Sources & citations

Illegal Immigration: The Hidden Costs of an Economic System

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  1. Pew Research Center

    U.S. unauthorized immigrant population reached a record 14 million in 2023

    Workforce estimates by industry and occupation for 2023.

    https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2025/08/21/u-s-unauthorized-immigrant-population-reached-a-record-14-million-in-2023/
  2. U.S. Department of Labor

    Worker rights and wage protections

    Federal workplace protections that apply regardless of immigration status.

    https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/workers
  3. Associated General Contractors of America

    Construction workforce shortages are a leading cause of project delays

    The 2025 AGC/NCCER construction workforce survey and reported effects of immigration enforcement.

    https://www.agc.org/news/2025/08/28/construction-workforce-shortages-are-leading-cause-project-delays-immigration-enforcement-affects
  4. Médecins Sans Frontières

    Forced to Flee: Central America’s Northern Triangle

    Survey findings concerning violence and sexual abuse experienced by migrants in transit through Mexico.

    https://www.msf.org/sites/default/files/msf_forced-to-flee-central-americas-northern-triangle_e.pdf
  5. Médecins Sans Frontières

    Lack of action sees sharp rise in sexual violence against people transiting the Darién Gap

    MSF’s February 2024 report on sexual violence along the Darién migration route.

    https://www.msf.org/lack-action-sees-sharp-rise-sexual-violence-people-transiting-darien-gap-panama
  6. UN Trade and Development

    First-ever official data on illicit financial flows now available

    Estimates of illicit financial flows associated with smuggling migrants into the United States.

    https://unctad.org/news/first-ever-official-data-illicit-financial-flows-now-available
  7. Perspectives on Politics

    Criminal Governance in Latin America: Prevalence and Correlates

    Cross-national estimates of communities in which criminal groups provide order or security.

    https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/criminal-governance-in-latin-america-prevalence-and-correlates/A9B2D491806C26DB0F42869B2D81AB19
  8. Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

    Criminality and multi-crime dynamics: Trends in Latin America

    Research on diversified criminal activity and the penetration of public institutions.

    https://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Criminality-and-multi-crime-dynamics-Trends-in-Latin-America-GI-TOC-November-2025.pdf
  9. World Bank

    World Development Report 2023: Migrants, Refugees, and Societies

    The potential effects of migration and human-capital loss on origin countries.

    https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2023