Briggs Public Testimonies

Illegal Immigration: The Impact on Wages and Employment of Black Workers

Vernon M. Briggs Jr — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 08:56:25 PDT

[Excerpt] Before addressing the specific issue of illegal immigration and its economic effects on black Americans, the broad subject needs to be placed in perspective. No issue has affected the economic well-being of African Americans more that the phenomenon of immigration and its related policy manifestations. Immigration defined the entry experience of the ancestors of most the nation’s contemporary black American community (as slaves who were brought as involuntary immigrants); it placed them disproportionately in the states that today comprise the “South”( at no point in American history has less than half the black population ever lived outside the South); it disproportionately tied them for centuries to the rural sector of the southern economy where they were linked with the regions vast agricultural economy (the black migration out of the South did not begin until after 1915 when the mass immigration of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries from Europe and Asia were cut off by war from 1914-1918 and by restrictive legislation from 1921-1965); and, with the accidental revival of mass immigration in the years since 1965 that has continued to this day, immigration has served largely to marginalize the imperative to address squarely and affirmatively the legacy of the denial of equal economic opportunity that had resulted from the previous centuries of slavery and segregation which the civil rights movement and legislation of the 1960s sought to redress. In this post-1965 era of mass immigration, no racial or ethnic group has benefited less or been harmed more than the nation’s African American community.

Immigration Policy and Organized Labor: A Never-Ceasing Issue

Vernon M. Briggs Jr — Fri, 25 May 2007 07:47:25 PDT

[Excerpt] Over its long history, few issues have caused the caused the American labor movement more agony than has the issue of immigration. It is ironic this is the case since most adult immigrants directly join the labor force as do eventually most of their immediate family members. But precisely because immigration affects the size, skill composition and geographical distribution of the nation's labor force, it also influences local, regional and national labor market conditions. Hence, organized labor can never ignore the public policies that determine immigration trends.

Real Immigration Reform: The Path To Credibility

Vernon M. Briggs Jr — Tue, 01 May 2007 09:07:57 PDT

[Excerpt] For over 40 years, efforts have been made to respond to the unexpected consequences of the accidental revival of mass immigration that has followed the passage of the Immigration Act of 1965. Immigrants had been declining as a percentage of the population since 1914 and in absolute numbers since 1930. In 1965 only 4.4 percent of the population was foreign born and they totaled only 8.5 million people. There was absolutely no intention by policy makers of that era to increase the level of immigration. The post-World War II "baby boom" began pouring a tidal wave of new labor force entrants in the labor market that year and would continue to do so for the next 16 years. Moreover, the "War on Poverty" had been launched in 1964 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. Both emphasized the need to focus on the employment needs of unskilled, poor and minority workers. Also, the infamous "bracero program" that had allowed the entry of temporary foreign workers from Mexico to do farm work had finally been terminated on December 31, 1964 because it had taken the agricultural labor market out of competition with the non-agricultural labor market.

Immigration Reform and the U.S. Labor Force: The Questionable "Wisdom" of S.2611

Vernon M. Briggs Jr. — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 12:01:01 PDT

[Excerpt] Immigration reform is the domestic policy imperative of our time. The revival of the phenomenon of mass immigration from out of the nation's distant past was the accidental by-product of the passage of the Immigration Act of 1965.1Immigration had been declining as a percentage of the population since 1914 and in absolute numbers since 1930. In 1965, only 4.4 percent of the population was foreign born --the lowest percentage in all of U.S. history and totaled 8.5 million people (the lowest absolute number since 1880). There was absolutely no intention in 1965 to increase the level of immigration. The post-World War "baby boom" was on the verge of pouring a tidal wave of new labor force entrants into the labor market in1965 and would continue to do so for the next 16 years. Instead, the stated goal of the 1965 legislation was to rid the immigration system of the overtly discriminatory admission system that had been in effect since 1924. But as subsequent events were to reveal, this legislation let the "Genie out of the jug." Without any warning to the people of the nation, the societal changing force of mass immigration was released on an unsuspecting American economy and its labor force. By 2005, the foreign-born population had soared to 35.5 million persons (or 12.1 percent of the population) and there were over 22 million workers in the labor force (or 14.7 percent of the labor force).

