Do amnesty programs encourage illegal immigration? Evidence from the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)

Pia Orrenius and Madeline Zavodny

No 2001-19, FRB Atlanta Working Paper from Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Abstract: This paper examines whether allowing certain undocumented immigrants to legalize their status leads to additional illegal immigration. The authors focus on the effects of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, which granted amnesty to over three million undocumented immigrants. They find that apprehensions of persons attempting to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border declined immediately following passage of the law but returned to normal levels during the period when illegal immigrants could file for amnesty and in the years thereafter. The authors? findings suggest that the amnesty program did not change long-term patterns of illegal immigration from Mexico.

Keywords: Immigration; Reform; and; Control; Act; of; 1986 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001
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