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Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Local Fiscal Effects of Illegal Immigration: Report of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5516.
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Local Fiscal Effects of Illegal Immigration

Report of a Workshop

Barry Edmonston and Ronald Lee, editors

Committee on National Statistics

Committee on Population

Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education

National Research Council

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C. 1996

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Local Fiscal Effects of Illegal Immigration: Report of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5516.
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is interim president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chairman and interim vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.

Support for this activity was provided by the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform.

ISBN 0-309-05592-X

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Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Local Fiscal Effects of Illegal Immigration: Report of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5516.
×

COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL STATISTICS 1994–1995

NORMAN M. BRADBURN (Chair),

National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago

JOHN E. ROLPH (Vice Chair),

Department of Information and Operations Management, School of Business Administration, University of Southern California

JOHN F. GEWEKE,

Department of Economics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

JOEL B. GREENHOUSE,

Department of Statistics, Carnegie Mellon University

ERIC A. HANUSHEK,

W. Allen Wallis Institute of Political Economy, Department of Economics, University of Rochester

ROBERT M. HAUSER,

Department of Sociology and Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin, Madison

NICHOLAS JEWELL,

Program in Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley

WILLIAM NORDHAUS,

Department of Economics, Yale University

JANET L. NORWOOD,

The Urban Institute, Washington, D.C.

EDWARD B. PERRIN,

School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington

KEITH RUST,

Westat, Inc., Rockville, Maryland

DANIEL L. SOLOMON,

College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, North Carolina State University

MIRON L. STRAF, Director

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Local Fiscal Effects of Illegal Immigration: Report of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5516.
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COMMITTEE ON POPULATION 1994–1995

RONALD D. LEE (Chair),

Department of Demography, University of California, Berkeley

CAROLINE H. BLEDSOE,

Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University

JOSÉ-LUIS BOBADILLA,

World Bank, Washington, D.C.

JOHN BONGAARTS,

The Population Council, New York, New York

JOHN B. CASTERLINE,

The Population Council, New York, New York

LINDA G. MARTIN,

RAND, Santa Monica, California

ROBERT A. MOFFITT,

Department of Economics, Brown University

MARK R. MONTGOMERY,

Department of Economics, State University of New York, Stony Brook

ANNE R. PEBLEY,

RAND, Santa Monica, California

RONALD R. RINDFUSS,

Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

JAMES P. SMITH,

RAND, Santa Monica, California

BETH SOLDO,

Department of Demography, Georgetown University

MARTA TIENDA,

Population Research Center, University of Chicago

AMY O. TSUI,

Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

JOHN HAAGA, Director

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Local Fiscal Effects of Illegal Immigration: Report of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5516.
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WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS

RONALD LEE (Chair), Department of Demography, University of California, Berkeley

FRANK BEAN, Population Resource Center, University of Texas

ANNE BRIDGMAN, Board on Children and Families, National Research Council and Institute of Medicine

ALICIA CACKLEY, Health, Education, and Human Services Division, U.S. General Accounting Office

THOMAS DOWNES, Department of Economics, Tufts University

THOMAS ESPENSHADE, Office of Population Research, Princeton University

CYNTHIA FAGNONI, Health, Education, and Human Services Division, U.S. General Accounting Office

ED FERNANDEZ, Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce

JOHN GEWEKE, Department of Economics, University of Minnesota

MICHAEL HOEFER, U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform

DAVID HOWELL, U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform

WILLARD MANNING, Institute for Health Services Research, University of Minnesota

DAVID MONK, Department of Education, Cornell University

SUSAN FORBES MARTIN, U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform

DAVID NIELSEN, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

DEBORAH PHILLIPS, Board on Children and Families, National Research Council and Institute of Medicine

SARAH ROSENBAUM, Center for Health Policy Research, George Washington University

RAFAEL SERRANO, Center for Health Policy Research, George Washington University

ANDREW SHERRILL, Health, Education, and Human Services Division, U.S. General Accounting Office

MICHAEL TEITELBAUM, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

ROBERT WARREN, Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Department of Justice

