Undocumented Workers Have 'Negligible Impact' On Wages: Study

Mexican workers are interviewed outside the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center at the end of their overnight shift, in the Bronx, New York, Tuesday March 13, 2012. The undocumented workers are fearful of losing their jobs after learning that administrators have changed the procedure in renewing identification cards to work at the market; no longer accepting consulate cards as valid documents. (AP)

Hear that? That's the sound of holes being poked in one of the most common arguments for pushing undocumented workers out of America.

Undocumented workers have a "negligible impact" on the wages of documented workers that work at the same firm, according to a paper released in March by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Documented workers at firms that also employ undocumented workers earn 0.15 percent less -- or $56 less per year on average -- than they would if they worked at a firm that does not employ undocumented workers, according to the study.

In fact, workers in retail and leisure and hospitality actually earn slightly more money when their firms hire undocumented workers, since having more employees allows them to specialize, according the paper.

Some anti-immigration activists argue that ridding the country of undocumented workers would help to solve the nation's unemployment problem. There are currently 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.: a number that has stayed roughly stable over the past year, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

But the millions of undocumented immigrants aren't the reason the unemployment rate still remains elevated and many job-seekers can't find work, Julie Hotchkiss, an economist at the Atlanta Fed that co-authored the paper, said in an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

"There have been claims by various proponents of state legislation and immigration reform that if we institute these laws that would just get rid of all of our undocumented workers, that our unemployment problem would go away, that the unemployment rate would just plummet," Hotchkiss told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in a video interview on Wednesday. "What we're finding is there seems to be no direct displacement effect of documented workers when firms hire undocumented workers."

It's not just anti-immigration advocates that blame undocumented workers for the nation's woes, many job-seekers say they believe that it would be easier for them to find a job if there were fewer undocumented immigrants. More than 60 percent of Americans support a state law that would shut down businesses that repeatedly hire undocumented workers, according to a Rasmussen poll last year.

Conservative politicians have proposed severe measures to crack down on illegal immigration as unemployment remains high and real wages fall. Arizona has led the way by enacting a law in 2010 that authorizes police officers to ask for proof of citizenship from anyone and detain suspected illegal immigrants.

Illegal immigration has been a hot-button issue on the presidential campaign trail as well. Mitt Romney, the likely Republican presidential nominee, has called for the "self-deportation" of illegal immigrants, and Ron Paul and Rick Santorum have said they would drastically increase deportations.

Comments

[jeffrey e]

03:13 PM on 09/13/2012

just make it illegal to hire an undocumented worker or take the chance your business could be shut down or fined big time...then after you pass the law enforce it to show others you arent playing around...

[josiah-w]

04:58 AM on 08/21/2012

Undocumented immigrants are illegal. Hear that? That's the sound of federal law being broken and you, the FAKE-American, defending the destruction of America.

[Kevin A Barry]

01:09 PM on 05/20/2012

You mean "Undocumented Democrats" Other than the obvious fact that they are "Illegal" they are not paying their "Fair share" of taxes, and what is the message to the "Chumps" that waited in line, played by the rules, paid the money, learned the lesson's of becoming legal productive citizens? I'm increasingly stymied by the caviler attitude taken by some that think it's okay to circumvent the laws that you don't like and create more economic misery for those who you portend to protect. If you really cared about "Poor folk" as you claim, why would you support the competition of foreign workers to take what little resources there are for the "LEGAL" residents of this country ? I wish we had the Immigration Laws of Mexico and enforced them like they do, There's no one busting into Mexico, if they do, their immediately arrested and sent back, as we should be doing. The reason we haven't seen any reform if that someday the Democrats hope to put all these folks on the voting roles, so that we can have more than the 48% who pay NO federal taxes go to 70% and keep those "generous" Democrats in office till eternity, or the money (yours) runs out. http://www.cis.org/node/54

[puffdd420m]

04:57 PM on 04/22/2012

How long can America keep supporting Mexico their people come here to make our money enjoy our food stamps and free medical care. Then when they have sent enough money back home they return to Mexico. Most do not want to be American only use us for for what they can get. You see them at the store buying 3 or 4 carts of food filled to the brim then you look at your cart and wonder how can this be. We American need to wise up and make our goverment put a stop to this.

