Au Contraire. It is illegal to hire illegal aliens. Legally, they don't have the choice to employ illegal aliens.
The roots of the illegal immigration problem (and it is a problem) are to be found on the demand side; the border-crossers (the supply side) are simply taking advantage of the opportunities given to them by American employers.
No doubt that jobs are the magnets that draw most of them here--approximately 7 million are working here. American employers can't offer such "opportunties" legally. The problem is that the USG is not enforcing its own laws.
If you really want to take care of illegal immigration, you might do better to address the demand/employer side of the equation; the illegal immigration problem will go away as soon as you take care of the demand side.
As a member of a grassroots organization that lobbies on the Hill and at the state level, we are trying. For example, we would like to have the E-Verify program be made mandatory for any of the stimulus package projects. It was in the House version, but the Senate took it out in the version that came out of conference. The E-Verify program will expire in September, i.e., the six months extension expires.
Our biggest nemisis has been the American Chamber of Commerce, which has bought many Congressmen. It is all about the bottom line. The businesses reap greater profits while the taxpayer subsidizes much of the expenses. Good deal for them, bad deal for us and the country.
So? The jobs still belong to the employers. To "steal" a job is to suggest that jobs properly belong to the people whom the employers decide not to hire. "Stealing" jobs is clearly a nonsense idea.
Just as clearly, the matter of "illegality" has very little effect on the Americans who willingly flout those laws. There's much more involved on the demand side of the economic equation than the "no illegals" side of the argument is willing to address.
American employers can't offer such "opportunties" legally. The problem is that the USG is not enforcing its own laws.
The problem is that American workers cost too much relative to the competition; and American employers are looking to trim costs as much as possible. It is exactly the same problem that drives the out-sourcing of American manufacturing to lower-cost countries.
... For example, we would like to have the E-Verify program be made mandatory for any of the stimulus package projects....
Well and good -- but those are predicated on controlling the supply side of the problem, which is merely a response to the underlying economic issues that bring those folks northward.
Part of the problem is high overhead imposed by government, in the form of taxes, paperwork, and so on. Another, bigger, part of the problem is Americans' expectations: we demand more money and benefits as a condition of employment; and we have a welfare system that effectively places a floor on the wages Americans are willing to accept.