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From Illegal to Legal: Estimating Previous Illegal Experience among New Legal Immigrants to the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Jasso, Guillermina

    (New York University)

  • Massey, Douglas S.

    (Princeton University)

  • Rosenzweig, Mark R.

    (Yale University)

  • Smith, James P.

    (RAND)

Abstract

This paper develops a framework for estimating previous illegal experience among annual cohorts of new legal immigrants to the United States – using public-use administrative microdata alone, survey data alone, and the two jointly – and provides estimates for the FY 1996 cohort of new immigrants, based on both administrative and survey data. Our procedures enable assessment of type of illegal experience, including entry without inspection, visa overstay, and unauthorized employment. We compare our estimates of previous illegal experience to estimates that would be obtained using administrative data alone; examine the extent of previous illegal experience by country of birth, immigrant class of admission, religion, and geographic residence in the United States; and estimate multivariate models of the probability of having previous illegal experience. To further assess origins and destinations, we carry out two kinds of contrasts, comparing formerly illegal new legal immigrants both to fellow immigrants who do not have previous illegal experience and also to the broader unauthorized population, the latter using estimates developed by DHS (2002), Passel (2002), and Costanzo et al. (2002).

Suggested Citation

  • Jasso, Guillermina & Massey, Douglas S. & Rosenzweig, Mark R. & Smith, James P., 2008. "From Illegal to Legal: Estimating Previous Illegal Experience among New Legal Immigrants to the United States," IZA Discussion Papers 3441, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3441
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Guillermina Jasso & Mark R. Rosenzweig & James P. Smith, 2000. "The Changing Skill of New Immigrants to the United States: Recent Trends and Their Determinants," NBER Chapters, in: Issues in the Economics of Immigration, pages 185-226, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Cited by:

    1. Pia M. Orrenius & Madeline Zavodny, 2007. "The minimum wage and Latino workers," Working Papers 0708, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    2. Jasso, Guillermina, 2011. "Migration and Stratification," IZA Discussion Papers 5904, IZA Network @ LISER.
    3. Claire E. Altman & Colleen M. Heflin & Chaegyung Jun & James D. Bachmeier, 2021. "Material Hardship Among Immigrants in the United States: Variation by Citizenship, Legal Status, and Origin in the 1996–2008 SIPP," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(3), pages 363-399, June.
    4. Sankar Mukhopadhyay & Miaomiao Zou, 2020. "Will Skill-Based Immigration Policies Lead to Lower Remittances? An Analysis of the Relations between Education, Sponsorship, and Remittances," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(3), pages 489-508, March.
    5. Kreisberg, A. Nicole, 2025. "Gender inequality in immigrants’ mental health: The legal status gradient," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 377(C).
    6. Mukhopadhyay, Sankar, 2018. "Comparing Wage Gains from Different Immigrant Legalization Programs," IZA Discussion Papers 11525, IZA Network @ LISER.
    7. Gindling, T. H. & Poggio, Sara Z., 2010. "The Effect of Family Separation and Reunification on the Educational Success of Immigrant Children in the United States," IZA Discussion Papers 4887, IZA Network @ LISER.
    8. Amelie F. Constant & Olga Nottmeyer & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2013. "The economics of circular migration," Chapters, in: Amelie F. Constant & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Migration, chapter 3, pages 55-74, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Rocco Molinari & Roberto Impicciatore & Livia Elisa Ortensi, 2024. "Legal Status and Fertility Patterns: Regulation-Induced Disruption Among Previously Undocumented Immigrant Women in Italy," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 40(1), pages 1-28, December.
    10. Tim H. Gindling & Sara Z. Poggio, 2008. "Family Separation and Reunification as a Factor in the Educational Success of Immigrant Children," UMBC Economics Department Working Papers 09-104, UMBC Department of Economics.
    11. Joni Hersch & W. Kip Viscusi, 2010. "Immigrant Status and the Value of Statistical Life," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 45(3).
    12. Guillermina Jasso, 2009. "Ethnicity and the immigration of highly skilled workers to the United States," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(1/2), pages 26-42, March.
    13. Julie L. Hotchkiss & Myriam Quispe-Agnoli & Fernando Rios-Avila, 2012. "The wage impact of undocumented workers," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2012-04, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    14. Zai Liang & Bo Zhou, 2016. "The Effects of Legal Status on Employment and Health Outcomes among Low-Skilled Chinese Immigrants in New York City," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 666(1), pages 150-163, July.
    15. Sankar Mukhopadhyay, 2019. "Legal status and immigrants’ educational investment decisions," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 1-29, March.
    16. Alex Street & Chris Zepeda-Millán & Michael Jones-Correa, 2015. "Mass Deportations and the Future of Latino Partisanship," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 96(2), pages 540-552, June.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • C42 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Survey Methods
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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