[Kevin A Barry]

01:11 PM on 05/20/2012

Or any Nationality that comes here Illegally, I'm of Irish heritage, and Boston, has a influx of Illegals from Ireland, I don't care, where you're from. GO HOME !

[Scott Leland]

10:32 AM on 09/14/2012

Kevin A Berry: Yes, you are right, here in Los Angeles there are many Australians and New Zelanders working in "cash businesses" as bartenders, jobs that should be done by Americans. We have to let employers know that we will appreciate them hiring Americans to keep the Recovery going.

http://www.flixya.com/blog/3201910/Beautiful-Butterflys

[Eagleman]

11:28 PM on 04/16/2012

Doesn't change the fact they are illegal

[papapj]

02:32 AM on 04/15/2012

...And now let's have study outlining the impact on federal and state tax coffers...punching more holes in the xenophobic argument, no doubt...

[wgpbp]

07:53 AM on 04/14/2012

What about the "scarce" resources that they are consuming?

What about the jobs that they re filling?

What about the drain on the tax base?

What about the effect on long term social services?

Figures lie and liars figure.

[Scott Leland]

10:52 AM on 04/14/2012

Here in California there is a State Legislature with many "Sons of Immigrants" (and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa) that is providing them with health care and housing.

[g furry]

06:01 AM on 04/19/2012

the mayor should be fired. that go to show you why americans are out of work.

[jeffrey e]

03:10 PM on 09/13/2012

thats why you and anyone you know or they know need to make it to the polls and vote him out...

[cosmiczulu]

10:40 PM on 04/13/2012

are undocumented workers like undocumented voters who don't show documentation to vote?

[Karissa36]

10:32 PM on 04/13/2012

"Undocumented workers have a "negligible impact" on the wages of documented workers that work at the same firm..."

How obvious is it that for every illegal worker, a citizen does not have a job?

[Scott Leland]

10:40 AM on 04/14/2012

This just more pro Illegal Immigrant propaganda from an angency in an administration that declared that 300,000 Illegals in-process in "Immigration Court" would not be deported. Why even bother paying the salaries of the judges and other expenses of having courts if the Department of "Homeland Security" is just going to release back to work for their employers?

We have to let the corporations know that we will appreciate them hiring Americans to keep the Recovery going:


http://www.flixya.com/blog/3201910/Beautiful-Butterflys

[Lucy Mauterer]

09:56 PM on 04/13/2012

One statement in this article concerns me. According to Homeland Security, " There are currently 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S." Here is my question; if these people are undocumented, by what means are they being counted? And another question; if there are those willing to be counted as undocumented, how many more are out there that the government knows nothing about? How can anyone state categorically that there are 11.5 million undocumented workers in the U.S.? Until they are truly made identifiable in some way, there is no way to accurately assess the number of individuals that are here illegally. Does anyone know the real answer?

[Scott Leland]

10:48 AM on 04/14/2012

Yes, you are right. The government spent millions of dollars in ads trying to get the Illegals to consent to be counted during the 2010 Census. Part of the persuasion was so "your 'community' would receive their fair share of government money for schools and healthcare." The number of Illegal was said to be 12 million before the Census, now it is supposed to be 11.5 million.

I have noticed groups of teenage Illegals waiting at bus stops on their way to work (16-19 years old.) They just don't appear in our country by "spontaenous conception." Someone is continuing to bring them into our country even though the Department of "Homeland Security" syays that "arrests are down at the border" as an indication of how well they are doing their job and that Illegal Immigration is declining.

