Labor Economics

Based on their responses to the General Social Survey, we found that immigrants and their children have levels of patriotism that are about the same as those of native-born Americans or that exceed them.

From 1995 to 2017, illegal immigrants initially faced a hefty wage penalty of about 11.3 percent relative to legal immigrants. That wage gap can be mostly explained by their lack of legal work status. Although immigrant wages generally converge with those of native‐born Americans, legalizing illegal immigrants will hasten overall wage convergence.