Immigration from Latin America

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Immigration from Latin America Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 Replaced the national-origins quota system with a preference system that prioritized skills and family relationships with US

1 Immigration from Latin America Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 Replaced the national-origins quota system with a preference system that prioritized skills and family relationships with US citizens Immigration Reform from the Perspective of Legal and Illegal Hispanic Immigrants Gregory Colson, Grace Melo, Octavio Ramirez Between it is estimated that 14.6 million Latin Americans obtained legal permanent resident (LPR) status in the U.S. (About 43% of all immigrants obtaining LPR) Estimates vary, perhaps 11.2 million illegal immigrants currently in the US with 81% of Latin American origin (Passel and Cohn, 2011-PEW). 2 Immigration and Immigration Policy Reform Proposals 1

Immigration and Agriculture Proposals for US Immigration Reform Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 (S.

Reduction of 2-4% in the acreage of labor intensive crops (Zahniser et al., 2012) Decrease farm exports by 181 million dollars.

Immigration reform policies could result in: 4 Agricultural Guestworker Act (H.R. 1773), Border Security Results Act (H.R. 1417), Legal Workforce Act (H.R. 1772), Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement Act (H.

2 Immigration and Agriculture Proposals for US Immigration Reform Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 (S.744, 2013) 3 According to the 2010 National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS), 78% of all crop farmworkers were foreign born with the vast majority (71%) originating from Mexico. Reduction of 2-4% in the acreage of labor intensive crops (Zahniser et al., 2012) Decrease farm exports by 181 million dollars. (Devadoss and Luckstead, 2010) The role of Hispanic workers in labor intensive industries (F-V) has raised concerns regarding the status quo of immigration and potential reforms Tightening of Immigration reform policies could result in: 4 Agricultural Guestworker Act (H.R. 1773), Border Security Results Act (H.R. 1417), Legal Workforce Act (H.R. 1772), Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement Act (H.R. 2278), Skills Visa Act (H.R. 2131). Non Agricultural Workers Creates new registered provisional status with renewable 6 year visa After 10 years a path to LPR Expands family-based visas Financial penalties Expands temporary work visas No path to LPR No expansion of family-based visas Agricultural Workers Establishes blue card visa After 3 years possible path to LPR No provisions for dependents Replaces H2-A with 3 year visa with 1 renewal No provisions for dependents Immigration and Immigration Policy Reform Proposals 2

Objective IF a compromise Immigration Reform Law ever emerges what features are most important to those who have the most to gain or lose from the form it takes illegal immigrants?

3 Objective IF a compromise Immigration Reform Law ever emerges what features are most important to those who have the most to gain or lose from the form it takes illegal immigrants? What is the tradeoff between different policy attributes? E.g. Longer term work visas vs. Family-based visa access? Can we employ more sophisticated survey instruments beyond traditional yes/no polling to quantitatively measure these tradeoffs? Choice Experiments are commonly used in consumer, marketing, and resource applications. This is the first application to immigration policies. Survey and Choice Experiment Intercept 1-on-1 survey of Spanish speaking adults in North Georgia Select businesses, churches, Hispanic organizations, and farmers markets Administered in Spanish by a native speaker $10 gift card compensation for respondent s time Survey Components Socio-Demographic information Motivations for coming and staying in the US Perceptions of treatment by employers and US society Choice Experiment eliciting preferences for different immigration reform policy attributes 5 6 Immigration and Immigration Policy Reform Proposals 3

4 Sample Characteristics Legal Status? 24. In which year did you arrive in the U.S. for first time? 25. How long did you think you will be in the U.S. originally? <1 year 1-3 years 3-6 years 6-10 years >10 years 26. Did you have anyone to turn to in the U.S. upon arrival? Yes No 27. If yes, whom Family Friends Acquaintances Legal agents/business persons Other, explain 28. How did you travel to the U.S.? Airplane On foot Ship Boat Automobile 29. When you first came to the US what was your status? 7 Permanent resident/green card Border crossing Card/Commuter Temporary Resident-Nonimmigrant visa Pending status(awaiting official decision) Other Did Not State Illegal Entry (n=70) Variable Variable Definition Mean Mean Mean Immigration History US Years Number of years in the US Initial Status 1 if Permanent resident/green card if Border crossing Card/Commuter if Temporary Resident-Nonimmigrant visa if Pending status (Awaiting official decision) if Other if Other and voluntarily stated illegally Socio-Demographic Information Did Not State Illegal Entry (n=70) Variable Variable Definition Mean Mean Mean Socio-demographic Variables Age Years Birth Country Mexico El Salvador Peru Other Children Number of children Children US 1 if have Children and Children not in US Education Number of Years English Prior Self-Rating of English skills prior to coming to US (1-very poor, 5-very good) English Now Self-Rating of English skills now (1-very poor, 5-very good) Income Dollars per month 1, , , Male 1 if male Marital Status 1 if Married Spouse Location 1 if Married and Spouse not in US Immigration and Immigration Policy Reform Proposals 4

