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Counterpoint: Reply To Orrenius And Zavodny, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

[Excerpt] On the fundamental conclusions, the positions argued by Pia Orrenius and Madeline Zavodny and my own are in essential agreement. The immigration policy of the United States is in dire need of changes. The public concern is, in their words, “driven by the increase in immigration in recent years, particularly of unauthorized immigration.” Our mutual worries pertain to the disproportionately adverse impacts of the immigrant inflow on the nation’s low-skilled work force and the high fiscal burden borne by local communities and states with growing immigrant populations. The differences between the two papers center on the approaches taken to …

The Elusive Goal: The Quest For A Credible Immigration Policy, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

[Excerpt] The starting point for all immigration reform efforts must be making the immigration system enforceable. Nothing else makes sense. Otherwise, immigration policy is on a squirrel wheel going nowhere. Illegal immigrants will keep coming in defiance of its terms.

The Career Of Vernon Briggs, Jr.: A Liberal Economist’S Struggle To Reduce Immigration

Vernon M Briggs Jr

[Excerpt] At the conclusion of Cornell’s spring semester in 2007, Briggs ended his 47 years of college teaching. As he retired, Cornell honored him with emeritus status. Since then, he has occasionally given public talks and written articles on the need for immigration reform. He says his work still draws motivation from a principle he left with his students at the end of the last lecture in each of his classes over his entire career: “The mode through which the impossible comes to pass is effort.”

That quote from Justice Oliver Wendell Homes was passed on to Briggs by Michigan …

Efficiency And Equity As Goals For Contemporary U.S. Immigration Policy, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

As the United States has entered its postindustrial stage of economic development, mass immigration has again become a distinguishing feature of the U.S. economy. In all of its diverse forms, immigration presently accounts for anywhere from one-quarter to one-third of the annual growth of the U.S. labor force. By the turn of the 21st century, it could conceivably comprise all of such growth.

Immigration is the one aspect of population and labor force growth that public policy should be able to shape and control. Unfortunately, however, the extant public policies that govern the size and composition of the immigrant and …

Illegal Aliens: The Need For A More Restrictive Border Policy, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

[Excerpt] In late 1974, the commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the U.S. Department of Justice publicly stated that “the United States us being overrun by illegal aliens” and, he warned, “we are seeing just the beginning of the problem.” During that 1974 fiscal year, 788,000 illegal aliens were actually apprehended by INS. Of greater significance, however, is the fact that INS estimated that the number of undetected illegal aliens who entered the United States in that year ranged upwards to 4 million people. Moreover, the INS estimated the accumulated number of illegal aliens currently residing in the …

Methods Of Analysis Of Illegal Immigration Into The United States, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

"A major barrier to the discussion of the scope and impact of illegal immigration on the American economy has been the inadequacy of existing data. Although data problems are not unique to this topic, the limited availability of macro-data on the size of the annual flows and of the accumulated stock of individuals as well as of micro-data on their influences on selected labor markets has been effectively used to forestall policy reform efforts."

Illegal Immigration And The Dilemma Of American Unions, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

[Excerpt] Over its long and often turbulent evolution, the American labor movement has confronted few issues as persistently and as difficult has those related to subject of immigration. By definition, immigration affects the size of the labor force at any given time as well as its geographical distribution and skill composition. These vital influences, in turn, affect national, regional and local labor market conditions. Most immigrants directly join the labor force upon entering the country, as do eventually most of their family members. Hence, organized labor never has ignored immigration trends. As Samuel Gompers, one of the founders of the …

The Immigration Act Of 1990: Retreat From Reform, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

[Excerpt] It is difficult to understand why anyone would editorially "rejoice", as has been done, over the immigration legislation passed by Congress on the last day of the 101st Congressional session. The new statute, which was signed into law by President George Bush on November 29, 1990, is ill conceived, deceptively designed, poorly timed, and subtly racist. Despite the chronic need for reform, the Immigration Act of 1990 cannot possibly be described as being in the national interest. It perpetuates and expands the worst features of the existing system while introducing new features that are both counterproductive and, in parts, …

Labor Market Transformation: The Role Of U.S. Immigration Policy, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

[Excerpt] As the United States enters the last decade of the 20th Century, its labor market is in a state of transformation. A marked break has occurred in both the evolutionary patterns of employment growth (i.e., labor demand) and in the growth and composition of the labor force (i.e., labor supply). Unprecedented adjustment requirements are being placed upon the U.S. labor market. In such an environment, there can be no assumption that the labor force can automatically adjust to the changes. Policy priority should be given to comprehensive programmatic efforts to develop the employment potential of the nation's human resources. …

Illegal Immigration And The American Labor Force: The Use Of “Soft” Data For Analysis, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

[Excerpt] In late 1974, the commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) of the U.S. Department of Justice publicly stated that “the United States us being overrun by illegal aliens” and, he warned, “we are seeing just the beginning of the problem.” During that 1974 fiscal year, when 788,000 illegal aliens were actually apprehended by INS, the INS estimated that the number of undetected illegal aliens who entered the United States in that year ranged upward to 4 million people. Moreover, the INS estimated the accumulated number of illegal aliens currently residing in the United States in 1974 to …

Efficiency And Equity As Goals For Contemporary U.S. Immigration Policy, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

As the United States has entered its postindustrial stage of economic development, mass immigration has again become a distinguishing feature of the U.S. economy. In all of its diverse forms, immigration presently accounts for anywhere from one-quarter to one-third of the annual growth of the U.S. labor force. By the turn of the 21st century, it could conceivably comprise all of such growth.

