Estimating the Refugee Population from PUMS Data: Issues and Demographic Implications

Discussions of immigration, settlement and adjustment within the U.S. do not typically refer to immigrant status (i.e., refugee versus family preference), and instead refer to the foreign–born population as an aggregate. Distinguishing between refugees and other immigrant arrivals likely means differences with respect to their geographic distribution and embodied human capital owing to differences associated with the reasons for immigration (forced versus voluntary), period of arrival, and immigration policy. The lack of differentiation by group within the existing literature is typically due to a shortfall of detailed information relating to admission status within publicly released data files. Yet concrete knowledge of differences by admission category is important in understanding overall patterns of settlement and adjustment within the foreign–born population. This paper therefore explores potential differences with respect to settlement and endowed human capital between immigrants and refugees. Identification of the major sources of refugees within Immigration and Naturalization Service data files allows the refugee population to be identified within the 1990 Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS), therefore increasing the range of variables and measures associated with the refugee population available to researchers, and points to the diversity of the refugee population.