Illegal Aliens in the United States Labour Market

Abstract

Illegal aliens are foreign-born persons whose mere presence is in violation of the law of the United States or who have violated a condition of their legal entry into the country. The former group includes persons who entered the country illegally, either with fraudulent documents or by evading an immigration service inspection. The latter includes persons who entered under student or tourist visas and who work in violation of their visas or who stay longer than the visa permits. It is not possible to identify illegal aliens in conventional data sources, or to estimate directly their number or characteristics. Indirect methods can be used, however, to obtain some insights into their characteristics. This paper is concerned with the economic status of illegal aliens as measured by the occupational distribution and earnings of apprehended illegal aliens.KeywordsIllegal ImmigrantMexican ImmigrantLabour Market ExperienceEastern HemisphereIllegal MigrationThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.