Eastern Kentucky University
Could the United States Function Without Undocumented Labor? The Impact of Undocumented Labor on our Economy
Institution
Eastern Kentucky University
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Elizabeth Underwood
Abstract
In January 2015, I took a trip with an Honors Diversity of Perspectives and Experiences class. While in South Carolina, our class saw first-hand the conditions of living in a migrant labor camp. Seeing such conditions raised the question: could the United States properly function without the contributions of undocumented laborers? By analyzing the history of undocumented labor, how undocumented labor affects the economy and what would theoretically happen to the economy if all undocumented laborers were deported, this project concludes that undocumented laborers are indeed an essential component of the U.S. labor market today.
Could the United States Function Without Undocumented Labor? The Impact of Undocumented Labor on our Economy
In January 2015, I took a trip with an Honors Diversity of Perspectives and Experiences class. While in South Carolina, our class saw first-hand the conditions of living in a migrant labor camp. Seeing such conditions raised the question: could the United States properly function without the contributions of undocumented laborers? By analyzing the history of undocumented labor, how undocumented labor affects the economy and what would theoretically happen to the economy if all undocumented laborers were deported, this project concludes that undocumented laborers are indeed an essential component of the U.S. labor market today.