The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration

Download The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309444454
Total Pages : 643 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (94 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration by : National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Download or read book The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2017-07-13 with total page 643 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration finds that the long-term impact of immigration on the wages and employment of native-born workers overall is very small, and that any negative impacts are most likely to be found for prior immigrants or native-born high school dropouts. First-generation immigrants are more costly to governments than are the native-born, but the second generation are among the strongest fiscal and economic contributors in the U.S. This report concludes that immigration has an overall positive impact on long-run economic growth in the U.S. More than 40 million people living in the United States were born in other countries, and almost an equal number have at least one foreign-born parent. Together, the first generation (foreign-born) and second generation (children of the foreign-born) comprise almost one in four Americans. It comes as little surprise, then, that many U.S. residents view immigration as a major policy issue facing the nation. Not only does immigration affect the environment in which everyone lives, learns, and works, but it also interacts with nearly every policy area of concern, from jobs and the economy, education, and health care, to federal, state, and local government budgets. The changing patterns of immigration and the evolving consequences for American society, institutions, and the economy continue to fuel public policy debate that plays out at the national, state, and local levels. The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration assesses the impact of dynamic immigration processes on economic and fiscal outcomes for the United States, a major destination of world population movements. This report will be a fundamental resource for policy makers and law makers at the federal, state, and local levels but extends to the general public, nongovernmental organizations, the business community, educational institutions, and the research community.

The Economics of Immigration

Download The Economics of Immigration PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317752988
Total Pages : 354 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (177 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Economics of Immigration by : Cynthia Bansak

Download or read book The Economics of Immigration written by Cynthia Bansak and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-04-24 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Economics of Immigration provides students with the tools needed to examine the economic impact of immigration and immigration policies over the past century. Students will develop an understanding of why and how people migrate across borders and will learn how to analyze the economic causes and effects of immigration. The main objectives of the book are for students to understand the decision to migrate; to understand the impact of immigration on markets and government budgets; and to understand the consequences of immigration policies in a global context. From the first chapter, students will develop an appreciation of the importance of immigration as a separate academic field within labor economics and international economics. Topics covered include the effect of immigration on labor markets, housing markets, international trade, tax revenues, human capital accumulation, and government fiscal balances. The book also considers the impact of immigration on what firms choose to produce, and even on the ethnic diversity of restaurants and on financial markets, as well as the theory and evidence on immigrants’ economic assimilation. The textbook includes a comparative study of immigration policies in a number of immigrant-receiving and sending countries, beginning with the history of immigration policy in the United States. Finally, the book explores immigration topics that directly affect developing countries, such as remittances, brain drain, human trafficking, and rural-urban internal migration. Readers will also be fully equipped with the tools needed to understand and contribute to policy debates on this controversial topic. This is the first textbook to comprehensively cover the economics of immigration, and it is suitable both for economics students and for students studying migration in other disciplines, such as sociology and politics.

Beside the Golden Door

Download Beside the Golden Door PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 0844743518
Total Pages : 170 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (447 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Beside the Golden Door by : Pia M. Orrenius

Download or read book Beside the Golden Door written by Pia M. Orrenius and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2010 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Cutting through the usual hyperbole that surrounds the immigration debate, Orrenius and Zavodny have produced a lucid and an insightful discussion of U.S. policy options that should be required reading for anyone interested in how the nation could design more effective mechanisms to manage our borders."-Gordon H. Hanson director, Center on Pacific Economies, and professor of economics, University of CaliforniaûSan Diego --

The New Americans

Download The New Americans PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309521424
Total Pages : 449 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (95 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The New Americans by : Panel on the Demographic and Economic Impacts of Immigration

Download or read book The New Americans written by Panel on the Demographic and Economic Impacts of Immigration and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1997-10-28 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book sheds light on one of the most controversial issues of the decade. It identifies the economic gains and losses from immigration--for the nation, states, and local areas--and provides a foundation for public discussion and policymaking. Three key questions are explored: What is the influence of immigration on the overall economy, especially national and regional labor markets? What are the overall effects of immigration on federal, state, and local government budgets? What effects will immigration have on the future size and makeup of the nation's population over the next 50 years? The New Americans examines what immigrants gain by coming to the United States and what they contribute to the country, the skills of immigrants and those of native-born Americans, the experiences of immigrant women and other groups, and much more. It offers examples of how to measure the impact of immigration on government revenues and expenditures--estimating one year's fiscal impact in California, New Jersey, and the United States and projecting the long-run fiscal effects on government revenues and expenditures. Also included is background information on immigration policies and practices and data on where immigrants come from, what they do in America, and how they will change the nation's social fabric in the decades to come.

