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Answer this: after amnesty, do you still expect these small businesses who hire "now documented" former illegal aliens to continue paying below-minimum cash wages under the table, or will the newly documented workers be forced to file W-4's, have income taxes, FICA, unemployment insurance, etc, deducted from their wages? Do you imagine that "documented" wages might put these people into a net-loss vs. what they were receiving via unreported cash wages? Isn't that what "coming out of the shadows" really means?

I expect them to pay minimum wage+ a bit more. However many businesses even now pay illegal immigrant much more than just minimum wage, however they are profiting now by not giving them a lot of the benefits and paid vacations, and that save them a lot of money, this practice will continue to a large degree even after the illegal immigrants are legalized via a Z-visa. If the employer sponsors somone for a work visa, he needs to report their wages and deduct the required taxes from their paychecks. However I expect the businesses to be very creative in this issue since the tax code is full of loopholes. I expect them to give them so very basic accidental insurance at work.

So, will that make z-visa holders better off or worse off than before? Do you expect most illegals to become legal and have their wages regularized, or do you expect most to stay in the shadows and try to keep the status quo?

-PJ