United States Immigration Policy and the Industrial Heartland: Laws, Origins, Settlement Patterns and Economic Consequences

Immigration laws affect the national composition and size of the immigrant flow. Immigrants from different national origins have markedly different settlement patterns within the US. The regional economic consequences of immigration depend on both the number of immigrants settling within a region and the trade linkages among regions. This article traces the chain from immigration laws to economic consequences for an older industrial region, the Industrial Heartland. Changes in the laws since 1965 have permitted large increases in immigration from several Asian and Latin American countries. These immigrants are less likely to settle in the Industrial Heartland than immigrants from Europe. The National-Regional Impact Evaluation System (NRIES II) an interregional econometric model is used to estimate the economic consequences of the Asian, European and Mexican settlement patterns on the six states of the Heartland. Each case entails adding 100000 immigrants per year nationally for five years. The consequences for the Heartland generally are positive, but they vary within the region and among the settlement patterns.