1 Factors Influencing the Settlement of Illegal Immigrants within the United States PAVAN DHANIREDDY*

This paper identifies the important factors that determine the location of illegal immigrants within the United States. I estimate the effect of socioeconomic, agricultural, political, and enforcement variables on the number of illegal immigrants in U.S. using panel data from 1997 to 2010. Results show that illegal immigrants settle in states with network effects, where the size of the agricultural and construction sector, and enforcement is higher. Similarly, illegal immigrants are less likely to be in states with a higher unemployment rates. A logit model was used to examine personal, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics on the illegal immigrants. I find that illegal immigrants compared to legal immigrants are more likely to be males, with low education levels, working in the construction sector compared to legal immigrants