Rational Migration Policy Should Tolerate Non-zero Illegal Migration Flows: Lessons from Modelling the Market for Illegal Migration

The debate on the immigration policies in OECD countries has turned its attention towards illegal migrants. Given that migration flows are determined by immigration laws, the probability of potential detection, penalties for unauthorized migrants and their employers, and income differences between sending and receiving countries, this paper presents a new approach to the problem of illegal migration, grounded on the economic theory of illegal behaviour. The framework considers the interaction of potential migrants, citizens, employers, and the government. After introducing the supply function of illegal migration and its determinants, the trade-off between social costs and benefits of preventing and combating illegal migration is demonstrated. This trade-off results in an optimal level of migration larger than zero. A complete "market model" of illegal migration is offered by presentation of a demand curve of illegal migration, based on the tolerance of the society towards clandestine foreigners. Equilibrium forces predict a non-zero level of illegal migration. The rule of law of our legal systems, according to which any illegal activity has to be reduced to zero, bears the danger of producing inefficient disequilibria. A reasonable policy of wanted and unwanted migration should address the question of how to allocate scarce resources. Ignoring social optima and equilibrium forces means to abandon public resources that could be used for other public assignments, such as schooling or foreign aid, for instance, i.e., measures that could strike the problem of illegal migration at its root.     

上海流动人口精神生活评估与文化建设对策

针对上海流动人口在主要精神生活领域存在一些突出矛盾和问题,围绕实现好、保障好流动人口基本文化权益,满足流动人口基本文化需求,改善流动人口"文化民生"的基本目标,上海迫切需要厘清政府、用工企业和社区的职责,形成促进流动人口文化建设的合力,形成"政府主导、企业共建、社会参与"的流动人口文化工作机制,将流动人口文化服务纳入城市公共文化服务体系建设范畴。     

Making Heterogeneous Space: Land Development and the Proletarianization of Urban Underclass in Post War Japan

This paper aims to focus on a correlation between urban land development and a “proletarianization” of day‐laborers by examining Mitsui Fudosan Group [Mitsui Real Estate Group] as an agent of urban developments and construction industry in Japan, with examining daylaborers’ riots and moral economy as a counter‐culture against gentrified urban spaces.It is necessary to acknowledge the fact that the national projects – maintained by the closed market and the subcontracting labor system in the construction industry – also induce a radical opposition against the urban development. Although national projects are inevitably accompanied by gentrification, eviction of the homeless, and social exclusion of the underclass, unavoidable transgression or deviation conflicts with urban development, such as periodic and spontaneous riots by day‐laborers, demonstrates a vulnerability of the national unity. In fact, the day‐laborers changed the street labor market into their own field in order to overturn the hierarchy determined by the subcontracting structure in the construction industry. Their bodily expression in the form of riots had radically transgressed the ideas promoted in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics as “One World,” or the 1970 Osaka Expo as “Progress and Harmony for Mankind.” The Olympic legacy was disrupted boldly and transformed into a radical egalitarian thought in this sense. The underclass is immediately defined and commodified by national projects, however, it does not mean that its body is completely involved in its time and space.     

An Updated Examination of the Effects of Illegal Drug Use in the Workplace

Illegal drug use in the workplace is a pervasive and serious problem that affects the corporate world, particularly with respect to the impairment of employee communication in their occupational settings. Because of the diversity of illegal drugs that are available (e.g., stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens) to general employees in the workforce, various effects can occur on the users that can affect their communication styles and patterns. The purpose of this article is to compile, examine, and display the most recent literature and statistical data on illegal drug use in the workplace and its effects on human communication and the behavioral effects of illegal drug use on employees. This issue has received substantial attention over the past generations. More specifically, this area of inquiry has been a hot, scholarly topic in business and communication studies for the past few decades.     

The impact of the daily lottery on the numbers game: Does legalization make a difference?

