Economic Effects of Illegal Immigration in Los Angeles, California

THE ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

Purpose of Study

Estimates state that over 1.2 million people immigrate to the United States each year, thereby thrusting the issue of illegal immigration to the forefront of today news headlines. From an economic standpoint, the effort to absorb illegal immigrants often negatively impacts cities as well as the entire country. This paper addresses the negative economic outcome of illegal immigration in the city of Los Angeles, California through the exploration of studies conducted and statistics available on the issue of illegal immigration. An effort will be made to determine whether there is negative fiscal impact on the labor market, the tax structure, public health systems, public schools and the criminal justice systems.

The economic effects of illegal immigration in Los Angeles Immigration is one of the critical issues currently facing the government of the United States, largely due to the fact that the combined legal and illegal migrants account for about 30 percent of the annual population growth. (Chiras, 2004) Every year there are more than 1.2 million legal and illegal immigrants who establish themselves as residents in America. From the year 1990 to present, the number of foreign-born residents that have settled in America has shown a rapid growth rate of 43%. In addition, the Latino population doubled during the period from 1980 to 2000, thus comprising 40% of the total population of the United States. Today, 1 out of 10 people that reside in America are born in another country. (The Trouble with Immigration) More than one third of the illegal immigrants