What Makes the Family Special?

As Congress debates future immigrant admission criteria, this paper makes the case for the continuation of family-based immigration. Seeking to move away from the traditional human rights argument, the author presents three rationales for privileging family immigration: first, that it promotes the long-term integration of immigrants; second, that it fills important niches in the labor market; and third, that it allows the federal government to engage in "social engineering." With regard to immigrant integration, the author stresses the role of children, noting the reverse acculturative role of children ("children bring American culture home to their parents").

In discussing the nexus between family and work, the paper calls attention to the "screening functions" performed by families, as for example, when a naturalized immigrant chooses to sponsor a particularly deserving and entrepreneurial sibling. The author also discusses "the extensive, economically valuable care work that goes on inside the family that is largely unrecognized when we measure the economic output of people as individuals." Such unpaid work often makes it possible for other family members to participate in the regular labor market. Finally, the author discusses other broad purposes that might be served by family migration, including promoting gender parity in immigration. As women disproportionately use family categories to migrate, a family-based immigration system would supply more women to care for an aging U.S. population. (Abstract courtesy Nick Montalto, PhD.)

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