Social Scientists' Views on Immigrants and U.S. Immigration Policy: A Postscript

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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References

1. Initially, Stephen Moore, following a suggestion by Julian Simon, sent a four-item questionnaire in July 1985 to the current and former presidents of the American Economic Association and the current members of the Council of Economic Advisors. On seeing the results of that survey, Rita Simon and Moore decided to expand the target population in August 1985 to include the other social science organizations listed in the text. Thus, the version sent to the economists is shorter than the questionnaire to which the other social scientists responded.

2. Edwin Harwood , “American Public Opinion and U.S. Immigration Policy,” this issue of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.