If these figures are true, it means that Finland’s undocumented immigrant problem accounts for about 2% of Finland’s total immigrant population. In the United States, for example, undocumented workers are estimated to reach between 7 and 20 million people.
According to Ikonen, most of the illegal aliens enter Finland from Sweden and include nationals of Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Russia.
Mervi Leppäkorpi’s new book, “Asiaton oleskelu kielletty – tutkimusmatkalla paperittomien Suomessa,” touches the issue of illegal immigrants. According to her, one of the problems in the debate is that these people are referred to as “illegal.”
Take for example my foremr home state of California, which benefits immensely from skilled immigrants and unskilled ones, who keep the price of labor down and make the economy more competitive.
Leppäkorpi states that the typical undocumented immigrant in Finland are students who have not received an extension of their residence permit.
I met the first undocumented immigrant in the 1980s in Helsinki. He was brought all the way from Mexico to work for a popular Mexican restaurant run by Finns.
__________________
Emilia Kukkala