There has been a profusion of state run legal lotteries over the last two decades. One justification for them has been their supposed diversion of funds from illegal games known as numbers, policy and bolita. Records obtained in a police raid in south Florida provided an opportunity to analyze the impact of Florida' legal lottery on its illegal counterpart. The records ranged over a 13 week period encompassing five weeks prior to the inception of Florida's legal daily numbers and lotto games and seven weeks afterward. While there was a 17 percent decline in monies wagered on the illegal games during the first week of the legal games, illegal wagers quickly rebounded to prelegalization levels.An earlier version of the paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Washington, D.C., March 1989. The authors wish to express their deep appreciation to the Metro-Dade Police Department, Miami, Florida, and particularly to Max Schuman and Sgt. James Boyd for their assistance in this research.     

Ethnic Networks and Illegal Immigration

Illegal immigration through human smuggling originating from the Fujian Province, China, has become a global issue, affecting at least 30 countries. The empirical research on the financial element of illegal immigration suggests the important role of an underground banking system. This study examines the role of ethnic networks in sustaining the operation of Chinese-operated informal fund transfer systems in the United States. The primary source of data is from in-depth interviews with illegal immigrants in New York City and Philadelphia. The findings show that as opposed to lineage-based networks, the networks based on regional dialect allowed illegal Fujianese immigrants, as well as underground bank proprietors, to take advantage of social capital inherent in the expatriate ethnic community. The high levels of trust between underground bank proprietors and their clientele can be understood as resulting from ethnic solidarity and enforceable trust. These features are found to be troublesome at the community level because the research findings illustrate that a community of high ethnic interactions espouses a deviant culture or norms that encourage widely accepted but illegal practices.     

Bifurcated incorporation and migrant social mobility in Japan

The context of reception is crucial in establishing different mobility pathways for migrants within host societies. Given that access to government resources is increasingly reserved for citizens and permanent residents and most states provide relatively few avenues to naturalization or permanent residence, host country human capital and social networks are often vital for upward social mobility. I use a variety of research methods including 60 semi-structured interviews, over 800 hour of participant and non-obtrusive observation, and ethnography from a 14-month period in 2011–2012 in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area to investigate how Sub-Saharan African migrants pursue mobility within Japanese society. I theorize that there are two distinct groups of long-term staying migrants in Japan: one initially incorporated as unskilled laborers and another initially incorporated as skilled laborers. Migrants initially incorporated as skilled workers have comparatively greater access to state resources and discretion to incorporate as individuals. Migrants initially incorporated as unskilled laborers must rely on the intervention of native-born individuals in order to experience upward mobility. These findings suggest that visa status is an important signal of initial migrant incorporation trajectory and a significant moderating factor for individual outcomes and social mobility in Japan.     

The political and socioeconomic context of legal and illegal Mexican migration to the United States (1942-1984)

The US manpower shortage in industry and agriculture during World War II, combined with Mexico's burden of an excess number of unemployed laborers, provided the basis for serious labor negotiations between the US and Mexico. The result was the Bracero Agreement of 1942, a bilateral agreement involving annual quotas for the temporary hiring of Mexican braceros. On the surface the program worked well. However, there were points of contention between the 2 countries: 1) in opposition to Mexico's policy of placing recruitment centers in the interior of the country, US policy called for placing the centers near the border, to reduce transportation costs; 2) Texas, which received no braceros because of racial discrimination, relied upon illegal aliens for manual labor; 3) Texas flagrantly violated a 1948 agreement when the Border Patrol welcomed aliens across the river despite Mexican officials' threats to close the border; 4) legal braceros were confronted with competition from illegals who were willing to work for a lower wage; 5) in 1954, the Border patrol physically helped aliens across the border, while Mexican policy were physically restraining them; 6) with the conclusion of a new Bracero agreement in March 1954, illegal aliens were no longer needed, so more than 1 million were apprehended and deported to Mexico's interior. The termination of the Bracero Program in 1964 gave new impetus to illegal trafficking and the number of illegals apprehended began to increase steadily in 1965. The migration flow after 1964 was influenced by the following socioeconomic conditions in Mexico: 1) unemployment, 2) very large disparities in income distribution, 3) a discrimination of the rural sector in favor of the urban in the allocation of government funds, and 4) a dependency on foreign capital and technology. Also, it was cheap labor for the US. Neither the US nor Mexico has adopted policies related to either economic development or immigration that would systematically curtail or regulate the flow of Mexican migrants to the US. However, conflicting pressures limit the policy-making process. President Carter was limited in his policy options by the needs of large-scale commercial agriculture. President Reagan's idea of a guest-worker program did not develop into legislation. Mexico's Lopez Portillo administration counted on migration to the US as a substitute for redistributive land reform in its handling of rural political pressures; the migratory flow functioned as an "escape valve" helping to dilute the effects of rapid demographic increase and preserving the status quo.     

