Do Amnesty Programs Encourage Illegal Immigration? Evidence from IRCA *

This paper examines whether allowing certain undocumented immigrants to legalize their status leads to additional illegal immigration. We focus on the effects of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, which granted amnesty to over 3 million undocumented immigrants. We find that apprehensions of persons attempting to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border declined immediately following passage of the law but returned to normal levels during the period when illegal immigrants could file for amnesty and the years thereafter. Our findings suggest that the amnesty program did not change long-run patterns of illegal immigration from Mexico.