The following is a compilation of three papers written within the general area of Labor Economics. The first paper is an empirical examination of the effects of minimum wage increases on the earnings and mobility choices of U.S. immigrants. The second paper studies the impact of fluctuations in unemployment rates before high school graduation on lifetime educational attainment. The third paper tracks the widening and narrowing of the gap in educational attainment between U.S. immigrants and those born in the U.S. from 1980 to 2009.