Immigration Policy & Agricultural Labor Supply

Tom Hertz

Economic Research Service, USDA

Presentation to Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee

September 15, 2015, Washington, DC
Introduction

The Context: 

• Comprehensive reform appears to have stalled, but legalization / 

regularization of unauthorized immigrants is a possibility in future.

• The 2013 Senate Bill (S. 744) would grant Registered Provisional 

Immigrant (RPI) status to those who have been in US since 2012.

• The President’s executive actions (“DAPA/DACA”) are held up in 

court, but, if implemented, would grant relief from deportation, and 

work authorization, to an estimated 1⁄2 of the unauthorized currently 

employed in agriculture. [Werner-Kohnstamm Family Fund, 2014]

The Question: 

• What does the available research tell us about the effects of 

legalization / regularization on the supply of labor to agriculture, and 

hence on farmworker earnings and growers’ labor costs?
Outline

Lessons from the IRCA-era research about effects of legalization

 “In the late 1980’s and 1990’s, the workers legalized under IRCA moved into a 

more diverse array of economic activities. Yet, it cannot be conclusively said 

whether or not legalization accelerated this process.” [Papademetriou et al 2004]

 I will present some estimates of this “legalization effect” on farm labor supply 

which suggest it was modest in size, but not trivial.

Current farm wage trends do suggest some tightening of labor market

 But note the data problems discussed by Phil Martin.

What can we learn from current wage differentials between legal and 

unauthorized workers?

 My estimates suggest a modest impact of legalization on farm wages.
Lessons Learned from Research on 

Immigration Reform and Control Act (1986)

 2.7m granted legal resident status, including 1.1m Seasonal Agricultural 

Workers (SAWs)

 33% of the 2.7m had naturalized by 2001, but only 23% of the SAWs had 

naturalized

 Methods of enforcement at border and workplace did not prevent 

continued unauthorized inflows

 No net reduction in agricultural labor supply, no increase in farm wages

 Difficult to estimate extent to which legalization accelerated exit from 

farm work
Post-IRCA Case Studies from Report of Commission 

on Agricultural Workers [CAW 1993]

 Some case studies report rapid turnover of SAWs

 Others emphasize on-going barriers to nonfarm employment: language, 

education, work experience

 Immigration networks tightly linked to farm employment (but surely less 

true today)

 Large majorities reported planning to continue to work in agriculture “as 

long as I am able”

 On balance, as of 1993, no wholesale exodus of SAWs from agriculture
Post-IRCA Analysis of Occupation at Time of 

Naturalization (as of 2001) [Rytina 2002]

 Of the small number of generally older, more experienced farm workers 

who were legalized via the pre-1982 program, only 16% were still in 

agriculture at time of naturalization (21% occupation unknown)

 Of the larger number of generally younger, less experienced farm workers 

who were legalized as SAWs and employed in agriculture at that time, 

23% had naturalized by 2001, and of these just 3% were still in 

agriculture (23% occupation unknown)

 Suggests very rapid rate of attrition for SAWs

 But no panel data are available for the 77% of SAWs who had not

naturalized by 2001...
An Age-Cohort Analysis of the Number of IRCAAuthorized Farmworkers Found in NAWS [Hertz 2015]

 Rapid decline in number of IRCA-authorized farmworkers in NAWs: By 

1994, their numbers had declined by 47%.

 But how much is due to normal attrition of a fixed cohort as it ages, and 

how much was due to their being granted legal immigration status?

 To answer this, I compare their employment trends to those of stillunauthorized workers from similar birth and year-of-entry cohorts.

 I estimate that normal attrition led to a 26% decline in employment, and 

an additional 21% was due to legalization.

 After 10-12 years, effects of legalization had fallen to zero. 
Estimated Effect of IRCA Legalizations on their 

Employment in Agriculture [Hertz 2015]

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

Employment (FTEs)

-26% = Normal Attrition

-21% = Effect of Legalization
Estimated effect of proposed extension of 

DAPA/DACA 

 Recent executive actions (DAPA/DACA) could grant administrative relief 

from deportation, and work permits, to about half of all currently 

unauthorized crop farm workers, who in turn make up about half of the 

hired crop farm work force.