[voyager48]

11:25 AM on 04/16/2012

Relative terms. DHS has long held that around 75% of illegals successfully enter the country, however it is agreed based on apprehension stats that around 50% of illegals enter through the Tuscon sector of the southern border. The Border patrol union is on record saying that in their estimation this is low and could be as high as 90%.

Either way if we use last years apprehension data, an estimated 1.8 million illegals attempted to enter the country and net of apprehensions and deportations, more than a million succeed.

Now if you believe what we are being told, the only way the population could remain static or shrink, is if 1 million plus self-deported. This being the case means that not only is large scael self deportation possible and feasible, but it is already happening on a grand scale. All we need to do is effectively enforce our existing laws stop the influx and the problem will resolve itself within a relatively short space of time.

This is the only way to provide a rational and sound basis for discussions relating to immigration reforms.

[g furry]

06:04 AM on 04/19/2012

you nailed it girl. you should be government.

[Buzzm1]

08:22 PM on 04/13/2012

step #1, issue #1 http://bit.ly/HH3YnJ

[Norski]

05:34 PM on 04/13/2012

This opinion piece and the Atlanta Fed study go wrong in their analysis of the effect of illegal immigration on the unemployed. The study relies heavily on studies by Card, who continually does studies on all immigrants and then claims the effects of Illegal Immigrants on the workforce are the same as Legal Immigrants, even though he has no Illegal Immigrant specific data. Also, the study makes no effort to examine the unemployed workforce. A study measuring the effects of illegal immigration on the unemployed American Worker should study the unemployed.

Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics Unemployment Report of April 6, 2012:

Farming, fishing, forestry occupations = 19.8% Unemployment
Construction, extraction occupations = 17.0% Unemployment
Transportation, material moving occupations = 11.2% Unemployment
Production occupations = 9.7% Unemployment
Service occupations = 8.9% Unemployment

If you include the category of persons who want a job but are left out of the above statistics the real unemployment rates for the occupations above are actually 50% larger. Meanwhile the Pew Center "estimated that illegal immigrants fill a quarter of all agricultural jobs, 17 percent of office and house cleaning positions, 14 percent of construction jobs and 12 percent in food preparation."

With Management, professional, and related occupations (where few Illegal Immigrants work) unemployment at 4.2%, this study makes no attempt to explain why the majority America’s 18 million people seeking jobs and not finding them are looking for work in the job categories where most Illegal Immigrants are employed.

[traverse master]

06:47 AM on 04/14/2012

"no Illegal Immigrant specific data"-------->not true at all, the study is based on Zadovny&orrenius, Myriam Quispe-Agnoli.
"
"should study the unemployed."--------> all of them do, and so does this study using variety of statistical indexes.
"this study makes no attempt to explain why the majority America’s 18 million people seeking jobs and not finding them are looking for work in the job categories where most Illegal Immigrants are employed. "

Maybe not, but to pretend the theoretical premise(functional form) of willingness to work for those American job seekers being uniformly elastic in responses to wage changes because of illegals is your wishful thinking, & not really relevant to the study.

[g furry]

06:09 AM on 04/19/2012

the only thing relevant is their illegal. GET THEM OUT OF AMERICA>.

[Scott Leland]

10:58 AM on 04/14/2012

Many corporations hire more Illegals by not having to pay CareerBuilder for employment ads; they ask their current workers to recruit their friends and relatives. That's why their are whole villages working at some companies and there are no refused native born Americans filing complaints with the Immigration "Enforcement" when they are refused jobs, they don't even get a chance to fill-out an application.

[RTIII]

05:33 PM on 04/13/2012

"There are currently 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S."

Since there are over 300 million of us, that's about 3.5% - VERY small. Remember that and the next time you hear some loud-mouthed Republican blaming "illegals" for their (and all our) problems, you can tell em to sit down and shut up because the total fraction of illegals is LESS THAN 4%.