U.S. Immigration Policy

Download U.S. Immigration Policy PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Council on Foreign Relations
ISBN 13 : 0876094213
Total Pages : 165 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (76 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis U.S. Immigration Policy by : Council on Foreign Relations. Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy

Download or read book U.S. Immigration Policy written by Council on Foreign Relations. Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy and published by Council on Foreign Relations. This book was released on 2009 with total page 165 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few issues on the American political agenda are more complex or divisive than immigration. There is no shortage of problems with current policies and practices, from the difficulties and delays that confront many legal immigrants to the large number of illegal immigrants living in the country. Moreover, few issues touch as many areas of U.S. domestic life and foreign policy. Immigration is a matter of homeland security and international competitiveness, as well as a deeply human issue central to the lives of millions of individuals and families. It cuts to the heart of questions of citizenship and American identity and plays a large role in shaping both America's reality and its image in the world. Immigration's emergence as a foreign policy issue coincides with the increasing reach of globalization. Not only must countries today compete to attract and retain talented people from around the world, but the view of the United States as a place of unparalleled openness and opportunity is also crucial to the maintenance of American leadership. There is a consensus that current policy is not serving the United States well on any of these fronts. Yet agreement on reform has proved elusive. The goal of the Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy was to examine this complex issue and craft a nuanced strategy for reforming immigration policies and practices.

Innovation and Public Policy

Download Innovation and Public Policy PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022680545X
Total Pages : 259 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (268 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Innovation and Public Policy by : Austan Goolsbee

Download or read book Innovation and Public Policy written by Austan Goolsbee and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2022-03-25 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A calculation of the social returns to innovation /Benjamin F. Jones and Lawrence H. Summers --Innovation and human capital policy /John Van Reenen --Immigration policy levers for US innovation and start-ups /Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr --Scientific grant funding /Pierre Azoulay and Danielle Li --Tax policy for innovation /Bronwyn H. Hall --Taxation and innovation: what do we know? /Ufuk Akcigit and Stefanie Stantcheva --Government incentives for entrepreneurship /Josh Lerner.

Immigration Economics

Download Immigration Economics PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674369912
Total Pages : 295 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (743 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Immigration Economics by : George J. Borjas

Download or read book Immigration Economics written by George J. Borjas and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2014-06-09 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Millions of people—nearly 3 percent of the world’s population—no longer live in the country where they were born. Every day, migrants enter not only the United States but also developed countries without much of a history of immigration. Some of these nations have switched in a short span of time from being the source of immigrants to being a destination for them. International migration is today a central subject of research in modern labor economics, which seeks to put into perspective and explain this historic demographic transformation. Immigration Economics synthesizes the theories, models, and econometric methods used to identify the causes and consequences of international labor flows. Economist George Borjas lays out with clarity and rigor a full spectrum of topics, including migrant worker selection and assimilation, the impact of immigration on labor markets and worker wages, and the economic benefits and losses that result from immigration. Two important themes emerge: First, immigration has distributional consequences: some people gain, but some people lose. Second, immigrants are rational economic agents who attempt to do the best they can with the resources they have, and the same holds true for native workers of the countries that receive migrants. This straightforward behavioral proposition, Borjas argues, has crucial implications for how economists and policymakers should frame contemporary debates over immigration.

Coming Out of the Shadows

Download Coming Out of the Shadows PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (137 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Coming Out of the Shadows by : Sherrie A. Kossoudji

Download or read book Coming Out of the Shadows written by Sherrie A. Kossoudji and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1986, Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) to reduce the incentives for unauthorized migration by eliminating U.S. employment opportunities for unauthorized workers. The General Legalization Program within IRCA granted amnesty to approximately 1.7 million long-term unauthorized workers to bring them "out of the shadows" and improve their labor market opportunities. An analysis of wages using panel data for a sample of legalized men provides evidence that wage determinants are structurally different after amnesty for them, but not for the comparison group measured during the same time periods. This suggests that changes are due to legalization rather than differences in macroeconomic conditions. These changes result from altered returns to human capital and continuing penalties for those who work in traditional migrant jobs. The penalty for being unauthorized begins with low entry wages and is compounded by slow wage growth during the unauthorized era. Legalized men experienced rapid wage growth after legalization. Benchmark estimates of the penalty to being unauthorized range from 14 percent to 24 percent. The wage benefit of legalization under IRCA was approximately 6 percent by 1992.

