Controlling Immigration: A Global Perspective

by Wayne A. Cornelius, James F. Hollifield (Editor), Philip L. Martin (Editor)

“An impressive collection of essays by an interdisciplinary research team of immigration specialists. . . . Comparing immigration policies and policy outcomes in nine industrialized states (the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Japan), the authors explain both why certain immigration control measures have been adopted and why these measures have usually failed.”—Comparative Politics

Genres: Immigration, Sociology, Academic

456 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1994

Reviews

[Gulo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A scholarly collection of studies from the 1990s on the issue of immigration as viewed primarily from western nations. Authors use primarily quantitative approaches to define the environment and then quantitative approaches in an effort to explain the potential mindsets of the players involved and how they might be shaped in the future.

My one takeaway quote:

“Researchers know that demand-pull, supply-push, and network factors explain much of today’s migration, but they do not know how to assign weights to these factors, nor can they link a policy measure that affects one of the factors with a specific level of reduction in immigration pressure. However, disaggregating the factors that motivate migration permits two generalizations:
First, even if demand and network factors each contribute one-third to overall migration pressure, it is clear that the immigration into industrial countries will remain high during the 1990s. Even if countries could eliminate the demand-pull factors over which they have direct control, two of the three factors would remain unchecked.
The second generalization is that the most important variables influencing migration tend to shift from government-approved demand-pull factors to supply-push and network factors. During the early stages of guestworker programs, analyses indicate that the number of newly admitted migrant workers can be perfectly explained by industrial-country labor market indicators. But once migration “takes a life of its own” - after supply-push and network factors become more important - governments and even mainstream businesses lament the apparent loss of immigration control. This feeling of having lost control often results when governments play catch-up.”

[Lis · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are interested in immigration, this book can be a goldmine.

[Kyle Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview of immigration patterns with case studies in a number of different countries. Thankfully, it is not just a Western perspective, either. Emerging Asian countries are also included.