Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Measuring Illegal Immigration at US Border Stations by Sampling from a Flow of 500 Million Travelers

  • Published:
Population and Environment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Five hundred million travelers enter the US yearly at a Port of Entry (POE) after an Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS) interview. We describe a general method for sampling from a flow, and summarize results from random reinspections of travelers at 20 POEs. Analyses reveal that 47 in 5614 travelers (0.8% ± 0.24%) were erroneously granted entry. Results suggest INS intercepts 9.3% to 16.0% of travelers attempting illegal entry at a POE, and that INS mistakenly admits 2.95 to 5.45 million illegal immigrants at POEs annually. Additional applications of our sampling method (e.g., for quality control, population studies) are briefly discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abramowitz, S., Obten, N., & Cohen, H. (1998). Measuring HIV/AIDS Case Management. Social Work in Health Care, 27, 1-28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alliger, G., & Williams, K. J. (1993). Using signal-contingent experience sampling methodology to study work in the field: A discussion and illustration examining task perceptions and mood. Personnel Psychology: Special Issue: Innovations in research methods for field settings, 46, 525-549.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alvarez, R. M., & Butterfield, T. L. (2000). The resurgence of nativism in California? The case of Proposition 187 and illegal immigration. Social Science Quarterly, 81(1), 167-179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barge-Schaapveld, D. Q. C. M., Nicolson, N. A., van der Hoop, R. G., & DeVries, M. W. (1995). Changes in daily life experience associated with clinical improvement in depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 34, 139-154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, R. (1997). Immigration-fueled U.S. population growth is “spoiler” in economic, social and environmental efforts. Population & Environment: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 18(5), 483-487.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolstein, R., & Hill, J. (1996). Estimating the number of occurrences of a rare event: US Customs violations at border crossings. Proceedings of the section on quality and productivity. Chicago, IL: American Statistical Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bornstein, R. F. (1998). Implicit and self-attributed dependency strivings: Differential relationships to laboratory and field measures of help seeking. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 75,778-787.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandstaetter, H., & Gaubats, S. (1997). Befindestagebuch am neuen Arbeitsplatz in differentialspychologischer Sicht./ Time sampling daily experiences of newcomers to the workplace: An individual difference perspective. Zeitschrift fuer Arbeits und Organisationspsychologie, 41, 18-29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, S. G., & Haworth, J. T. (1994). “Flow” experience in the daily lives of sixth-form college students. British Journal Psychology, 85, 511-523.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J., & Cohen, P. (1983). Applied multiple regression/correlational analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook, D. C., & Campbell, D. T. (1979). Quasi-experimentation: Design and analysis issues for field settings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Larson, R. (1987). Validity and reliability of the experience-sampling method. Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease: Special Issue: Mental disorders in their natural settings: The application of time allocation and experience-sampling techniques in psychiatry, 175,526-536.

    Google Scholar 

  • Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Larson, R. (1992). Validity and reliability of the experience sampling method. In M. W. deVries (Ed.), The experience of psychopathology: Investigating mental disorders in their natural settings (17th ed., pp. 43-57). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Rathunde, K. (1992). The measurement of flow in everyday life: Toward a theory of emergent motivation. In J. Jacobs (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation (8th ed., pp. 57-97). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dabbs, J. M. Jr., Strong, R., & Milun, R. (1997). Exploring the mind of testosterone: A beeper study. Journal of Research in Personality, 31, 577-587.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edmonston, B., Passel, J. S., & Bean, F. D. (1990). Perceptions and estimates of undocumented migration to the United States. In B. Edmonston, J. S. Passel, & F. D. Bean (Ed.), Undocumented Migration to the United States: IRCA and the Experience of the 1980s (pp. 11-32). Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Filstead, W. J. (1988). Monitoring the process of recovery using electronic pagers as a treatment intervention. In M. Galanter (Ed.), Recent developments in alcoholism, 6, 181-191. New York, NY: Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gauvin, L., Rejeski, W. J., & Norris, J. L. (1996). A naturalistic study of the impact of acute physical activity on feeling states and affect in women. Health Psychology, 15, 391-397.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldman, M. (1999). The Violence Against Women Act: Meeting its goals in protecting battered immigrant women? Family & Conciliation Courts Review. 37(3), 375-392. Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 [GPRA], Public Law Number 62, 107 Stat. 285.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halcrow, A. (1987). Should business alone pay for social progress? Personnel Journal,66(9), 58-73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, K. (1985). Illegal Aliens: An Assessment. In D. B. Levine, K. Hill 7 R. Warren (Ed.) Immigration Statistics: A Story of Neglect, 225-50. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hillbrand, M., & Waite, B. (1992). The social context of anger among violent forensic patients: An analysis via Experience Sampling Method. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 18, 81-89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hnatiuk, S. H. (1991). Experience sampling with elderly persons: An exploration of the method. International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 33, 45-64.

