Immigration Statistics A Story of Neglect (1985) / Chapter Skim
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3 Needs for Statistics on Immigration
3 Needs for Statistics on Immigration
Pages 26-34
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From page 26... ...
It is thus somewhat surprising to discover that the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) , the centerpiece of immigration law, contains virtually no direct references to the preparation of 26
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From page 27... ...
The Attorney General is authorized and directed to prepare from the records in the custody of the Service a report upon those heretofore seeking citizenship to show by nationalities their relation to the numbers of aliens annually arriving and to the prevailing census populations of the foreign born, their economic, vocational and other classification, in statistical form, with analytical comment thereon and to prepare such report annually hereafter. A review of past performance (at least since 1952, when the present legislation was enacted)
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From page 28... ...
, for example, requires that the President provide members of Congress with the following types of information: o A description of the nature of the world refugee situation; o A description of the number and allocation of the refugees to be admitted and an analysis of conditions within the countries from which they come; o An analysis of the anticipated social, economic, and demographic impact of their admission to the United States; and o A description of the proposed plans for their movement and resettlement. Apparently recognizing that properly presented data can contribute to the decision-making process, Section 207 also requires: "to the extent possible, information described in this subsection shall be provided [to members of Congress]
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From page 29... ...
Although immigration policy is set at the national level, immigrants live in local communities and contribute to public coffers through taxes at the federal, state, and local level; they may not, however, consume public services provided by these governments in amounts equal to their contributions. Hence, as in the case of military installations, which have benefits (national defense, contributions to local revenues)
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From page 30... ...
U.S. policy for the admission of aliens for long-term residence appears, on the basis of current legislation, to have three main objectives: admitting aliens for the purposes of reunifying families, admitting workers with particular skills that are in short supply domestically, and accepting a share of worldwide refugees consistent with foreign policy objectives, altruistic sentiments, and absorptive capacity.
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From page 31... ...
Despite these reservations, however, there can be little disagreement with the notion that good-quality, reliable immigration data, objectively and competently analyzed, are likely to enlighten debates about policy and consequently to improve policy outcomes. DATA NEEDED FOR PROGRAM MANAGEMENT Effective program management requires timely information about various operational aspects of the program.
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From page 32... ...
borders; with the federal, state, and local agencies to whom they may turn when in need; with schools, which attempt to provide language capability and citizenship training; with the Department of Labor and related state agencies, which may provide job training or jobs. Refugees, asylees, visitors, and short-term workers all find themselves involved with government agencies and private voluntary agencies before or during their stay in the country, and each such contact invariably becomes noted in the information systems developed by these respective agencies for managing their operations, assessing their successes and failures, preparing requests for funding, and responding to questions from those at all levels of responsibility or from the public.
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From page 33... ...
Their need is for analysis of aggregated, summary information: information that gives insight into and understanding of demographic, economic, or geographic relationships, such as the age-sex-family status of entering immigrants, the occupations and incomes of those entering for temporary work, the current labor force status of recent refugees, and how efficiently program activities are functioning. In the middle we find those who run the agency offices that deal directly with immigrants, in either service or law enforcement roles; they are largely involved with the effective day-to-day management of services offered and activities performed -- using scarce resources to accomplish tasks.
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From page 34... ...
But if a good data system was in place, a sample for the survey could be drawn and located relatively easily from a master listing, including current or most recent address, of the population. Having identified the policy and program needs for accurate and timely data on international migration and briefly outlined the characteristics of a suitable information collection system, we turn next in Chapters 4 through 7 to examine what data are actually collected, by whom, and for what purposes.
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