Mass Immigration and the National Interest: Policy Directions for the New Century (Labor and Human Resources Series)

As America begins the 21st century there is growing outcry across the land for reform of the nation's chaotic immigration policies. This text shows how immigration patterns are in direct conflict with emerging labour market trends and constitute a serious threat to the jobs of American workers. Although the United States is in the midst of the largest immigration experience in its history, there is little recognition of the effects that immigration policy has on parallel policies to achieve national economic and social objectives. In his new edition, Vernon Briggs, Jr., describes and analyzes current national policy on mass immigration in terms of the economic and social impact it has had on the nation's labor force. Drawing on both historical and contemporary material, Briggs shows how immigration policy in the twentieth century has shifted from being primarily a social policy to become a political policy and why it needs to become an economic policy as the nation prepares to enter the twenty-first century. Briggs (labor economics, Cornell University) describes the country's immigration policies as a hodge-podge of counter productive and special interest provisions, showing how immigration patterns are in direct conflict with emerging labor market trends and how they threaten the jobs of American workers, and offers suggestions for immigration policy reform. This third edition is revised and updated, drawing on data from the 2000 Census. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Vernon M. Briggs, Jr. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 289-313) And Index.