RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The Preferences of Political Elites and Humanitarian Immigration to the United States
JF RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
FD Russell Sage Foundation
SP 150
OP 171
DO 10.7758/RSF.2020.6.3.07
VO 6
IS 3
A1 Banks Miller
A1 Jennifer S. Holmes
A1 Linda Camp Keith
YR 2020
UL http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/6/3/150.abstract
AB How do the preferences of political elites shape humanitarian immigration to the United States? Focusing on the asylum and refugee systems, we trace the ways that the preferences of political elites affect the number and characteristics of migrants who receive relief. Our findings suggest that presidential preferences remain crucial in determining who is admitted in the U.S. refugee system and that congressional preferences are important in determining the number admitted. The preferences of both appear to matter considerably less on asylum decisions. These results highlight the difficulty of eliminating or reducing the role of the executive branch in American immigration policy, and suggest the importance of the design of the immigration enforcement bureaucracy in limiting the role of elite preferences in determining humanitarian immigration outcomes.