Immigration Policy and the Search for Skilled Workers

Download Immigration Policy and the Search for Skilled Workers PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309337852
Total Pages : 155 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (93 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Immigration Policy and the Search for Skilled Workers by : National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Download or read book Immigration Policy and the Search for Skilled Workers written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2015-12-29 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The market for high-skilled workers is becoming increasingly global, as are the markets for knowledge and ideas. While high-skilled immigrants in the United States represent a much smaller proportion of the workforce than they do in countries such as Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, these immigrants have an important role in spurring innovation and economic growth in all countries and filling shortages in the domestic labor supply. This report summarizes the proceedings of a Fall 2014 workshop that focused on how immigration policy can be used to attract and retain foreign talent. Participants compared policies on encouraging migration and retention of skilled workers, attracting qualified foreign students and retaining them post-graduation, and input by states or provinces in immigration policies to add flexibility in countries with regional employment differences, among other topics. They also discussed how immigration policies have changed over time in response to undesired labor market outcomes and whether there was sufficient data to measure those outcomes.

Heaven's Door

Download Heaven's Door PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 140084150X
Total Pages : 282 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Heaven's Door by : George J. Borjas

Download or read book Heaven's Door written by George J. Borjas and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2011-11-28 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The U.S. took in more than a million immigrants per year in the late 1990s, more than at any other time in history. For humanitarian and many other reasons, this may be good news. But as George Borjas shows in Heaven's Door, it's decidedly mixed news for the American economy--and positively bad news for the country's poorest citizens. Widely regarded as the country's leading immigration economist, Borjas presents the most comprehensive, accessible, and up-to-date account yet of the economic impact of recent immigration on America. He reveals that the benefits of immigration have been greatly exaggerated and that, if we allow immigration to continue unabated and unmodified, we are supporting an astonishing transfer of wealth from the poorest people in the country, who are disproportionately minorities, to the richest. In the course of the book, Borjas carefully analyzes immigrants' skills, national origins, welfare use, economic mobility, and impact on the labor market, and he makes groundbreaking use of new data to trace current trends in ethnic segregation. He also evaluates the implications of the evidence for the type of immigration policy the that U.S. should pursue. Some of his findings are dramatic: Despite estimates that range into hundreds of billions of dollars, net annual gains from immigration are only about $8 billion. In dragging down wages, immigration currently shifts about $160 billion per year from workers to employers and users of immigrants' services. Immigrants today are less skilled than their predecessors, more likely to re-quire public assistance, and far more likely to have children who remain in poor, segregated communities. Borjas considers the moral arguments against restricting immigration and writes eloquently about his own past as an immigrant from Cuba. But he concludes that in the current economic climate--which is less conducive to mass immigration of unskilled labor than past eras--it would be fair and wise to return immigration to the levels of the 1970s (roughly 500,000 per year) and institute policies to favor more skilled immigrants.

Out of Many, One

Download Out of Many, One PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Crown
ISBN 13 : 0593136969
Total Pages : 417 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (931 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Out of Many, One by : George W. Bush

Download or read book Out of Many, One written by George W. Bush and published by Crown. This book was released on 2021-04-20 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this powerful new collection of oil paintings and stories, President George W. Bush spotlights the inspiring journeys of America’s immigrants and the contributions they make to the life and prosperity of our nation. The issue of immigration stirs intense emotions today, as it has throughout much of American history. But what gets lost in the debates about policy are the stories of immigrants themselves, the people who are drawn to America by its promise of economic opportunity and political and religious freedom—and who strengthen our nation in countless ways. In the tradition of Portraits of Courage, President Bush’s #1 New York Times bestseller, Out of Many, One brings together forty-three full-color portraits of men and women who have immigrated to the United States, alongside stirring stories of the unique ways all of them are pursuing the American Dream. Featuring men and women from thirty-five countries and nearly every region of the world, Out of Many, One shows how hard work, strong values, dreams, and determination know no borders or boundaries and how immigrants embody values that are often viewed as distinctly American: optimism and gratitude, a willingness to strive and to risk, a deep sense of patriotism, and a spirit of self-reliance that runs deep in our immigrant heritage. In these pages, we meet a North Korean refugee fighting for human rights, a Dallas-based CEO who crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico at age seventeen, and a NASA engineer who as a girl in Nigeria dreamed of coming to America, along with notable figures from business, the military, sports, and entertainment. President Bush captures their faces and stories in striking detail, bringing depth to our understanding of who immigrants are, the challenges they face on their paths to citizenship, and the lessons they can teach us about our country’s character. As the stories unfold in this vibrant book, readers will gain a better appreciation for the humanity behind one of our most pressing policy issues and the countless ways in which America, through its tradition of welcoming newcomers, has been strengthened by those who have come here in search of a better life.

