Abstract
This article reports the findings of a 1985 survey of 82 eminent anthropologists, economists, historians, political scientists, psychologists, and sociologists concerning the consequences of immigration to the United States. As a group, the social scientists were found to be more supportive of legal and illegal immigration than the general public. Of the six professions surveyed, the economists held by far the most positive opinion of immigrants: 81 percent responded that immigration has had a “very favorable” impact on the nation's economic growth. These results support the hypothesis, suggested by public opinion poll data broken down by level of education, that the more expertise a person has on the subject of immigration, the more likely he or she is to feel that immigrants make positive contributions to American society.
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