Myths about Immigrants

Public debate over immigration in the US is increasingly characterized by disagreements over facts and policy yet a rational assessment of policy alternatives depends upon a generally accepted factual base. It is important to distinguish the three different sets of rules governing 1) legal immigration 2) admission of refugees and asylum-seekers and 3) illegal migration. The failure of journalists to make these distinctions is mirrored by the popular notion that US immigration policy is driven solely by economic goals when immigration actually meets important social cultural and moral goals as well. Another misconception concerns the composition and flow of the immigrant population. Only about 15% of the 200 million in the 1990 census were illegal and while the number of foreign-born persons in the US is at an all-time high it accounts for a much lower percentage of the population (8%) that it did in 1870-1920. Each year 700000 arrive legally 100-150000 others are legal refugees and 200-300000 are undocumented. Journalistic confusion about numbers of arises because of unclear Immigration and Naturalization Service data which inflated figures of immigrants admitted between 1987 and 1991 to include the 1.1 million illegal granted legal status as a result of 1986 legislation. While many of the illegal are labor migrants who come and go each year from Mexico more than half enter the US legally and overstay their temporary visas. The diversity of immigration increased because of 1965 legislation and the number of countries represented by at least 100000 natives residing in the US has increased from 20 in 1970 to 41 in 1990. While the pace of immigration has increased the quality of the legal migrants in terms of educational credentials and household income also increased. Immigrants tend to be concentrated in California New York Texas Florida New Jersey and Illinois and to settle primarily in urban areas. Claims that steal jobs from natives are countered by the reality of the economic contributions made by legal immigrants. Immigrants also pay more than double in taxes for the public services they use and they give the US unappreciated advantages in the world economy through their intimate connections with other nations.