Immigration is the one aspect of population and labor force growth that public policy should be able to shape and control. Unfortunately, however, the extant public policies that govern the size and composition of the immigrant and …

Illegal Aliens: The Need For A More Restrictive Border Policy, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

[Excerpt] In late 1974, the commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the U.S. Department of Justice publicly stated that “the United States us being overrun by illegal aliens” and, he warned, “we are seeing just the beginning of the problem.” During that 1974 fiscal year, 788,000 illegal aliens were actually apprehended by INS. Of greater significance, however, is the fact that INS estimated that the number of undetected illegal aliens who entered the United States in that year ranged upwards to 4 million people. Moreover, the INS estimated the accumulated number of illegal aliens currently residing in the …

Methods Of Analysis Of Illegal Immigration Into The United States, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

"A major barrier to the discussion of the scope and impact of illegal immigration on the American economy has been the inadequacy of existing data. Although data problems are not unique to this topic, the limited availability of macro-data on the size of the annual flows and of the accumulated stock of individuals as well as of micro-data on their influences on selected labor markets has been effectively used to forestall policy reform efforts."

Illegal Immigration And The Dilemma Of American Unions, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

[Excerpt] Over its long and often turbulent evolution, the American labor movement has confronted few issues as persistently and as difficult has those related to subject of immigration. By definition, immigration affects the size of the labor force at any given time as well as its geographical distribution and skill composition. These vital influences, in turn, affect national, regional and local labor market conditions. Most immigrants directly join the labor force upon entering the country, as do eventually most of their family members. Hence, organized labor never has ignored immigration trends. As Samuel Gompers, one of the founders of the …

The Immigration Act Of 1990: Retreat From Reform, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

[Excerpt] It is difficult to understand why anyone would editorially "rejoice", as has been done, over the immigration legislation passed by Congress on the last day of the 101st Congressional session. The new statute, which was signed into law by President George Bush on November 29, 1990, is ill conceived, deceptively designed, poorly timed, and subtly racist. Despite the chronic need for reform, the Immigration Act of 1990 cannot possibly be described as being in the national interest. It perpetuates and expands the worst features of the existing system while introducing new features that are both counterproductive and, in parts, …

Labor Market Transformation: The Role Of U.S. Immigration Policy, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

[Excerpt] As the United States enters the last decade of the 20th Century, its labor market is in a state of transformation. A marked break has occurred in both the evolutionary patterns of employment growth (i.e., labor demand) and in the growth and composition of the labor force (i.e., labor supply). Unprecedented adjustment requirements are being placed upon the U.S. labor market. In such an environment, there can be no assumption that the labor force can automatically adjust to the changes. Policy priority should be given to comprehensive programmatic efforts to develop the employment potential of the nation's human resources. …

Illegal Immigration And The American Labor Force: The Use Of “Soft” Data For Analysis, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

[Excerpt] In late 1974, the commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) of the U.S. Department of Justice publicly stated that “the United States us being overrun by illegal aliens” and, he warned, “we are seeing just the beginning of the problem.” During that 1974 fiscal year, when 788,000 illegal aliens were actually apprehended by INS, the INS estimated that the number of undetected illegal aliens who entered the United States in that year ranged upward to 4 million people. Moreover, the INS estimated the accumulated number of illegal aliens currently residing in the United States in 1974 to …

The Economic Downturn Is Accentuated By Labor Market Deficiencies Of U.S. Immigration Policies: A Mandate For Change, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

[Excerpt] The depth and length of the economic downturn has already led federal policymakers to implement fiscal policy remedies (i.e., government spending and tax cuts) of unprecedented proportions. These efforts have been intended to enlarge labor demand by stimulating aggregate spending in the lagging economy. Likewise, the Federal Reserve has pursued an expansionary monetary policy (i.e., increasing the money supply) that has driven interest rates to historically low levels and held them there longer than has ever before been imagined. Despite the massive scale of these policy initiatives, they have been of little avail. Throughout this troublesome period, however, the …

Illegal Immigration And The Dilemma Of American Unions, Vernon Briggs

Vernon M Briggs Jr

[Excerpt] Over its long and often turbulent evolution, the American labor movement has confronted few issues as persistently and as difficult has those related to subject of immigration. By definition, immigration affects the size of the labor force at any given time as well as its geographical distribution and skill composition. These vital influences, in turn, affect national, regional and local labor market conditions. Most immigrants directly join the labor force upon entering the country, as do eventually most of their family members. Hence, organized labor never has ignored immigration trends. As Samuel Gompers, one of the founders of the …

Illegal Immigration And Immigration Reform: Protecting The Employment Rights Of The American Labor Force (The Native Born And Foreign Born) Who Are Eligible To Be Employed, Vernon Briggs, Jr.

Vernon M Briggs Jr

[Excerpt] Ever since the latter half of the 19th Century when the United States began to use its lega l system as a means to regulate both the size and the composition of the flow of foreign-born persons into its population and labor force, policymakers have had to confront the issue of what to do about those who defy the ensuing limitations, restrictions, and exclusions. As a consequence, the subject of illegal immigration has made frequent appearances on the nation’s political reform agenda. For while the United States claims to be a “a nation of immigrants,” it also boasts that …