title: The influence of legal status on the labor market impact of immigration.
abstract: This article explores US labor market changes that would take place as a result of an amnesty that would regularize the status of undocumented workers without changing the total size of the alien workforce.  The theoretical analysis suggests that the influence of legal status on market wage rates and on minimum wage enforcement is weak and that to the extent that there is an effect, it depends on particular institutional arrangements.  Although data are not adequate for a definite measurement of these effects, those data that are available support this conclusion.  It appears that the presence of undocumented as opposed to resident aliens can weaken union organizing efforts.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bailey
mesh_terms: D000569:Americas; D003710:Demography; D019049:Developed Countries; D003906:Developing Countries; D004467:Economics; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D004651:Employment; D006280:Health Workforce; D007182:Income; D007750:Labor Unions; D009656:North America; D011153:Population; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012456:Salaries and Fringe Benefits; D014171:Transients and Migrants; D014481:United States
keywords: Americas; Demographic Factors; Developed Countries; Developing Countries; Economic Factors; Human Resources; Illegal Migrants; Income; Labor Force; Labor Unions; Migrants; Migration; North America; Northern America; Population; Population Dynamics; United States; Wages