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89 Tex. L. Rev. 729 (2010-2011)
How Much is an Illegal Immigrant's Life Worth

handle is hein.journals/tlr89 and id is 737 raw text is: How Much Is an Illegal Immigrant's Life Worth?* I. Introduction In 2000, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) estimated that 1.04 million illegal immigrants resided in Texas.' A study four years later estimated that that number had grown to between 1.5 and 1.8 million.2 Many of these immigrants work in dangerous jobs, particularly construction- related jobs.3 Combining the large number of illegal immigrants with hazardous employment creates a high likelihood that beneficiaries of illegal immigrants will bring wrongful-death lawsuits. The Texas Workers' Compensation Act provides the sole avenue for redress4 but only if the employer subscribes to the Act.s Texas is the only state that does not require employers to carry workers' compensation insurance,6 and in 2006 it was estimated that 37% of employers-who employed roughly 18% of the workforce-opted out of the system. The Texas legislature created wrongful-death suits when it enacted the Texas Wrongful Death Act (WDA). The cause of action contains five * I would like to thank Professor Patrick Woolley for teaching me how to write a scholarly article as his research assistant and for his continuous support, comments, and critiques on this Note. I would also like to thank the Texas Law Review staff and editors for their diligent efforts preparing this Note for publication, particularly Brice Wilkinson and Tracey Bamberger, who both went beyond their duties and provided invaluable assistance. I would like to thank my family for their unequivocal support. Finally, I am thankful for the constant love and support of my wife, Kate, who has always believed in me. 1. FED'N FOR AM. IMMIGRATION REFORM, THE COSTS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION TO TEXANS 2 (2005). 2. Id. at 7. 3. The Department of Labor recently calculated that around 10% of workplace deaths occur from falls in jobs such as construction, roofing, and painting. See U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, U.S. DEP'T OF LABOR, CENSUS OF FATAL OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES: 2009, at 4, 7 (2010), available at http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cfch0008.pdf (noting that, in 2009, workplace falls accounted for 14% of all occupational fatalities and that most of those falls were from ladders, scaffolds, or roofs). 4. TEX. LAB. CODE ANN. §§ 406.031, 408.001-002 (West 2006). 5. Id. § 406.002. 6. Kate Galbraith, Workers' Comp Concerns Raised at House Hearing, TEXAS TRIB., July 29, 2010, http://www.texastribune.org/texas-energy/energy/workers-comp-concerns-raised-at-house- hearing/. 7. Texas Nonsubscription FAQ's, COMBINED GROUP, http://www.nonsubscription.net/ FAQ.htm. 8. TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. §§ 71.001-.031 (West 2008); In re Labatt Food Serv., 279 S.W.3d 640. 644 (Tex. 2009). The Texas WDA is used only by way of example. The arguments presented in this Note apply with equal force to any state-based claim that provides for back or future wages as a remedy. Allowing for recovery of future wages is commonplace in wrongful-death statutes of all states. See, e.g., Fisher v. Walters, 428 So. 2d 431 (La. 1983) (allowing future loss-of-support damages under Louisiana wrongful-death laws); Mitchell v. Buchheit, 559 S.W.2d 528 (Mo. 1977) (allowing parents to recover any pecuniary benefit reasonably expected from a decedent child beyond the age of minority); Gonzalez v. N.Y. Hous.

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