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Legally ever after: How did 1986 immigration reform affect marriage?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2022

Aaron M. Gamino Open the ORCID record for Aaron M. Gamino [Opens in a new window]
Aaron M. Gamino*
Affiliation:
Middle Tennessee State University, MTSU Box 27, Murfreesboro, TN 37129, USA
*
Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

This paper is the first to study the effects of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 on marriage rates between foreign-born individuals and natural-born citizens. Using marriage license data, I find that gains to marriages involving a native bride and foreign groom decrease by 0.2 log points. The decrease in is driven by reductions in gains to marriages involving a Mexican groom or a non-Canadian, non-Mexican groom. I do not find evidence that the effects differed for states with lower educational attainment or higher shares of illegal immigrants.

Keywords

AmnestyimmigrationIRCAmarriage

JEL classification

J12: Marriage • Marital Dissolution • Family Structure • Domestic Abuse K37: Immigration Law J15: Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants • Non-labor Discrimination
Type
Research Paper
Information
Journal of Demographic Economics , Volume 89 , Issue 4 , December 2023 , pp. 569 - 585
Copyright
Copyright © Université catholique de Louvain 2022

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