5 3. Employment Information Motivations of Entrants Did Not State Illegal Entry (n=70) Variable Variable Definition Mean Mean Mean Current and First Employment Current Industry 1 if currently employed in ag. industry First Industry 1 if first job in US was in ag. industry Current Job Field, nursery, or green house Meat packing house Other agricultural Construction Cleaning or Restaurant Other non-agricultural First Job Field, nursery, or green house Meat packing house Other agricultural Construction Cleaning or Restaurant Other non-agricultural Access to Better Medical Care Opportunity to Become a Citizen Family Reunification Better education opportunities Safety Availibility of Jobs and Higher wages Original Motivation Current Motiviation Importance Rating (5-point Scale) Despite the risk of deportation created by the Senate Bill 160 in 2011 in Georgia, Figure immigrants 1. Motivations did not view citizenship for Illegal as entrants more important to come than a and job, living stay in in a safer the U.S. environment, or having access to educational opportunities for their children. 10 Immigration and Immigration Policy Reform Proposals 5

Opinions of Entrants Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree I Want to Become Citizen 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.

6 Opinions of Entrants Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree I Want to Become Citizen This is in line with previous results from Latino Decision polls However, as we explore in the following section, this simple citizenship survey question fails to capture the tradeoff between other immigration reform proposal features. 11 Choice Experiment Design Allows us to measure and compare the monetary value that immigrants place on different proposal attributes Immigration Policy Attribute Attribute Levels Green Card-Eligible No Yes, after 5 more years of living in the US Yes, after 10 more years of living in the US Total Payment to the US Government (monthly $600 ($50/month) payment for 1 year) $2400 ($200/month) $4800 ($400/month) Family May Apply for a Visa to Visit No Yes, spouse and children only Yes, spouse, children, and parents Work Visa Length 6 Months 2 Years 4 Years Eligible for Federal Benefits No Access to Medical Care Access to Medical Care and Social Security Selected upon the review of the Senate and House bills. 12 Immigration and Immigration Policy Reform Proposals 6

7 Choice Experiment Design Fig. 1. Example of choice set (English translation) Attributes Immigration Policy A Immigration Policy B Green Card-eligible Yes, after 10 years of living in the U.S. No Total payment to the government (Monthly payment for 1 year) Respondents were each presented with 12 decision scenarios. $4,800 ($400 per month for 1 year) NGENE D-efficient design for a panel mixed multinomial logit. In each scenario, they were asked to make a choice between A and B. $600 ($50 per month for 1 year) Family May Apply for a Visa to Visit No Yes, spouse, children and parents Work visa length 2 years 2 years Eligible for federal Benefits Social Security and Medicare No I would choose 13 Mixed Logit Model Estimation Results Table 3. Immigration Policy Attribute Preferences Mixed logit Estimation Results Entry (n=139) Did Not State Illegal Entry(n=70) Variable Mean Coef. St.dev. Coef Mean Coef. St.dev. Coef Mean Coef. St.dev. Coef Cost (in thousands) ** ** ** (0.023) (0.030) (0.037) Visa Length 0.233** ** 0.102* 0.279** 0.203* (0.032) (0.046) (0.044) (0.050) (0.061) (0.088) Green Card After 5 Years 2.410** 1.593** 2.688** 2.391** 2.598** (0.276) (0.341) (0.406) (0.474) (0.478) (0.613) Green Card After 10 Years 2.065** 1.350** 2.239** 1.469** 2.033** 1.474** (0.162) (0.155) (0.214) (0.191) (0.278) (0.290) Spouse & Children may apply for a visa to visit * ** * (0.427) (0.496) (0.748) (0.628) (1.120) (1.011) All Family may apply for a visa to visit 1.687** 1.089** 1.983** 1.408** 1.477** 0.938** (0.142) (0.147) (0.209) (0.210) (0.224) (0.267) Access to Medical Care 0.431** 0.570** 0.455* 0.786** (0.143) (0.181) (0.186) (0.205) (0.262) (0.402) Social Security and Medicare 1.172** 0.835** 1.321** 1.121** 1.055** 0.621** (0.115) (0.131) (0.168) (0.176) (0.170) (0.240) Log-Likelihood Log-Likelihood Ratio * * 45.75* Observations Note: Standard Deviations in parenthesis. * and ** denote significance at the 5% and 1% levels, respectively. The cost coefficient is negative which indicates that immigrants prefer immigration policies with lower costs, longer visa lengths, eligibility for a green card, eligibility to possibly bring family for visits, and access to social security and medical care. Standard deviation coefficient is significant across nearly all other attributes and models, indicating that there is significant taste variation among Hispanic immigrants, for different policy attributes. 14 Immigration and Immigration Policy Reform Proposals 7

