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In a broad analysis of the nation's past immigration policy mistakes, former labor secretary Ray Marshall puts his finger on this most delicate of issues. The United States needs and values its immigrants. But unless it gets policy right, argues Marshall, the number of illegal immigrants will have doubled in twenty years and the situation will be still harder to control. He presents hard-edged and practical solutions to the many issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We contribute to the debate about the effects of immigration in the United States by analyzing the impact of recent (1980-2000) immigration on the economic outcomes of African Americans. We use Census 2000 data for a sample of 150 US. metropolitan areas to examine these outcomes. Our findings indicate that after controlling for a variety of theoretically relevant control variables, increases in recent immigration decrease labor force non-participation and poverty, and increase median earnings, among blacks. We argue that recent immigration expands blacks' job opportunities in or near the middle of the occupational hierarchy (e.g., protective services; office and administrative support). However, we also find a non-linear effect of immigration on black median earnings which indicates an immigrant population threshold where black earnings begin to decline. Thus, both sides of this debate may be correct: middle-class blacks benefit from increased immigration, but the gains of the black middle class do not always offset the fact that poor and lower-skilled blacks are losing out because of increased competition with immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many people describe the Cuban community in Miami as a prime example of ethnic solidarity; others see it as internally divided. This study argues that the contradiction can be resolved when ethnic solidarity is seen as encompassing various components and when changes in cohesiveness in response to external and internal influences on the ethnic community are taken into account. These influences include the context of reception in the United States and the relationship between established Cubans and more recent immigrants. We need to refine our understanding of what constitutes ethnic solidarity, how it changes over time, and what role it plays, both within the community in general and within the ethnic-enclave economy in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]