Undocumented Migration to the United States

IRCA and the Experience of the 1980s

Frank D. Bean, Barry Edmonston, Jeffrey S. Passel

ResearchPublished 1990

The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) is the most sweeping revision of U.S. immigration policy since the national quota system was abolished in 1965. Its major objective is to reduce illegal immigration through two strategies — legalizing immigrants already in the country and reducing future flows to the country through imposing penalties on employers who hire illegal aliens. The success of the legislation will, therefore, be measured at least in part by whether the flow of illegal immigrants to the United States has been reduced. This report considers whether IRCA has succeeded in reducing illegal immigration. It presents the most up-to-date evidence available on the size of the illegal population in the United States and its changes during the 1980s.

Topics

Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web Only
  • Year: 1990
  • Pages: 291
  • Document Number: JRI-7

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Bean, Frank D., Barry Edmonston, and Jeffrey S. Passel, Undocumented Migration to the United States: IRCA and the Experience of the 1980s. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1990. https://www.rand.org/pubs/joint_reports-immigration/JRI7.html.
BibTeX RIS

This publication is part of the RAND joint report immigration series. The joint report was a product of RAND from 1988 to 1993 that included documents published jointly with other organizations and presented major research findings and final research.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.