[sarasmom]

And if the 21st Century version of slavery was not available to illegal aliens and sleazy employers, would those vital, degrading, manual labor intensive, low paying jobs be worth higher wages?(oh horrors!)

[bayourod]

No. Subdivsion lawns would not be manicured. More people would be driving their cars with body damage. Roofs would have multiple patches. Less people would be buying new houses. Less new freeways, less new schools and hospitals, fewer new factories, less people eating out at restaurants, fewer new car would be built, clothes wouldn't be replaced as often, less petroleum would be consumed, fewer people would stay in motels or visit theme parks, fewer bass boats would be built..

Union members who assume that people will pay them $35 an hour to do the jobs that immigrants are doing for $8 an hour are living in the past when our living standards were lower and they could coerce employers into paying exorbitant wages. But times have changed. Consumers will simply cut back on non necessary expenditures and postpone buying a new car or house rather than pay twice the price.

Without increasing immigrant labor our economy would contract, new factories would be built overseas and our living standard would drop. You should be thankful that you are living in the greatest period of economic prosperity in history.

If you are just sitting around waiting for the government to take a job away from an immigrant and give it to you, you're going to be waiting a long time.