Effects of illegal immigration[edit]Further information: Human migration § Theories for migration for work in the 21st centuryEconomy and labor market[edit]Further information: Economic results of migration, Economic migrant, and Unreported employment

Research on the economic effects of illegal immigration is scant but existing studies suggest that the effects can be positive for the native population,[36][37] and for public coffers.[38][39] One 2015 study shows that "increasing deportation rates and tightening border control weakens low-skilled labor markets, increasing unemployment of native low-skilled workers. Legalization, instead, decreases the unemployment rate of low-skilled natives and increases income per native." This is because the presence of illegal immigrants reduces the labor costs of employers, providing them more opportunities to create more jobs.[40]

A 2013 study by Center for American Progress found that granting citizenship to people who immigrated illegally would boost the U.S. economy: doing so would raise the incomes of the illegal immigrants by a quarter (increasing U.S. GDP by approximately $1.4 trillion over a 10-year period);[41] a 2016 study found that "legalization would increase the economic contribution of the unauthorized population by about 20%, to 3.6% of private-sector GDP;"[42] and a 2019 working paper by the University of Cyprus found that "all types of immigrants generate larger surplus to US firms than natives do".[43]

According to economist George Borjas, immigrants may have caused the decline of real wages of US workers without a high school degree by 9% between 1980 and 2000 due to increased competition.[44] Other economists, such as Gordon Hanson, criticized these findings.[45] Douglas Massey argues that developed countries need unskilled immigrant labor to fill undesirable jobs, which citizens do not seek regardless of wages.[46] Massey argues that this may refute claims that undocumented immigrants are "lowering wages" or stealing jobs from native-born workers, and that it instead shows that undocumented immigrants "take jobs that no one else wants."[46]

A paper by Spanish economists found that, upon granting work permits to the undocumented immigrant population in Spain, the fiscal revenues increased by around €4,189 per newly legalized immigrant.[39] The paper found that the wages of the immigrants increased after receiving work permits. At the same time, some low-skilled natives had worse labor market outcomes and high-skilled natives had improved labor market outcomes.[39]

Since the decline of working class blue-collar jobs in manufacturing and industry, younger native-born generations have acquired higher education. In the US, only 12% of the labor force has less than a high school education, but 70% of illegal workers from Mexico lack a high school degree.[45] The majority of new blue-collar jobs qualify as Massey's "underclass" work, and suffer from unreliability, subservient roles and, critically, a lack of potential for advancement. These "underclass" jobs, which have a disproportionate number of undocumented immigrants, include harvesting crops, unskilled labor in landscaping and construction, house-cleaning, and maid and busboy work in hotels and restaurants. However, as even these "underclass" jobs have higher relative wages than those in home countries they are still attractive for undocumented immigrants and since many undocumented immigrants often anticipate working only temporarily in the destination country, the lack of opportunity for advancement is seen by many as less of a problem. Support for this claim can be seen in a Pew Hispanic Center poll of over 3,000 undocumented immigrants from Mexico in the US, which found that 79% would voluntarily join a temporary worker program that allowed them to work legally for several years but then required them to leave.[47] From this, it is assumed that the willingness to take undesirable jobs is what gives undocumented immigrants their employment.[46] Evidence for this may be seen in the average wages of illegal day laborers in California, which was between $10 and $12 per hour according to a 2005 study, and the fact that this was higher than many entry-level white collar or service jobs.[48] Entry-level white collar and service jobs offer advancement opportunities only for people with work permits and citizenship.

Research[which?] indicates that the advantage to firms employing undocumented immigrants increases as more firms in the industry do so, further increases with the breadth[clarification needed] of a firm's market, and also with the labor intensity of the firm's production process. However, the advantage decreases with the skill level of the firm's workers, meaning that illegal immigrants do not provide as much competitive advantage when a high-skilled workforce is required.[49]

  Kidnapping and ransoms[edit]

In some regions, people that are still en route to their destination country are also sometimes kidnapped, for example for ransom. In some instances, they are also tortured, raped, and killed if the requested ransom does not arrive. One case in point are the Eritrean migrants that are en route to Israel. A large number of them are captured in north Sinai (Egypt) and Eastern Sudan and held in the buildings in north Sinai.[64][65]

Prostitution[edit]Main article: Sex trafficking

Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, Western Europe is being confronted with a serious problem related to the sexual exploitation of undocumented immigrants (especially from Eastern Europe), for the purpose of prostitution.[66]

