Wage Study: Illegal Workers Hurt Other Illegals Most

Wage Study: Illegal Workers Hurt Other Illegals Most

February 19, 2008, 5:30 pm

There’s a long-running debate among economists over how much the addition of immigrant workers dampens the earnings and job opportunities of U.S. citizens - if at all. A new working paperfrom the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta wants to know what the impact is from illegal immigrant workers.

Rough consensus holds that 10% increase in the population share of immigrants translates into a 1-4% drop in native U.S. worker wages. Conventional wisdom suggests the impact from illegal immigrant workers would be greater, since they have much more limited employment opportunities and so accept lower wages. But authors Julie Hotchkiss and Myriam Quispe-Agnoli find that a 10% increase in the population share of undocumented workers results in an approximate 2% drop in documented worker wages - “[not] a very practical impact on documented worker wages,â€

This is convoluted logic IMO, but it sort of makes sense - flooding the labor supply decreases the wages and number of available jobs. Then at least curbing immigration would stabilize the job market. I think.