    Google Scholar 

  • J. A. Reyes Associates. (1977). The Survey Design for a Residential Survey of Illegal Aliens. Report submitted to the US Immigration and Naturalization Service. Washington, D.C.: J. A. Reyes Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalton, G. (1977). Practical methods for estimating survey sampling errors. Bulletin of the International Statistical Institute, 47, 495-514.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalton, G. (1983). Introduction to survey sampling. verly Hills, CA: Sage.

  • Kish, L. (1965). Survey sampling. New York, NY: John Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kish, L. (1995). Space/Time variations in survey estimates. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Statistical Association.

  • Kish, L., Lovejoy, W., & Rackow, P. (1961). A multi-stage probability sample for traffic surveys. Proceedings of the Social Statistics Section, American Statistical Association, 227-230.

  • Koehler, M. J., & Levin, J. R., (1998). Regulated Randomization: Potentially Sharper Analytical Tool for Multiple-Baseline Design. Psychological Methods, 3, 206-217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kubey, R. W. (1986). Television use in everyday life: Coping with unstructured time. Journal of Communication, 36, 108-123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larson, R., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1978). Experiential correlates of time alone in adolescence. Journal of Personality, 46, 677-693.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, M. R. (1995).The relationship between high school seniors' experiences of daily life activities and levels of depression. Korean Journal of Child Studies, 16, 23-36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lesko Associates. (1975). Final Report: Basic Data and Guidance Required to Implement a Major Illegal Alien Study during Fiscal Year 1976. Washington, D.C.: US Immigration and Naturalization Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lousberg, R., Schmidt, A. J. M., Groenman, N. H., Vendrig, L., et al. (1997). Validating the MPI-DLV using experience sampling data. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 20, 195-206.

    Google Scholar 

  • McConville, C., & Cooper, C. (1995). Is emotional intensity a general construct? Personality & Individual Differences, 18, 425-427.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moneta, G. B., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). The effect of perceived challenges and skillson the quality of subjective experience. Journal of Personality, 64, 275-310.

    Google Scholar 

  • Padilla, A. M. (1993). La investigacion sobre Migracion desde una Perspectiva Psicologica: Reflexiones sobre cuatro trabajos./ Investigation about migration from a psychological perspective: Reflections on four studies. Revista de Psicologia Social y Personalidad, 9(2), 95-99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prescott, S., Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Graef, R. (1981). Environmental effects on cognitive and affective states: The experiential time sampling approach. Social Behavior & Personality, 9, 23-32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rathunde, K. (1997). Parent-adolescent interaction and optimal experience. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 26, 669-689.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schiefele, U., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1995). Motivation and ability as factors in mathematics experience and achievement. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 26, 163-181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shiu, A. T. (1998). The significance of sense of coherence for the perceptions of task characteristics and stress during interruptions amongst a sample of public health nurses in Hong Kong: Implications for nursing management. Public Health Nursing, 15, 273-280.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smart, J. F., & Smart, D. W., (1995). Acculturative stress of Hispanics: Loss and challenge. Journal of Counseling & Development, 73(4), 390-396.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith,J. & Edmonston, B. (Eds.). (1997). The New Americans: Economic, demographic, and fiscal effects of immigration. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

  • Swarr, A. E., & Richards, M. H. (1996). Longitudinal effects of adolescent girls' pubertal development, perceptions of pubertal timing, and parental relations on eating problems. Developmental Psychology, 32, 636-646.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Committee on Immigration and Naturalization. (1919). Percentage Plans for Restriction of Immigration. Washington, D.C.: US Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • US Commission on Immigration Reform. (1994). US Immigration Policy: Restoring Credibility. Washington, D.C.: US Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • US Department of Justice Immigration and Naturalization Service. (1991). An Immigrant Nation: United States Regulation of Immigration 1798-1991. Washington, D.C.: US Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • US Department of Justice Immigration and Naturalization Service (1992). Immigration Reform and Control Act: Report on the Legalized Alien Population. Washington, D.C.: US Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Employee Motivation and Performance Assessment, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI

    Palmer Morrel-Samuels

  2. University of Michigan Business School, USA

    Palmer Morrel-Samuels

Authors
  1. Palmer Morrel-Samuels
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Morrel-Samuels, P. Measuring Illegal Immigration at US Border Stations by Sampling from a Flow of 500 Million Travelers. Population and Environment 23, 285–302 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013099629114

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013099629114

Search

Navigation