Illegal migration in Taiwan: a preliminary overview

Since 1986, there have been indications that Taiwan (the Republic of China) has been experiencing an increase in illegal migration. Despite a lack of data describing the number, origins, and demographic characteristics of the illegal migrants, an open policy debate has been carried out by economic and social planners, entrepreneurs, and labor leaders. Interviews with representatives of these 3 groups suggest that, contrary to expectations, planners favor the legalization of foreign workers; individual entrepreneurs also consider legalization a wise option. Labor leaders, as expected, are opposed to the use of imported labor. In January 1990, the Executive Yuan (Assembly) adopted regulations permitting limited use of foreign labor. The increase in illegal migrants and the decision to regularize their status suggests the need to review carefully the implications of all planning initiatives as far in advance as possible, and preferably when development plans are being initially implemented.     

The Mexicans and “Us Gringos”: A Case Study of Activist Work With Unauthorized Migrants

Lacking access to social services, unauthorized Mexican day laborers constitute a vulnerable population. This case study uses a critical theory perspective to examine activist efforts to support migrants when professional social workers were unavailable. Using qualitative methods, this study sought to answer three questions: (1) What strategies did unauthorized day laborers and activists deploy to contest anti-immigrant sentiments in a suburban community; (2) how were these strategies shaped by the workers' subterranean status as undocumented and poor; and (3) what are the implications for social work practice? This study seeks to delineate interventions and to identify how migrants themselves perceive such efforts.     

Minority employment in the construction trades

This paper examines employment in the construction trades by race and skill level across 162 large U.S. metropolitan areas. The results reveal significant negative wage and positive scale effects on construction employment, especially for minorities and laborers, and thus imply that repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires “prevailing wages ” to be paid on federally funded construction projects, would yield substantial efficiency and equity gains. Conservative estimates suggest that Davis-Bacon repeal would increase construction employment by at least 36,000, including jobs for 27,000 minorities and 10,000 laborers. I am grateful to Burt Barnow, Barry Hirsch, and the anonymous referee for helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper; Barry Hirsch and David Macpherson for preparing and thoroughly answering questions regarding their database provided to me through the Bureau of National Affairs; and Mindy Berry for careful research assistance.     

Media Technologies, Images of Drugs, and an Evocative Telepresence

I regard electronic media technologies as framing devices for how viewers perceive issues associated with illegal drugs. Controllers of electronic media technologies produce and disseminate images of illegal drugs and users of such drugs to which viewers respond. People who control the images of electronic media production create an evocative telepresence, or a visual context that relies on appeals to authority and emotion. However, viewers do not merely respond to images of illegal drugs; rather, they actively interpret such images and draw their own conclusions. To demonstrate the complex relationship between electronic stimuli and viewer responses, I report on a classroom experiment comparing those who saw and heard a heroin user with those who only heard this user. I also report findings from student perceptions of and reactions to four drug films. Results of the experiment and the readings of films indicate that viewers, especially those who can see and hear electronic displays, are sophisticated consumers who respond to immediate stimuli while making reference to distal stimuli. In the main, I contend that electronic images of illegal drugs and users in an evocative telepresence are powerful stimuli, but they do not cause viewer perceptions.     

