1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910781570503321

Autore

Borjas George J

Titolo

Heaven's door : immigration policy and the American economy / / George J. Borjas

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Princeton, N.J. : , : Princeton University Press, , 1999

ISBN

1-283-33989-7

9786613339898

1-4008-4150-X

Edizione

[With a New preface by the author]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (282 pages) : illustrations

Disciplina

325.73

Soggetti

Immigrants - United States - Economic conditions

United States Emigration and immigration Economic aspects

United States Emigration and immigration Government policy

United States Economic conditions 1981-2001

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

"Second printing, and first paperback printing, with a new preface"--T.p. verso.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- CHAPTER 1. Reframing the Immigration Debate -- CHAPTER 2. The Skills of Immigrants -- CHAPTER 3. National Origin -- CHAPTER 4. The Labor Market Impact of Immigration -- CHAPTER 5. The Economic Benefits from Immigration -- CHAPTER 6. Immigration and the Welfare State -- CHAPTER 7. Social Mobility across Generations -- CHAPTER 8. Ethnic Capital -- CHAPTER 9. Ethnic Ghettos -- CHAPTER 10. The Goals of Immigration Policy -- CHAPTER 11. A Proposal for an Immigration Policy -- CHAPTER 12. Conclusion -- Notes -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

The U.S. took in more than a million immigrants per year in the late 1990's, 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