Guestworker Programs Lessons from the Past and Warnings for the Future

Vernon M. Briggs Jr. — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 08:58:20 PST

Immigration policy is a minefield of controversial issues, and among the most explosive are those programs that permit low-skilled foreign nationals to work in the same labor market as U.S. citizens and permanent resident aliens. Because such endeavors have been undertaken in the past, they have a track record and have been the subject of extensive research. There is no need to speculate about what might happen if any new such venture — such as that proposed by the Bush Administration on January 7, 2004 — were to be enacted. The outcome is easily predicted.

Guestworker Programs for Low-Skilled Workers: Lessons from the Past and Warnings for the Future

Vernon M. Briggs Jr. — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 11:42:30 PDT

Public testimony by Prof. Briggs given before the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Citizenship of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, February 12, 2004.

Immigration Policy and Low Wage Workers: The Influence of American Unionism

Vernon M. Briggs Jr. — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 11:36:04 PDT

Public testimony by Prof. Briggs given at the Hearing before the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, October 30, 2003.

Immigration Policy and the Plight of Unskilled Workers

Vernon M. Briggs Jr. — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 11:07:50 PDT

Public testimony by Prof. Briggs given before the Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, March 11, 1999.

Testimony on H.R. 1915

Vernon M. Briggs Jr. — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 10:54:11 PDT

Public testimony by Prof. Briggs given before the Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, June 29, 1995.

Immigration Reform and the U.S. Labor Force

Vernon M. Briggs Jr. — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 10:45:19 PDT

Public testimony by Prof. Briggs given before the Subcommittee on Immigration of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, September 13, 1995.

Illegal Immigration and the U.S. Labor Market of the 1990s

Vernon M. Briggs Jr. — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 08:43:58 PDT

Public testimony by Prof. Briggs given before the Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, April 5, 1995.

Testimony Before the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform

Vernon M. Briggs Jr. — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 08:28:40 PDT

Public testimony by Prof. Briggs given before the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, February 23, 1995.

Immigration Policy and the Labor Force of New York

Vernon M. Briggs Jr. — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 08:24:27 PDT

Public testimony by Prof. Briggs given before the New York State Legislative Commission, October 1, 1991.

Labor Market Transformation: The Role of U.S. Immigration Policy

Vernon M. Briggs Jr. — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 08:20:11 PDT

Public testimony by Prof. Briggs given before the Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and International Law of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, March 1, 1990

Testimony on the Proposed Removal of Bans on Industrial Homework in the Apparel Industry

Vernon M. Briggs Jr. — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 07:56:46 PDT

Public testimony by Prof. Briggs given at a public hearing of the U.S. Department of Labor, New York, NY, on March 30, 1989.

The Reform of the Legal Immigration System of the United States

Vernon M. Briggs Jr. — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 07:47:35 PDT

Public testimony by Prof. Briggs given before the Subcommittee on Immigration and Refugee Affairs of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, December 11, 1987.

Employment Implications of U.S. Immigration Policy

Vernon M. Briggs Jr. — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 07:38:26 PDT

Public testimony by Prof. Briggs given before the before the Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and International Law of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, July 21, 1987.

The Rural Labor Force: Unemployment and Underemployment Issues

Vernon M. Briggs Jr. — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 07:19:03 PDT

Public testimony by Prof. Briggs given before the Subcommittee on Agriculture and Transportation of the Joint Economic Committee, Ninety-ninth Congress, June 13, 1985.

Employer Sanctions and Immigration Reform

Vernon M. Briggs Jr. — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 07:10:51 PDT

Public testimony by Prof. Briggs given before U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and Refugee Policy, September 30, 1981.

Foreign Policy Implications of Illegal Immigration from Mexico

Vernon M. Briggs Jr. — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 05:54:39 PDT

Public testimony by Prof. Briggs given before the Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives, May 24, 1978.