Jewish tradition faces the Soviet economy: moral dilemma of ‘shadow’ entrepreneurship in the former Pale of Settlement,Ukraine

Soviet life in the former Pale of Settlement appears in the memories of its residents as a world of living Jewish tradition existing within the professional and business activities of artisans and merchants at a time when the ideology and political structure of the Soviet Union prohibited private enterprise. That is why it occupied the shady parts of the socialist economy. Today, after collapse of the Soviet Union, it still poses moral dilemmas for those associated with its illegal activities. However, recollections about Soviet illegal enterprise also provide a space for critique of the Soviet system and a base for construction of contemporary local identity; in this way people reconcile the economic ethics of the recent Soviet past with modern capitalist reality. Narratives about illegal economic activities in the Soviet period are about the relationship between the people and the state. They are seen as a cosmological system; the Soviet state acted as an economically ineffective external force. Within its matrix was integrated a local world of human relationships with their customs and rules created the own local world of consumption and welfare. At the centre of this space is the socially and economically experienced Jewish entrepreneur whose competence is based on local Jewish tradition. Stories about illegal Soviet economic activity have become the heritage of local communities that approve of local business continuity.     

Immigration: an international economic perspective

The creation of an effective US immigration policy has been complicated by the diversity of political interests and the absence of reliable statistics to determine the magnitude of the impact on the American economy. Estimates of the number of illegal aliens in the US range from 1 to 12 million. While political biases and complexities and data inadequacies complicate this analysis, some generalizations seem to be confirmed by worldwide experience. There are 2 mutually-supportive, short-run ways to reduce the flow of undocumented workers: 1) to better police US borders and shorelines and 2) to remove the motive for entry by making it illegal for employers to hire workers who are not authorized to work in the US. To give employers an easy defense and to facilitate their compliance with immigration laws, an effective worker identification system should be developed. To avoid the civil liberties, international relations, and human problems associated with mass deportations, illegal immigrants who entered the US before January 1, 1981 and who have been in continuous residence for at least 1 year, should be permitted to remain in the US as permanent resident aliens. The US should not adopt a new guest worker program. The proper sequence of changes in immigration policy is very important. Dealing with illegal immigration is essential; all these measures should be in place before an amnesty is granted. Because it is important to have friendly relations with neighboring countries and because the ultimate solution to illegal immigration is to reduce the wide disparities in employment opportunities between countries, the US should work with other countries to control illegal immigration, but should not link control to energy, trade, or other policies. It is particularly important to discuss immigration control plans with other countries, especially Mexico, and to do everything consistent with US interests to minimize the adverse impact of our immigration policies on our neighbors.     

Documented,Undocumented, and Liminally Legal: Legal Status During the Transition to Adulthood for 1.5‐Generation Brazilian Immigrants

This article deconstructs the “illegal–legal” binary that characterizes much immigration scholarship. Using in‐depth interviews with 42 1.5‐generation Brazilian immigrants in young adulthood, I find that respondents discuss a distinct hierarchy with four categories of legal membership—undocumented, liminal legality, lawful permanent resident (LPR), and citizen—that affect their daily lives and incorporation. Liminally legal and LPR statuses in particular challenge this illegal–legal dichotomy. Liminal legality is an “in‐between” status in which immigrants possess social security numbers and work permits but have no guarantee of eventual citizenship. Without opportunities to regularize their status, both undocumented and liminally legal young adults face increased vulnerabilities to poverty and social exclusion. Liminally legal youth, however, are in better positions than their undocumented peers during early adulthood because of state‐delimited rights associated with their legal status.     

Cultural pluralism and the future of American unity: the impact of illegal aliens

This paper explores the question of the impact of illegal migration on American unity and cultural pluralism in the US. Assuming that over time the descendants of undocumented workers now in the US will behave substantially like descendants of those who immigrate legally, the long-term impact of illegal migration barely will be noticeable provided it is reduced substantially in the future. The process of acculturation will work in the same way for both groups as it has for other ethnic groups in the past, given comparable levels of education and length of family residence in the US. The author takes special notice of the illegal migration of Spanish-speaking workers and hypothesizes that the behavior of their descendants will not differ from that of the descendants of other immigrants, legal or illegal, in ways that disrupt fundamental patterns of American political unity and cultural pluralism.     