In the United States, human trafficking victims often pass through the porous border with Mexico. In an effort to curb the spread of sex slavery and other predation on unauthorized immigrants, California Attorney General Kamala Harris and Mexico Attorney General Marisela Morales Ibáñez signed an accord in 2012 to expand prosecutions of criminals typically members of transnational gangs who engage in the trafficking of human beings between the two countries.[67]

Exploitation of labour[edit]Main article: Exploitation of labour

Most countries have laws requiring workers to have proper documentation, often intended to prevent or minimize the employment of undocumented immigrants.[citation needed] However the penalties against employers are often small and the acceptable identification requirements vague, ill-defined and seldom checked or enforced, making it easy for employers to hire illegal labor.[citation needed] Where the minimum wage is several times the prevailing wage in the home country, employers sometimes pay less than the legal minimum wage or have unsafe working conditions, relying on the reluctance of illegal workers to report the violations to the authorities.[68][citation needed]

Injury and illness[edit]

The search for employment is central to illegal international migration.[69] According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, undocumented immigrants in the United States often work in dangerous industries such as agriculture and construction.[70] A recent study suggests that the complex web of consequences resulting from illegal immigrant status limits illegal workers' ability to stay safe at work.[71] In addition to physical danger at work, the choice to immigrate for work often entails work-induced lifestyle factors which impact the physical, mental and social health of immigrants and their families.[72]

Death[edit]

Each year there are several hundred deaths along the U.S.–Mexico border[73] of immigrants crossing the border illegally. Death by exposure occurs in the deserts of Southwestern United States during the hot summer season.[74] In 2016 there were approximately 8,000 migrant deIllegal border crossing[edit]Border patrol at sea by the U.S. Customs and Border ProtectionHMC Vigilant, one of several customs cutters of the UK Border Force, and capable of speeds up to 26 knots, departing Portsmouth Naval Base.

Immigrants from countries that do not have automatic visa agreements, or who would not otherwise qualify for a visa, often cross the borders illegally in some areas like the United States–Mexico border, the Mona Channel between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, the Strait of Gibraltar, Fuerteventura, and the Strait of Otranto. Because these methods are illegal, they are often dangerous. Would-be immigrants have been known to suffocate in shipping containers,[76] boxcars,[77] and trucks,[78] sink in shipwrecks caused by unseaworthy vessels, die of dehydration[79] or exposure during long walks without water. An official estimate puts the number of people who died in illegal crossings across the U.S.–Mexican border between 1998 and 2004 at 1,954 (see immigrant deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border).

Human smuggling is the practice of intermediaries aiding undocumented immigrants in crossing over international borders in financial gain, often in large groups. Human smuggling differs from, but is sometimes associated with, human trafficking. A human smuggler will facilitate illegal entry into a country for a fee, but on arrival at their destination, the smuggled person is usually free. Trafficking involves a process of using physical force, fraud, or deception to obtain and transport people.

Types of notorious human smugglers include Snakehead gangs present in mainland China (especially in Fujian) that smuggle laborers into Pacific Rim states (making Chinatowns frequent centers of illegal immigration) and "coyotes", who smuggle undocumented immigrants to the Southwestern United States and have been known to abuse or even kill their passengers.[80] Sometimes undocumented immigrants are abandoned by their human traffickers if there are difficulties, often dying in the process. Others may be victims of intentional killing.

Overstaying visa[edit]

Many undocumented immigrants are migrants who originally arrive in a country lawfully but overstay their authorized residence (overstaying a visa).[81][82] For example, most of the estimated 200,000 illegal immigrants in Canada (perhaps as high as 500,000) are refugee claimants whose refugee applications were rejected but who have not yet been expelled from the country.[83]

Another example is formed by children of foreigners born in countries observing jus soli ("right of territory"), such as was the case in France until 1994[84] and in Ireland until 2005.[85] In these countries, it was possible to obtain French or Irish nationality (respectively) solely by being born in France before 1994 or in Ireland before 2005[85] (respectively). At present, a French born child of foreign parents does not automatically obtain French nationality until residency duration conditions are met.[81] Since 1 January 2005, a child born in Ireland does not automatically acquire Irish nationality unless certain conditions are met.[85]

Sham marriagesaths, with about 63% of deaths occurring within the Mediterranean.[75]