This document assesses the preliminary impact of the first year of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). The act had three primary goals: (1) to discourage illegal immigration into the United States and to encourage the departure of recent illegal immigrants; (2) to permit the legalization of illegal immigrants who have been in…

The introductory chapter of this volume on immigration into the United States is entitled "Overview: A Time of Reform and Reappraisal" (D. Simcox), and it introduces the topics of reform, legal and illegal immigration, the effect of immigration on the labor market and social welfare, and immigration enforcement methods that are discussed…

Guidelines in question and answer format explain implications of the Immigration Reform and Control Act's antidiscrimination provisions for cooperative education recruiting practices. Issues addressed include legality of questions about citizenship and work authorization, employer hiring requirements, and F-1 and H-1 visa holders. (SK)

In the U.S. poultry industry, which hires predominantly low-wage workers, immigration reform has differentially affected native workers in different industry sectors and different regions. Examines diverse labor recruitment strategies of poultry plant personnel managers, their implications for native and immigrant labor, and their relations to…

Estimates the unauthorized U.S. labor force and explores the methodology for estimating hard-to-detect populations. Findings from a sample of 3,169 businesses suggest that a large proportion of the unauthorized labor force uses fraudulent documents without the knowledge of their employer. (GLR)

The demand for legal foreign workers for temporary or seasonal agricultural work now permitted under what is known as the H-2A program will likely increase as the employer sanctions in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 limit the use of undocumented foreign workers. To protect U.S. farmworkers, the law requires that they be given first…