Liabilities and benefits associated with the involvement of undocumented immigrants in informal entrepreneurship in the US

Abstract

The many undocumented immigrants present in the US, together with the growing popularity of entrepreneurship as a job-creation strategy, have enhanced both the number and acceptance of self-employed undocumented immigrants in US society. This article draws upon multiple sources of data including literature review, official statistics, journalism and the author’s own ethnographic research to assess the impact of undocumented immigrants’ growing involvement in informal entrepreneurship. It considers the extent to which self-employment can provide income for undocumented immigrants generally and further seeks to determine rates of entrepreneurship in relation to migrants’ demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, gender, nationality, location, and realm of economic specialization. Finally, the paper reviews the social, political and economic impact of undocumented immigrants’ entrepreneurship on the larger society.