Woodrow, Karen A. 1988. “Measuring Net Immigration to the United States: the Emigrant Population and Recent Emigration Flows,” Presented at the 1988 annual meeting of the Population Association of America, New Orleans. Abstract.


Measuring net immigration to the United States is most accurate using decennial census data on the foreign-born population. For non-census dates of interest, measurement of the foreign-born population resulting from the processes of legal immigration, undocumented immigration, mortality and emigration of legal immigrants is less complete. National surveys allow measurement at irregular intervals. Analytic studies have measured the contribution of undocumented immigration to net immigration, but require assumptions about levels of emigration of legal immigrants. The paper reviews recent estimates of net change due to undocumented immigration. The Census Bureau is exploring use of a multiplicity sampling survey to measure emigrants consanguineally linked to the population resident in the United States. This research may lead to more unified measurement of net undocumented immigration and emigration of legal immigrants.