Next time you contract a job, ask the contractor for a sizeable discount for paying half of the cost in cash.
I think you might be surprised to find substantial savings for yourself and a contractor who will have no trouble at all handling the cash.
First of all, I don't have to have a "next time" - I was the contractor for over 20 years. It is that experience that I am sharing. If you want to ignore it in case something I say may not fit your little model, that's your right. I lived what I lived and I saw what I saw. Nothing can change that.
Second of all, as I stated - yes, as I stated - there is some cash economy. And by the way, plenty of "Joe Legals" and "Leroy Legals" in that economy too.....frankly. But NONE of the commercial economy - business to business - is cash. No one buys a house cash. No one builds a condo complex cash. No one sells a service to a property group or a national company cash.
Third of all, the fact that you can get a lower cash price in a lot of instances doesn't mean the majority of the illegals are working in that economy. It proves nothing as far as the point we're talking about here.
But again, given that you and I probably agree on 95% of the politics here, if you want to get all bunched up because I have real world experience you choose not to like, so be it.