Immigration Reform in Its First Year. CIS Paper 4 / David S. North.

This document assesses the preliminary impact of the first year of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). The act had three primary goals: (1) to discourage illegal immigration into the United States and to encourage the departure of recent illegal immigrants; (2) to permit the legalization of illegal immigrants who have been in the United States since 1982; and (3) to reduce the impact of illegal immigrants in the labor market to allow for residents' employment and to raise wages. The statistics indicate that illegal immigration has declined across the southern U.S. border, that there is scattered evidence that aliens are leaving, and that only 800,000 aliens have applied for legalization under IRCA. It is still too early to discern the IRCA's impact on the labor market, and little evidence has emerged concerning agricultural losses or unusual wage increases that opponents to the law feared would occur. Six tables are included. (DJC)

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