Immigration Statistics A Story of Neglect (1985) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
8 Data Gaps and Ways to Fill Them
8 Data Gaps and Ways to Fill Them
Pages 126-142
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From page 126... ...
All the approaches listed require, of course, that the basic data are of good quality. The first essential for any improvement of immigration statistics is thus the implementation of quality-control processes at the data generation stage; in the absence 126
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From page 127... ...
The fourth way is to modify existing data collection procedures; planning, testing, and processing design are the one-time costs, while data collection, preparation, and tabulation are recurrent costs. Finally, the most expensive way to improve immigration statistics is to undertake new data collection initiatives; this approach requires major additional costs, including questionnaire, sample, and data processing design, testing, and implementation.
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From page 128... ...
Further information is obtained at subsequent contacts: in theory at every address change (although in practice such changes probably go unreported quite frequently) ; when applying for naturalization or other immigration benefits; through income tax returns and social security benefits or contributions; at census enumerations or survey interviews; and when registering births or deaths.
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From page 129... ...
UNMET DATA NEEDS There are five groups of aliens that are of major importance for policy formation: permanent resident aliens, refugees, asylees, temporary workers, and illegal residents. Minor policy issues arise for some other groups (such as the Simpson-Mazzoli bill's visa waiver scheme to make it easier for visitors to enter the country)
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From page 130... ...
One could find out whether emigration rates of principal aliens whose spouses or children are admitted under the second preference are higher or lower than those of other aliens; whether emigration or secondary migration rates are higher or lower for those admitted under the family reunification preferences than for other immigrants and how they vary by preference category; whether naturalization rates are higher or lower for some preference admissions than for others. One could also determine whether immigrants admitted under the various family reunification preferences perform better or worse than other immigrant groups in terms of income, assimilation, naturalization, and the like.
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From page 131... ...
After the 3-year eligibility period, responsibility for refugees passes from the Office of Refugee Resettlement to the INS, and data availability declines drastically; it ceases to be possible to track individual performance or to distinguish refugees from other foreign-born residents. Thus, the most important unmet data needs relate to the long-term performance in the United States of those admitted as refugees and the impact on future immigration of refugees who become permanent residents or naturalized citizens and apply for family reunification benefits.
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From page 132... ...
Do they come to work temporarily or to settle permanently? Since it costs money to keep illegal aliens out and would cost a very large amount of money to reduce illegal immigration to a trickle, policy makers have to decide how much should be spent on the Border Patrol and other INS activities in trying to keep illegal aliens out: if a steady stream of illegal migrants is beneficial overall, then legal immigration limits could be increased and enforcement activities could be cut back.
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From page 133... ...
The Bureau of the Census, for instance, is a major user as well as a producer of data on immigration. Current data on international migration are needed to derive postcensal population estimates that are used, among other purposes: as independent controls for the monthly Current Population Survey; for evaluating the coverage of decennial censuses; for the distribution of revenue-sharing funds; and in the computation of widely used and important ratios, ranging from birth and death rates to life insurance survival probabilities.
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From page 134... ...
Improved Data Tabulation The cheapest and quickest way of increasing the usefulness of data is by improving the tabulation of machine-readable data sets or by preparing public-use data tapes. However, the potential for this method of improvement is limited by what exists; one cannot tabulate what is not there.
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From page 135... ...
The panel therefore recommends that the Office of Refugee Resettlement: data processing o Allocate the additional resources necessary to ensure the adequate dissemination of existing data in both tabular and machine-readable form. The Social Security Administration is an agency that offers some potential for improved data tabulation.
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From page 136... ...
The panel therefore recommends that the INS: o Process and tabulate data on a regular basis from at least a substantial sample of I-213 forms, and put more emphasis on the quality of the basic data collected. Improved Record Linkage Record linkages across and within agencies offer tremendous potential for improving the statistical base for studies of migration.
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From page 137... ...
The potential of interagency linkage may at present be limited by a lack of suitable identifiers. Although the Social Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, and some Census Bureau surveys all collect social security number, all machine-readable data sets suffer from some nonresponse, reporting error, or keying error, which reduces match rates and increases mismatches.
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From page 138... ...
, the linkage of data sets internal to the agency would still provide a substantial amount of information about the economic activity of foreign-born residents, and make possible a direct assessment of contributions paid in against benefits paid out. Modification of Existing Data Collection Procedures Existing data collection procedures can be improved by raising data quality and by collecting additional pieces of useful information.
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From page 139... ...
A module to measure emigration of both immigrants and native-born citizens should also be included in the Current Population Survey, since little is known about emigration levels or patterns and the cost would be modest. New Data Collection Initiatives The modifications to data tabulation, processing, linkage, and collection procedures outlined in the previous four sections represent cost-effective improvements of the statistical base available for policy formation, but they cannot fill the largest single lack: good-quality longitudinal data on the process of settlement in the United States by immigrants and refugees, and on the social and economic impact of such settlement on the existing resident population.
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From page 140... ...
Demographic changes, including : marital status, births, death, internal migration, temporary absence from the United States, emigration, formal or vocational education, and household characteristics; Income and labor force experience in the United States; and Program participation and service use, including educational and health costs of children; local, state, and federal taxes paid, and social security benefits and contributions. We recommend that the survey be funded by the INS but conducted under contract by a recognized survey research organization, either public or private, experienced in longitudinal panel design and execution.
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From page 141... ...
This leadership role belongs by right to the INS as the agency primarily concerned with immigration policy and process. However, the INS has consistently failed to look beyond its immediate management needs for information, an attitude clearly expressed in its mission plan and in the assumptions underlying its ADP program, and it has on occasion actually impeded existing collaborative interagency agreements by introducing process changes without consultation or regard for outside needs.
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From page 142... ...
Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences. United Nations 1980 Recommendations on Statistics of International Migration._ _ Department of International Economic and Social Affairs.
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