"jobs Americans don't want"
No!
It's probably because THE UNION WAGES ARE THROUGH THE ROOF. As a contractor, you can pay illegals $10/day (with no benefits) and probably save more than 50% of your employee expenses.
THE UNIONS HAVE PRICED AMERICANS OUT OF JOBS - IT'S NOT THE ILLEGALS TAKING JOBS AWAY FROM AMERICANS.
Union wages are a great part of the problem.
OUT OF CONTROL WORKMEN"S COMPENSATION INSURANCE IS THE LARGEST NAIL in that coffin.
Few if any US citizens I know would work for that kind of pay. Thus, as I said previously, these are "jobs Americans don't want."*
Even if we wanted to compete with your $10/day illegals, Uncle Sam's minimum wage law says we can't. IMHO, that's part of the problem. We do not need minimum wage laws, which effectively encourage the hiring of illegals and price citizens out of certain jobs.
*Given that there is NO task that no citizen would do if the wage were set high enough, the point here is that the wage is part of the "job" description; if the illegals are -- as some have said -- doing jobs Americans "don't want," it is simply because the wage being paid by the employer isn't high enough.
You are absolutely right about Unions and taxes being the cause for many to hire illegals. Small business simply can not afford the price of union workers or the taxes associated with their employment.
Oh, but don't think the illegals are cheap. They are not. They get a decent wage for their work, but a company can afford to pay them well without being bankrupted. Plus, the illegals are impressive workers in many cases. They are anxious to work and have a much better attitude than some of our lazy demanding workers.