Illegal Immigration: The Host-Country Problem

This theoretical treatment, motivated by U.S. debate, of host policy toward illegal immigration, develops a simple equilibrium model with border interdiction. The model casts doubt on standard econometric approaches, and identifies three key policy problems likely to emerge.These motivate a search for additional tools, and internal enforcement(employer sanctions as in proposed U.S. reforms) is considered. The paper presents a detailed analysis of how a combination of interdictionand internal enforcement can deal with the problem. Copyright 1986 by American Economic Association.