People who migrate from one area to another, sometimes over long distances or in a large group, are called migrants. Migration is viewed not only as a simple physical movement of people but also as a complex social process that affects many aspects of socioeconomic life; it is associated with settlement, economic use of land, development of productive forces, education, and the mixing of races, languages and peoples.

Due to the individual immigration policies of countries like a migrant quota, this phenomenon may result in an individual who is residing in a country illegally – without regular permission – known as an “illegal immigrant”. The causes of immigration may be societal, economic or political.

In this article I will attempt to describe the phenomenon of the employment of illegal immigrants in the Tourism industry, describing the phenomenon in some different countries and defining its social and economic impact within these countries.

Once in the foreign country, illegal immigrants tend to become employed in what are known as “low skilled jobs.”

In many countries, the Tourism and Hospitality industry is one of the largest employers of immigrants. In the United States, the illegal immigrant population is estimated to be around 12 million, with Mexicans representing the largest group.

The American Tourism and Hospitality industry, more so than any other, now depends on this flow of cheap, often undocumented immigrants to survive. We might say that Illegal immigration could have “positive” effects on the wealth of nations because illegal migration might fill the gap of significant labour shortages in booming economies; it could be argued that illegal immigrants are substitutes for low-skilled workers and complements for high-skilled workers. In the short-run we could also expect that the employment of illegal immigrants is a mechanism to erode inefficient regulation and bureaucracy. (Horst Entorf* and Jochen Moebert, 2004)

“We’ve got a lot of jobs that are tough to fill,” said Dan Mount, who teaches hotel management at Penn State. “To find someone who’s going to clean 16 guest rooms a day for $6 or $7 an hour — people aren’t lining up for those jobs.” Illegal workers help close the gap. According to the Pew Hispanic Center an estimated 20 per cent of cooks and 23 per cent of dishwashers are illegal immigrants in American restaurants.

Jim Harbour, a former restaurant manager who now teaches at Washington State University’s School of Hospitality Business Management, estimated that, without illegal immigrants, wages for dishwashers and other “back of the house” staff would have to rise anywhere from 10 to 20 per cent to attract the necessary workers.

With labour costs averaging around 30 per cent of operating costs, passing on that kind of increase might raise the cost of a meal anywhere. Under a similar scenario, hotel-room rates would rise as well.

Besides the US, many other countries receive illegal migrants and most of these work in the service sector. India, France, Italy and other European countries are also recipients of illegal workers. In India these illegal workers come mainly from Bangladesh while in European countries they come from Africa, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka etc.

In Hungary the catering industry, tourism, restaurants and entertainment industry attract illegal foreign workers in considerable numbers from the Russian Federation and the Ukraine. In this case, illegal employment is more common in seasonal work, with foreign workers tending to be engaged as waiters and kitchen staff. They are needed over short periods of time and for particular skills, such as language or because of the lack of Hungarian applicants. Illegal workers here are preferred because of lower costs, the complex and time-consuming procedures for obtaining the necessary permits and, in some cases, because the activity is in itself illegal.

Anne-Mette Hjalager describes the situation of illegal employment in Denmark, focusing on the restaurant sector. Danish immigration policy is very restrictive, and work permits are not easily obtained. Despite this, employment of unskilled illegal immigrants occurs. Due to Denmark´s high tax and wage levels, the temptation to fiddle is possibly bigger than in other countries.

How much could this phenomenon reflect on the final consumer and on the society?

We are all involved in this matter, more directly or less because the “illegal-immigrant discount” affects different layers of society differently, either we are directly affected by our interactions with the tourism industry or merely through the effects illegal immigration has on society.

Of course, in some areas of the world, the more often you eat out or stay in hotels the more you benefit from the illegal-immigrant discount. In this way by increasing the supply of low-skilled labor relative to high-skilled labour, illegal immigration effectively boosts the purchasing power of the better-educated, more-skilled and richer portion of society.

In actual fact, illegal immigration distorts the law of supply and demand in a capitalistic society. So fraud has a wide range of consequences: the loss of tax receipts being the most cited; the distortion of competition; inequality of access to cheaper services and the negative effects on the quality of products and services it might result in.

Overall, the estimation of the damage caused by illegal work is a difficult task due to the complexity and the clandestine nature of the phenomenon.

Illegal migration is not rigorously policed in many countries and in others, although there is a threat of being deported, such threats are extraordinarily difficult to carry out. Work regulations in the United States specifically prohibit employers from hiring illegal immigrants. Penalties exist for employers who hire illegal immigrants, however they are not always enforced and it does not deter some employers from doing it.

As Tourism is a growing industry in many countries, there is an urgent need to examine the phenomenon more closely in a transnational context. The new Europe and the BRICS new growing countries with all its economic challenges and openings also constitutes a new clandestine space and an opportunity for this “modern slavery”.

The question is: do we want cheap food, cheap travel and cheap vacations, or do we want to pay a good wage to attract local workers and avoid social and economical inequalities? All of us desire clean, affordable hotel rooms, and clean dishes at restaurants while paying an affordable price for the food. So illegal immigration, should we just  allow it to happen? No, this is not the solution at all.

To conclude, the best responses of the destination countries would be some combination of prevention with frequent controls, higher penalties and enforcement and legalization. The biggest challenge for 21st century nations is how to combine these with cooperation with migrant countries-of-origin.

Resources:

Juhász J. (April 1999) Illegal labour migration and employment in Hungary. Retrieved from http://www.ilo.int/public/english/protection/migrant/download/imp/imp30.pdf

Youn, H. W., Woods, R., Zhou, X., Hardigree, C. E. (Sep-Dec2010). The restaurant industry and illegal immigrants: an Oklahoma case study Source: Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism; , Vol. 9 Issue 3, p256-269, 14p, 3 Charts. Retrieved from http://www.cabdirect.org.proxy1.dom1.nhtv.nl/abstracts/20103307551.html?resultNumber=2&q=de%3A%22labour+costs%22

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Hjalager A.M. (9th October, 2007) The illegal economy in the restaurant sector in Denmark . Retrieved from www.palgrave-journals.com/thr

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