The Regulated Economy

Download The Regulated Economy PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226301346
Total Pages : 324 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (263 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Regulated Economy by : Claudia Goldin

Download or read book The Regulated Economy written by Claudia Goldin and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2008-04-15 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How has the United States government grown? What political and economic factors have given rise to its regulation of the economy? These eight case studies explore the late-nineteenth- and early twentieth-century origins of government intervention in the United States economy, focusing on the political influence of special interest groups in the development of economic regulation. The Regulated Economy examines how constituent groups emerged and demanded government action to solve perceived economic problems, such as exorbitant railroad and utility rates, bank failure, falling agricultural prices, the immigration of low-skilled workers, workplace injury, and the financing of government. The contributors look at how preexisting policies, institutions, and market structures shaped regulatory activity; the origins of regulatory movements at the state and local levels; the effects of consensus-building on the timing and content of legislation; and how well government policies reflect constituency interests. A wide-ranging historical view of the way interest group demands and political bargaining have influenced the growth of economic regulation in the United States, this book is important reading for economists, political scientists, and public policy experts.

U.S. Immigration Policy on Permanent Admissions

Download U.S. Immigration Policy on Permanent Admissions PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : DIANE Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1437932819
Total Pages : 41 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (379 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis U.S. Immigration Policy on Permanent Admissions by : Ruth Ellen Wasem

Download or read book U.S. Immigration Policy on Permanent Admissions written by Ruth Ellen Wasem and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2010-08 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contents: (1) Overview; (2) Current Law and Policy; Worldwide Immigration Levels; Per-Country Ceilings; Other Permanent Immigration Categories; (3) Admissions Trends: Immigration Patterns, 1900-2008; FY 2008 Admissions; (4) Backlogs and Waiting Times: Visa Processing Dates: Family-Based Visa Priority Dates; Employment-Based Visa Retrogression; Petition Processing Backlogs; (5) Issues and Options in the 111th Congress: Effects of Current Economic Conditions on Legal Immigration; Family-Based Preferences; Permanent Partners; Point System; Immigration Commission; Interaction with Legalization Options; Lifting Per-Country Ceilings. Charts and tables.

The U.S. Produce Industry and Labor

Download The U.S. Produce Industry and Labor PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : DIANE Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1437942695
Total Pages : 57 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (379 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The U.S. Produce Industry and Labor by : Linda Calvin

Download or read book The U.S. Produce Industry and Labor written by Linda Calvin and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 57 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fruit and vegetable production is a labor-intensive process, and over half of the hired workers employed by growers are believed to be unauthorized immigrants. Reforms to immigration laws, if they reduce the labor supply, may increase the cost of farm labor. The authors of this report assess how particular fruit and vegetable commodities might adjust if labor rates increased. Analysis of case studies suggests a range of possible adjustment scenarios, including increased mechanization for some crops, reduced U.S. output for a few crops, and increased use of labor aids to improve labor productivity for others. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand edition of an important, hard-to-find report.

We Wanted Workers: Unraveling the Immigration Narrative

Download We Wanted Workers: Unraveling the Immigration Narrative PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 0393249026
Total Pages : 245 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (932 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis We Wanted Workers: Unraveling the Immigration Narrative by : George J. Borjas

