Legal status matters Though many consider the amnesty to have failed (from the enforcement perspective), different studies of immigrants that benefited from IRCA in 1986 show that legalization allowed them to earn higher wages and get better jobs A study by Rob Parral et al (2011) showed that between 1990 and 2006 their educational attainment increased substantially, their poverty rates decreased dramatically, and their levels of homeownership improved a great deal
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