 According to the estimates above, if one-half of the current workforce is 

unauthorized, and if one-half of these are granted legal status, this might 

cause farm labor supply to decline by 0.5*0.5*0.21 = 5% over 5 years.

 This is in addition to the natural attrition due to an aging workforce.

 Crops and regions with higher unauthorized shares might see 

proportionately larger effects.

 Actual outcomes (costs to farmers, benefits to farm workers) will depend 

on the future strength of nonfarm economy.
Current Environment

 Unauthorized immigrant population (all origins) appears unchanged 

since 2009, at 11.3m [Pew Research Center, 2014]

 Number of unauthorized Mexican immigrants down from 6.9m in 2007 

to 5.9m in 2012 (-15%), due to economic growth and demographic 

change in Mexico, Great Recession, tougher enforcement

 Evidence of rising real hourly wages for farmworkers: not a dramatic 

increase at national level, but noteworthy compared to other workers 

with low levels of education

 Evidence of more rapid increases in real average weekly wages in 

certain counties with large numbers of unauthorized farmworkers
Current Environment: Size of Unauthorized 

Population [Pew Research Center]
Real Hourly Wages: Farmworkers [FLS]

versus Convenience Store Workers [CES]

10.00

10.50

11.00

11.50

12.00

12.50

All Hired Farmworkers

Non-supervisory Farmworkers

Convenience store workers

7%

7%

-2%
Real Weekly Wages in Farm Industries [QCEW] 

vs. All Workers without HS Degree [CPS]

400

450

500

550

600

650

700

Support: Livestock Livestock

Crops Support: Crops

Median: All workers <HS

22%

14%

11%

9%

-4%
Real Weekly Wages in 3 California Counties 

with Large Numbers of Unauthorized Workers 

in Agriculture [QCEW, Crops only]

400

450

500

550

600

650

Kern County Fresno County Tulare County

28%

29%
Would Legalization Raise Wages for Farmworkers?

 If authorized workers have significantly more bargaining power in the 

labor market, we would expect to see large wage differentials between 

authorized and unauthorized farmworkers

 Using NAWS data, I apply standard regression methods to study this 

wage gap, controlling for differences in age, education, experience, etc.

 Green card holders currently earn about 10% more per hour than 

unauthorized workers, and work about 20% more days per year.

 But after adjusting for differences in age, education, experience, etc., the 

wage gap falls to only 4%, and there is no significant difference in days 

worked.

 This suggests that authorized and unauthorized workers are not treated 

all that differently by employers.
Hourly Wages of Naturalized Immigrants and 

Green Card Holders vs. Unauthorized:

As Observed [Hertz, 2015]

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

0.35

0.40

1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012

Log Points (%)

Naturalized

Green Card
Wages of Green Card Holders vs. Unauthorized:

Adjusted for Covariates [Hertz 2015]

-0.10

-0.05

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012

Log Points (%)
References

 Commission on Agricultural Workers. 1993. Report of the Commission on Agricultural Workers. 

Washington, D.C.

 Hertz, Thomas. 2015. “Authorizing the Unauthorized: Labor Market Consequences for Crop Farm 

Workers.” Working paper.

 Papademetriou, Demetrios G. , Kevin O’Neil and Maia Jachimowicz. 2004. “Observations on 

Regularization and the Labor Market Performance of Unauthorized and Regularized Immigrants.” 

Migration Policy Institute, July.

 Pew Research Center. 2014. “5 facts about illegal immigration in the U.S.” Online at: 

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/07/24/5-facts-about-illegal-immigration-in-the-u-s/

 Rytina, Nancy. 2002. “IRCA Legalization Effects: Lawful Permanent Residence and Naturalization 

through 2001.” U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

 Werner-Kohnstamm Family Fund. 2014. “Number, Distribution, and Profile of Farmworkers Eligible for 

DAPA or DACA.” December. 

Data Sources:

 FLS: Farm Labor Survey: http://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/

 CES: Current Employment Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/ces/#data

 QCEW: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages: http://www.bls.gov/cew/data.htm

 CPS: Current Population Survey: http://www.bls.gov/cps/data.htm
Questions?

thertz@ers.usda.gov