8 Choice Experiment Estimation Results Table 4. Willingness to Pay for Immigration Policy Attributes Did Not State Illegal Entry(n=70) WTP difference p-value Visa Length $1,059.81*** $925.32*** $1,434.90** <0.001 (285.01) (279.25) (580.20) Green Card After 5 Years $10,949.72*** $10,179.97*** $13,348.40*** <0.001 (2,414.25) (2,717.48) (4,905.20) Green Card After 10 Years $9,380.95*** $8,481.69*** $10,445.40*** <0.001 ( ) (1,620.96) (2,825.38) Spouse & Children may apply for a visa to visit $1, $1, $3, (3,753.83) (5,322.77) (64,018.73) All Family may apply for a visa to visit $7,664.63*** $7,510.74*** $7,591.71*** (1,570.76) (1,675.84) (2,875.36) Access to Medical Care $1,959.58** $1,722.19* $2,044.30* (908.90) (1,013.99) (1,159.16) Social Security and Medicare $5,323.29*** $5,004.44*** $5,422.29*** (1,186.99) (1,334.11) (1,498.72) Note: Bootstrapped Standard Errors in parenthesis. *,**, and ***denote significance at the 10%, 5%, 1% levels, respectively. Paired difference test shows that within sample group all the WTP estimates are statistically different from each other at 5% level. We find a significant difference in WTP between Stated and Non- Entrants for all attributes except family visa application rights. 15 w o r k Choice Experiment Estimation Results Table 4. Willingness to Pay for Immigration Policy Attributes Did Not State Illegal Entry(n=70) WTP difference p-value Visa Length $1,059.81*** $925.32*** $1,434.90** <0.001 (285.01) (279.25) (580.20) Green Card After 5 Years $10,949.72*** $10,179.97*** $13,348.40*** <0.001 (2,414.25) (2,717.48) (4,905.20) Green Card After 10 Years $9,380.95*** $8,481.69*** $10,445.40*** <0.001 ( ) (1,620.96) (2,825.38) Spouse & Children may apply for a visa to visit $1, $1, $3, (3,753.83) (5,322.77) (64,018.73) All Family may apply for a visa to visit $7,664.63*** $7,510.74*** $7,591.71*** (1,570.76) (1,675.84) (2,875.36) Access to Medical Care $1,959.58** $1,722.19* $2,044.30* (908.90) (1,013.99) (1,159.16) Social Security and Medicare $5,323.29*** $5,004.44*** $5,422.29*** (1,186.99) (1,334.11) (1,498.72) Green Card Eligibility after 5 years is valued about the same as a 11 year work visa. Delaying eligibility for a green card from 5 years to 10 years is only discounted about 20% of the value of the green card. The 95% CI of the WTP estimates, illegal entrants are WTP between $5,000 -$16,000 to be eligible for a green card. Upper value worth over a year of stated Illegal entrants income. 16 Immigration and Immigration Policy Reform Proposals 8

9 N o n w o r k Choice Experiment Estimation Results Table 4. Willingness to Pay for Immigration Policy Attributes Did Not State Illegal Entry(n=70) WTP difference p-value Visa Length $1,059.81*** $925.32*** $1,434.90** <0.001 (285.01) (279.25) (580.20) Green Card After 5 Years $10,949.72*** $10,179.97*** $13,348.40*** <0.001 (2,414.25) (2,717.48) (4,905.20) Green Card After 10 Years $9,380.95*** $8,481.69*** $10,445.40*** <0.001 ( ) (1,620.96) (2,825.38) Spouse & Children may apply for a visa to visit $1, $1, $3, (3,753.83) (5,322.77) (6,018.73) All Family may apply for a visa to visit $7,664.63*** $7,510.74*** $7,591.71*** (1,570.76) (1,675.84) (2,875.36) Access to Medical Care $1,959.58** $1,722.19* $2,044.30* (908.90) (1,013.99) (1,159.16) Social Security and Medicare $5,323.29*** $5,004.44*** $5,422.29*** (1,186.99) (1,334.11) (1,498.72) Family-based visa rights are highly valued (about 75% of the value of green card) Many undocumented workers pay sales, income, and payroll taxes with no possibility of claiming a refund or receiving Social Security benefits (Dwyer, 2004). 17 Conclusions and Policy Discussion Immigrants who stated they illegally entered the US were primarily driven by job and wage opportunities, followed by better education opportunities, much less by social services. For our sample, we observe a marked transition from agricultural jobs to non-agricultural jobs over time. This tends to agree with concerns that immigration reform could put pressure on the ag labor supply. While a path to citizenship is highly valued, longer-term visas facilitating legal work rights are also desirable. There is a relatively small discount for delaying green card eligibility from 5 to 10 years. Neither the Senate or House Bills offer expansions for family based visas for all types of immigrant workers. Based upon estimates, this is a very important and valued feature to Hispanic immigrants. 18 Immigration and Immigration Policy Reform Proposals 9

Survey Evidence on Legal and Illegal Hispanic Immigrants Perceptions of Living and Working in US Agriculture

AgBioForum, 18(3): 259-265. 2015 AgBioForum. Survey Evidence on Legal and Illegal Hispanic Immigrants Perceptions of Living and Working in US Agriculture Gregory Colson, Grace Melo, and Octavio A. Ramirez