[Norski]

05:43 PM on 04/13/2012

Yes, but in the labor markets where Illegal Immigrants are most prevelent, the Pew Center "estimated that illegal immigrants fill a quarter of all agricultural jobs, 17 percent of office and house cleaning positions, 14 percent of construction jobs and 12 percent in food preparation." You cannot actually believe that American Farm Workers, Cleaners, Construction Workers, and Food Preperation Workers regard the problem of illegal immigration as "VERY small".

[Scott Leland]

10:31 AM on 04/16/2012

Yes, you are right, and the Illegals have a big impact on native born Americans that have lost their long-time jobs and need to start a new career with an "entry-level" job in another industry. We have to let the corporations know that we will appreciate them hiring Americans to keep the Recovery going:

http://www.flixya.com/blog/3201910/Beautiful-Butterflys

[xAmerican Pridex]

07:07 PM on 04/13/2012

That's still 11.5 million undcumented workers who DON'T BELONG HERE and could be taking a job that an unemployed American citizen or LEGAL RESIDENT could and should have.
People who don't respect our laws and borders don't respect our country and people. Those people don't belong here and deserve no respect from us... much less anything else.

[RTIII]

08:25 PM on 04/13/2012

"HEY KIDS, GET OFF MY LAWN!"

I'll bet Every Single Person You Know who drives a car speeds on a regular basis. So when you say, "People who don't respect our laws and borders don't respect our country and people," I call you on it. No, breaking various laws does NOT carry over into all these other things you imagine it does. Are ALL YOUR FRIENDS disrespectful of the country and our people?!

What a horrible fear-filled world you must live in. Relax, buddy, quit painting everything as black and white - the world isn't. Put a little effort into your thinking.

And sure, illegal immigration is a problem we'd all like fixed, but it's NOT the huge problem the right makes it out to be. It's A problem, not "the" problem. FAR worse right now is the take-over of our government by hugely rich private interests who control the system by corruption, literally stealing elections, ignoring rules of order (Michigan), keeping people distracted with inconsequential things and a host of other methods, and they get people like you to vote for them by manipulating you with fear and massive misinformation.

[DrVeruju]

05:28 PM on 04/13/2012

So the law of supply and demand does not apply in the area of emplyment?

This garbage gets publicity because it will be used to defend the use of illegal aliens who come to the US to produce the stuff that corporations take to sell off cheap in their home countries and put them out of work in the first place.

What doesn't get publicity is the 1.5 million aliens who are brought here legally by the corporations each year (on H1B, L1 and other corporate-designed visas) to be trained by the citizens they are going to replace.

[Scott Leland]

11:51 AM on 04/14/2012

DrVeruju: the "Wall Street Journal" published an article Monday on how the demand for H1B workers is as high now as before the Recession. There are already 40 million foreign born people working in the U.S. Our country does not need any more immigrants.

[g furry]

06:14 AM on 04/19/2012

sounds like americans need to go to war.

[Norski]

05:20 PM on 04/13/2012

What a joke this opinion piece is. The actual conclusion of the Atlanta Fed Analysis is “The analysis in this paper determined that documented workers in industries that employ undocumented workers earn less than in industries not employing undocumented workers. In addition, among those industries that employ undocumented workers, a higher proportion of undocumented workers statistically significantly reduces the wages of documented workers among all industries overall and within most broadly defined industries. In addition, the impact is expected to be larger than that of immigrants as a whole.” In other words Illegal Immigration does drive down wages.

[traverse master]

06:59 AM on 04/14/2012

I've just finished reading the entire paper and i don't see your statements anywhere. Here is the actual abstract:

" Using administrative, individual-level, longitudinal data from the state of Georgia, this paper finds that a documented worker employed by a firm that hires undocumented workers can expect to earn 0.15 percent less than if employed by a firm that does not hire undocumented workers. However, in sectors where there are opportunities for task specialization and benefits from communication skills, documented workers can expect to earn a wage premium of less than 1 percent from being employed at a firm that also hires undocumented workers."