Catching Babies in Prohibition States: Midwives' Accounts for an Illegal Profession

Practicing midwifery is illegal in four states and the District of Columbia. However, midwives still practice as they and much of the public do not see their behavior as criminal. Based on in‐depth interviews with twenty‐six midwives, our findings demonstrate that midwives employed both public and professional accounts. They collectively justified midwifery in prohibition states by condemning their condemners, appealing to higher loyalties, denying injury, and justifying by comparison. We also found a new account, denial of illegality. This research uniquely applies the concept of collective accounts to an illegal but socially acceptable career.     

The independent’s edge in an illegal drug distribution setting: Levitt and Venkatesh revisited

Popular imagery and scholarly research have differed significantly in their perceptions and understanding of the structure and scope of organized crime and gang settings. While the common image is that of the corporate-like or formal criminal organization, past research has been more likely to argue and demonstrate in favour of market and network flexibility. In this study, we pursue this latter line of inquiry by demonstrating the market and network features that shape illegal drug distribution settings. In doing so, we rely on the Quebec Hells Angels accounting books for a one-year period, which brings us within the same empirical domain as Levitt and Venkatesh’s (2000) study of the Black Knights in 1990s Chicago. Our study sways from the main premise that oriented the Black Knight’s case study—namely that performance within the illegal drug distribution structure was directly tied to that organization’s rigid hierarchical structure. While the Hells Angels can be analyzed as a corporation, this does not mean that Hells Angels members are, by definition, at an advantage because of their organizational status in the illegal drug distribution setting in which some members are active. What our findings indicate is that a participant’s ability to adapt to market dynamics and take on a core network position within an illegal drug market (cocaine, in this study) matter most. Overall, we demonstrate that: 1) Quebec’s cocaine market was structured primarily around traditional market forces; 2) the transaction network around the Hells Angels was not centralized around a single person or small group of people; 3) Hells Angels members were not the most active participants; and 4) being a Hells Angels member did not increase one’s volume of transactions within the network—quite differently, core network positioning did.     

Illegal Migration: What Can We Know And What Can We Explain? The Case of Germany1

Methodological problems in the study of illegal migration as defined in this article relate to questions of indicators for illegal migration, with special reference to Germany. It is argued and demonstrated that illegal immigrants are traceable, to some degree, in official statistics and that these can be analyzed for trends. In present‐day migration processes, illegal immigration frequently is undertaken with the support of human smugglers. The analysis of the social organization of different forms of smuggling is the other main focus of the article. From a methodological point of view, the literature and public discourse lack adequate concepts for describing and explaining the social organization of human smuggling. The theory of organized crime as a main actor in human smuggling is criticized. The study borrows concepts from market and networks theory and applies these to different forms of human smuggling and illegal migration. The social and technological organization of smuggling is under constant pressure to adapt to new conditions. The dynamism for this change results mainly from an “arms race” between smugglers and law enforcement. Since control over territory and population are central elements of state sovereignty, the state cannot simply withdraw from this race.     

Class,Race, and Fertility in the Rural South, 1910 and 19401

Abstract Rural residents of the American South were among the last in the nation to complete the transition from high to low fertility. Recently created public use samples of the 1910 and 1940 U.S. censuses are used to achieve two objectives. First, class and race differentials in marital fertility among residents of the rural South are described during the era of transition. Second, the change in rural fertility between 1910 and 1940 is examined to assess class-specific involvement in the rural transition. Significant variation in fertility by social class is observed for blacks in 1910 and 1940. By 1940, significant class differentials emerge for whites, while those for blacks intensify. For both races, farm laborers report the lowest fertility. The analysis of fertility change between 1910 and 1940 reveals participation by all social classes, with farm laborers experiencing the steepest decline.