Download or read book We Wanted Workers: Unraveling the Immigration Narrative written by George J. Borjas and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2016-10-11 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From "America’s leading immigration economist" (The Wall Street Journal), a refreshingly level-headed exploration of the effects of immigration. We are a nation of immigrants, and we have always been concerned about immigration. As early as 1645, the Massachusetts Bay Colony began to prohibit the entry of "paupers." Today, however, the notion that immigration is universally beneficial has become pervasive. To many modern economists, immigrants are a trove of much-needed workers who can fill predetermined slots along the proverbial assembly line. But this view of immigration’s impact is overly simplified, explains George J. Borjas, a Cuban-American, Harvard labor economist. Immigrants are more than just workers—they’re people who have lives outside of the factory gates and who may or may not fit the ideal of the country to which they’ve come to live and work. Like the rest of us, they’re protected by social insurance programs, and the choices they make are affected by their social environments. In We Wanted Workers, Borjas pulls back the curtain of political bluster to show that, in the grand scheme, immigration has not affected the average American all that much. But it has created winners and losers. The losers tend to be nonmigrant workers who compete for the same jobs as immigrants. And somebody’s lower wage is somebody else’s higher profit, so those who employ immigrants benefit handsomely. In the end, immigration is mainly just another government redistribution program. "I am an immigrant," writes Borjas, "and yet I do not buy into the notion that immigration is universally beneficial…But I still feel that it is a good thing to give some of the poor and huddled masses, people who face so many hardships, a chance to experience the incredible opportunities that our exceptional country has to offer." Whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican, or an Independent, We Wanted Workers is essential reading for anyone interested in the issue of immigration in America today.

Immigration and the Work Force

Download Immigration and the Work Force PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226066703
Total Pages : 294 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (26 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Immigration and the Work Force by : George J. Borjas

Download or read book Immigration and the Work Force written by George J. Borjas and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2007-12-01 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the 1970s, the striking increase in immigration to the United States has been accompanied by a marked change in the composition of the immigrant community, with a much higher percentage of foreign-born workers coming from Latin America and Asia and a dramatically lower percentage from Europe. This timely study is unique in presenting new data sets on the labor force, wage rates, and demographic conditions of both the U.S. and source-area economies through the 1980s. The contributors analyze the economic effects of immigration on the United States and selected source areas, with a focus on Puerto Rico and El Salvador. They examine the education and job performance of foreign-born workers; assimilation, fertility, and wage rates; and the impact of remittances by immigrants to family members on the overall gross domestic product of source areas. A revealing and original examination of a topic of growing importance, this book will stand as a guide for further research on immigration and on the economies of developing countries.

Immigrants and Welfare

Download Immigrants and Welfare PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN 13 : 1610446224
Total Pages : 244 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (14 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Immigrants and Welfare by : Michael E. Fix

Download or read book Immigrants and Welfare written by Michael E. Fix and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2009-11-25 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The lore of the immigrant who comes to the United States to take advantage of our welfare system has a long history in America's collective mythology, but it has little basis in fact. The so-called problem of immigrants on the dole was nonetheless a major concern of the 1996 welfare reform law, the impact of which is still playing out today. While legal immigrants continue to pay taxes and are eligible for the draft, welfare reform has severely limited their access to government supports in times of crisis. Edited by Michael Fix, Immigrants and Welfare rigorously assesses the welfare reform law, questions whether its immigrant provisions were ever really necessary, and examines its impact on legal immigrants' ability to integrate into American society. Immigrants and Welfare draws on fields from demography and law to developmental psychology. The first part of the volume probes the politics behind the welfare reform law, its legal underpinnings, and what it may mean for integration policy. Contributor Ron Haskins makes a case for welfare reform's ultimate success but cautions that excluding noncitizen children (future workers) from benefits today will inevitably have serious repercussions for the American economy down the road. Michael Wishnie describes the implications of the law for equal protection of immigrants under the U.S. Constitution. The second part of the book focuses on empirical research regarding immigrants' propensity to use benefits before the law passed, and immigrants' use and hardship levels afterwards. Jennifer Van Hook and Frank Bean analyze immigrants' benefit use before the law was passed in order to address the contested sociological theories that immigrants are inclined to welfare use and that it slows their assimilation. Randy Capps, Michael Fix, and Everett Henderson track trends before and after welfare reform in legal immigrants' use of the major federal benefit programs affected by the law. Leighton Ku looks specifically at trends in food stamps and Medicaid use among noncitizen children and adults and documents the declining health insurance coverage of noncitizen parents and children. Finally, Ariel Kalil and Danielle Crosby use longitudinal data from Chicago to examine the health of children in immigrant families that left welfare. Even though few states took the federal government's invitation with the 1996 welfare reform law to completely freeze legal immigrants out of the social safety net, many of the law's most far-reaching provisions remain in place and have significant implications for immigrants. Immigrants and Welfare takes a balanced look at the politics and history of immigrant access to safety-net supports and the ongoing impacts of welfare. Copublished with the Migration Policy Institute