Immigration and Wages

Even with respect to the discount that illegal immigrants may have to accept, compared to legals, contrary to popular belief about undocumented aliens (the term in any case is a misnomer---all the other industrailized countries and international organizations use the term "irregular migrants") toiling long hours for a pittance in sub-standard conditions, a well-known author GORDON HANSON, cites studies showing that the discount is only 8-15 percent compared to natives. It is true of of course, that even with the discount, irregular migrants still make 5-20 times the wages they could have in their home countries. See Gordon Hanson: Why Does Immigration Divide America? The book also contains fascinating discussion about which states are more anti-immigration than others and why. The reasons have to do primarily, with the differential burdens upon state finances placed by immigration, even since the federal government discontinued most of the welfare programs in 1996.