally in the United States at 5 million, with a net annual inflow of 275,000 during the 1992-1996 period. Emigration from the United States is estimated to have been 1.6 million during the 1980's. The limited data available on emigration indicate that current levels of emigration could be more than 200,000 annually.

Chapter 2 , Immigration and Population Change in the United States, was prepared by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. It presents data on the total population and its foreign-born component based on the decennial census and the Current Population Survey. The 1990 census showed 19.8 million foreign-born persons, or 7.9 percent of the resident population. (Because the Census Bureau attempts to count everyone living in the United States, these figures include long-term nonimmigrants and persons without lawful status as well as legal immigrants.) Net migration from abroad (immigration minus emigration) was estimated to have added 3.966 million persons to the population between April 1, 1990, and July 1, 1995, and is projected to add another 4.113 million between July 1, 1995, and July 1, 2000. Census data demonstrate the uneven effect of immigration: About three-fourths of the foreign-born population have settled in just six States.

Part II, Economic Impacts: The Effects of Immigration on the U.S. Labor Market . This section contains four chapters authored by the U.S. Department of Labor, summarizing the recent research in light of public concern about the assimilation of foreign-born persons into the labor market. Suggestions for additional reading are included. Chapter 3, The Labor Market Integration of Immigrants, indicates that successive cohorts of persons arriving from certain countries over the past three decades appear to have experienced slower wage assimilation than their conationals who arrived earlier. This decrease has been associated with a clear, observable decline in the level of schooling and quality of jobs held by persons born in those countries. The precise reasons for this shift are subject to dispute. They may include changes in both the immigrants themselves and the character of the U.S. labor market. Many of the analyses are based on census data, which do not differentiate illegal residents and refugees from legal immigrants. The number of highly skilled immigrants has increased. Because of limitations in the data available for studying this issue, it is difficult to draw firm conclusions, but it appears that across-the-board statements about declining "immigrant quality" are unwarranted.

Chapter 4 highlights the macroeconomic findings on "Immigration's Impact on the Labor Market Outcomes of Natives." The overall conclusion is that, at the national level, the net effect of foreign-born workers on the earnings and employment of U.S. workers is rather small. Most of these studies show very little net effect on native-born workers, of any race or ethnicity, either positive or negative. They find a slight negative effect of immigrants on the foreign-born population already in residence. The risks of adverse effects are proportionately greater for those living or working in areas of high foreign-born concentration.

Chapter 5 presents case-study research on "The Impact of Immigrants on Low-Wage Earners." Two competing hypotheses have been invoked to explain observations on this topic. The "successive ethnic niche" hypothesis maintains that immigrants do not usually drive native workers out of the labor market but rather they enter the market as natives move up to better jobs. Furthermore, new groups form ethnic niches in the open economy from which they can help their coethnics gain access to opportunities for advancement. Conversely, the "successive ethnic displacement" hypothesis maintains that migrant networks are often unable to form self-sufficient enclaves fostering ethnic advancement. Instead, many migrants find themselves continuously taken advantage of by employers, often aided by middlemen from that ethnic group seeking to exploit their labor. Case studies show that both scenarios can and do occur.

Chapter 6 examines "Professional Labor Markets and Immigration." Highly skilled immigrants enter the U.S. labor market with relative ease. Institutions that employ them contend that there is a compelling need for giving them such access. However, a growing number of native-born scientists and engineers argue that their own job opportunities have been reduced by the competition from these immigrants.

Part III, Education and Social Services Impacts . This section contains material from four Federal agencies that are responsible for education and social services programs. Particular attention is paid to programs that are targeted at defined immigrant populations or that, by their nature, are likely to serve these populations.

Where available, data are presented on the extent to which the foreign-born population used mainstream programs.

The U.S. Department of Education (DOEd) contributed Chapter 7, Impact of Immigrant Students on the U.S. Educational System. It summarizes programs that may serve recent immigrants. Most are based on the students' education or financial need. Only the Immigrant Education program provides assistance on the basis of immigration status. In 1995, roughly $1.6 billion in DOEd funding supported services that benefited about 4.2 million students with limited English proficiency.

Chapter 8 , Immigration and Social Services, incorporates material from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Social Security Administration (SSA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food and Consumer Service program. All three agencies administer programs designed to provide income support for needy persons or to alleviate the effects of poverty in other ways. Many of these programs compile data on the immigration status or country of birth of their service populations, making it possible to estimate the extent to which foreign-born persons are served. Other programs have provided a more general range of services and, during the reporting period, did not maintain records on immigration status.

(Limitations on the access of noncitizens to many of these programs under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 were not in effect during the period covered by this report.)

HHS reports that in 1994, about 5.8 percent of recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children were immigrants, of whom about one-third had arrived as refugees. HHS, through its Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), also administers a program of services designed to help recently arrived refugees become resettled and find jobs. During the early 1990's, ORR's budget averaged about $400 million yearly.

The SSA reports substantial growth in the number of aliens receiving benefits under its Supplemental Security Income program, from 320,000 in 1988 to 738,000 in 1994. The USDA reports that 1.9 million aliens were living in households receiving food stamps in 1994.

Part IV, State Impacts . Chapter 9, Immigrants in Selected States, addresses the requirement in the law for a description of the effect of immigrants on specific States. The seven States with the largest foreign-born populations according to the 1990 census were selected: California, New York, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, and Massachusetts. These states contained 41.4 percent of the total U.S. population in 1990 but 75.8 percent of the foreign-born population. Data are also presented for the "balance of the United States."

Tabulation of selected characteristics of the foreign-born population (labor force participation rate, unemployment rate, educational attainment, income and poverty levels, school enrollment, and English-speaking ability) shows wide variability among that population, distributed unevenly among the States. This indicates one reason why no national consensus exists regarding the effect of immigration. For example, in California and Texas, the foreign-born population had relatively little formal education and a higher than average unemployment rate. Even though foreign-born persons in those two States were more likely to be in the labor force and earning wages than the national average, they were also more likely to be living in poverty and be disadvantaged in other ways. On the other hand, the foreign-born population in New Jersey was well educated, with high labor force participation and low unemployment. Foreign-born persons in the "balance of the United States" are much more like those in New Jersey than those in California and Texas.

Part V, International Impacts . The chapters in this section place migration to the United States in an international context. Chapter 10, Selected Economic Impacts of International Migration, was contributed by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce. This chapter presents estimates of four categories of international transactions related to nonimmigrant and immigrant flows: travel expenditures in the United States by foreign visitors, their related passenger fares paid to U.S. carriers, education services to foreign students, and personal remittances by foreign-born residents in the United States to persons abroad. The first three are major components of rapidly expanding exports of U.S. services, while the fourth is a major component of private unilateral transfers.

Chapter 11 , The Foreign Policy Impact of Immigration, was authored by the U.S. Department of State.

Immigration issues continue to play an important role in the foreign relations of the United States. U.S. immigration laws have traditionally been generous, and the United States has long been the favored destination of large numbers of immigrants. Their participation in the fabric of American life has strengthened the relationships between their native countries and the United States. Many foreign governments pay close attention to U.S. immigration law and policy and often lobby for liberal immigration benefits for their nationals.

Recommendations

This report does not make recommendations on changes in numerical limitations or other policies under Title II of the INA bearing on the admission and entry of aliens to the United States.

1

The apparent paradox of a high unemployment rate coexisting with a high labor force participation rate in California and Texas indicates that many foreign-born persons residing there were actively seeking work but were not employed at the time of the census.

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Related Files

• Third Triennial Full Report (4119KB PDF)
  
  
• Second Triennial Full Report (1280KB PDF)