Undocumented Migration to the United States: Perceptions and Evidence

TLDR

Immigration to the United States has risen over the past 20 years, shifting national origins to Third World countries, and public and policy attention has focused on the costs rather than benefits of newcomers. The article aims to assess the labor market impact of undocumented immigrants, primarily of Mexican origin. It does so by reviewing recent studies that examine the size of the undocumented population and its effects on wages and earnings. These studies find that undocumented workers’ wages are largely unaffected, and the influence of both legal and undocumented immigrants on other labor groups is minimal or slightly positive, suggesting policy makers might favor legal employment programs. Revised version of a 1987 paper presented at the Population Association of America Annual Meeting (Population Index Vol.

Abstract

As the number of immigrants to the United States has risen over the past 20 years and as their national origins have shifted to Third World countries the attention of the public and of policymakers has increasingly focused on the costs rather than the benefits associated with the arrival of newcomers. After a brief examination of the size of the undocumented population in the United States--most of whom are Mexican in origin--the article examines a variety of recent studies of the labor market impact of undocumented immigrants. The wages of such workers do not appear to be affected by their immigrant status per se and the effects of immigrants (both legal and undocumented) on the wages and earnings of other labor force groups are either nonexistent or small (and sometimes positive). Such conclusions have important policy implications. They might incline one for example to be more favorably disposed toward legal employment programs. This is a revised version of a paper presented at the 1987 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America (see Population Index Vol. 53 No. 3 Fall 1987 p. 417). (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA) (EXCERPT)