A new CAP report<\/a> offers a panacea for the economic doldrums of the 24 states with the largest illegal alien populations. Too good to be true? You bet.<\/p>\nThe analysis by Robert Lynch and Patrick Oakford takes their earlier national study that was built on erroneous assumptions about the increased earnings potential of illegal aliens receiving amnesty and parses those supposed increased economic output and tax payments among the high illegal alien states.<\/p>\n
The authors state that, \u201cLegal status and citizenship provide access to a broader range of higher-paying jobs.\u201d They appear to be unaware of the survey data conducted among the beneficiaries of the 1986 amnesty that found that five years after gaining legal status that there had been no significant gain in income relative to other workers and that many had actually lost ground economically. But even if it were true, it would simply means that amnesty would create greater competition for some jobs now held by legal workers. A greater number of job applicants would enable employers to hold down wages.