RUTH WASEM, Congressional Research Service

KAREN WOODROW-LAFIELD, U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform

BARRY EDMONSTON, Study Director, Committee on National Statistics

CANDICE EVANS, Project Assistant, Committee on National Statistics

KAREN FOOTE, Research Associate, Committee on Population

JOHN HAAGA, Director, Committee on Population

CAROL PARSONS, Consultant, Committee on National Statistics

MIRON STRAF, Director, Committee on National Statistics

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Local Fiscal Effects of Illegal Immigration: Report of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5516.
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Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Local Fiscal Effects of Illegal Immigration: Report of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5516.
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Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Local Fiscal Effects of Illegal Immigration: Report of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5516.
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Preface

The U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform was established by the Immigration Act of 1990 to examine the impact of immigration policy on localities and on the nation as a whole, including effects on social, economic, and community relations; population size and characteristics; and the environment. The commission has nine members, with the chair appointed by the President and the other eight members appointed by Congress.1 The commission issued its first interim report in September 1994 and will issue its final report in 1997. The interim report (U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, 1994) recommended in principle that there should be federal aid to some states and local areas because of the effect of illegal immigration on public service costs. It noted, however, that "weak data make it difficult to determine the extent of [the] burdens of the net fiscal impact of illegal immigration (p. 25)," and further acknowledged the need for a "concerted effort to develop better data on such effects, with impact assistance provided only to the extent that actual net costs are accurately identified (p. 26)."

At the request of the commission, the Committee on National Statistics and the Committee on Population held a workshop in October 1994 to review six recent case studies that assess the net fiscal impact of illegal immigration on state and local public services. The workshop was in response to the commission's recommendation for further investigation of the available data and analysis and of whether they have been used in developing reliable estimates of the net costs

1  

Barbara Jordan served as the commission's chair until her death in January 1996.

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Local Fiscal Effects of Illegal Immigration: Report of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5516.
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of providing public services to illegal aliens and their children. Specifically, workshop participants were asked to consider: assumptions about estimates of the number and characteristics of illegal immigrants, assumptions about estimates of the fiscal effects of selected public services for illegal immigrants, and assumptions about the possible employment displacement effect of illegal immigrants on residents. The workshop participants did not attempt to provide new estimates of fiscal effects, but rather to elucidate the main problems with current empirical studies, as well as strategies for improving the data, methods, and analyses on fiscal effects.

The two committees assembled a group of experts from a variety of related disciplines, including demography, economics, sociology, health care studies, education, and specialists in several immigration topics, joined by representatives from various government agencies and nonprofit research organizations. Those attending the workshop participated as individuals, not as representatives of their respective agencies or organizations.

The workshop was chaired by Ronald Lee, chair of the Committee on Population. Barry Edmonston served as the key staff organizer for the workshop, and Candice Evans skillfully handled the administrative duties. Carol Parsons, serving as a consultant to the Committee on National Statistics, took notes at the workshop and worked with Barry Edmonston to prepare an initial draft report. Deborah Carr, a consultant to the Committee on National Statistics, assisted with report preparation, and Michele Conrad ably guided the report from preparation through review and publication. The report also benefited from the editorial skills of Eugenia Grohman. The directors of our committees, Miron Straf and John Haaga, provided key oversight of the activity. We thank all of them, and the workshop participants, for their efforts on this important topic.

Norman M. Bradburn, Chair

Committee on National Statistics

Ronald D. Lee, Chair

Committee on Population

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The recent level of illegal immigration to the United States has increased debates about the effect of these immigrants on the cost of public services, and states have begun to enact policies that limit the public services available to illegal immigrants. The central issues are how many illegal immigrants reside in particular local areas and states and their effect on public expenditures and revenues and the economy in general. The Local Fiscal Effects of Illegal Immigration workshop selected six studies for analysis. The six case studies focused on one specific aspect of the complex question of the demographic, economic, and social effects of immigration: the net public services costs of illegal immigrants to selected geographical regions.

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