Changing Occupational Characteristics of U.S. Immigrants

Although the proportion of legal immigrants to the United States reporting an occupation remained nearly stable from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s, there was a decline in the proportion of immigrant workers admitted with professional and technical occupations — a trend that the 1990 Immigration Act seeks to address in this decade. Using 1972 and 1986 United States Immigration and Naturalization Service public use data, this analysis shows that a major explanation for the decline is the recomposition of immigrant worker streams; notably large increases in admissions from Mexico and Central America, South America and the Caribbean vs. Asian workers; and increases in immediate family numerically exempt and sixth preference new arrivals and older workers — all categories with a low proportion of professional and technical workers. Contrary to expectations, immigrants admitted with family preference visas recorded an increase in professional and technical workers, even though the proportion of highly skilled immigrant workers in this admission category is still quite low.