Migration and Development: Implications and Recommendations for Policy

For 15 years, from a Congressional hearing in 1971 until the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, Congress confronted the issue of undocumented workers and tried to define a policy to cope with that problem. During this time, most members of Congress became aware that legislation designed to curb illegal migration would affect the development prospects of some sending countries, but especially those on the periphery of the United States — the nations of the Caribbean Basin. ¹ Identifying the precise nature of the relationship between migration and development was difficult, and thus the policy implications were elusive.