Chain Migration
Post-1965 immigration had unintended consequences. Most new immigrants from Asia, Africa, and the Western Hemisphere came not based on their skills, or as asylum-seekers, but as family-sponsored members and as quota-exempted immediate relatives according to the Act's Preference System. This group comprised more than half of immigrants. Chain migration ensued, dramatically increasing the volume of immigrants to over a million a year since 2009.
"That all changed with the 1965 amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act. Under the new system, most visas are reserved for relatives of U.S. residents. Between 2000 and 2002, for example, 63 percent of immigrants were admitted because of family ties"
~ George J. Borjas, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University "Since the 1965 act went into effect, the preponderance of all non-refugee migration has been the chain migration of relatives." ~ Roger Daniels, Coming to America
|
Brain Gain vs. Family Reunification
Many unskilled family-category immigrants earn low wages. Even with the taxes they pay and goods they buy, the economic gain is unclear for this class of immigrants compared to its social-welfare costs.
"Immigration does not have a consistent, discernible effect on area economic outcomes,...immigration has had a marked adverse impact on the economic status of the least skilled U.S. workers (high school dropouts and those in the bottom 20 percent of the wage distribution)." ~ George J. Borjas et. al, How Much Do Immigration and Trade Affect Labor Market Outcomes?, 1997 |
- Darryl West author of Brain Gain: Rethinking US Immigration Policy |
The Rise of the UndocumentedToday the government estimates there to be 11.78 million undocumented immigrants presently in the US.
Numerical Limitations The 1965 Act imposed a previously non-existent 120,000 cap on Western Hemisphere immigration. The ending of the Bracero program in 1964, and these numerical caps impacted the legal flow of Latino temporary-workers. They are the undocumented. |
~ Mae Ngai
|