Essays on Legal and Illegal Immigration.

Major issues of the debate that led to the passage of an immigration reform bill are discussed and analyzed in this collection of six papers that were delivered as public lectures at Western Michigan University during the 1984-85 academic year. The essays reflect a broad range of views on the effects of immigration on the United States economy and on reform of the current system. Several of the essays debate the likely effects and hidden costs that may result from the imposition of employer sanctions, which is considered the main provision of the bill. Concerns about the effects of amnesty on the supply of workers and on the demand for public services and transfer payments are discussed by some of the authors. Whether amnesty will further encourage illegal immigration by raising expectations of future amnesties is also considered. Other topics include the effect on different sectors of the domestic labor market and the history of guest worker programs in the United States and Europe. Essays included in the volume are the following: "The Many Guises of Immigration Reform" (Susan Pozo); "Immigrants and the U.S. Labor Market" (George J. Borjas); "Can International Migration Be Controlled?" (Michael J. Piore); "The Imperative of Immigration Reform" (Vernon M. Briggs, Jr.); "The Illegal Alien Policy Dilemma" (Barry R. Chiswick); "Immigration and the U.S. Taxpayer" (Francine D. Blau); and "U.S. Immigration Policy: What Next?" (Jagdish N. Bhagwati). (KC)