[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

"How often have we heard that illegal immigrants "take jobs that Americans will not do"? What is missing in this argument is what is crucial in any economic argument: price.

Americans will not take many jobs at their current pay levels -- and those pay levels will not rise so long as poverty-stricken immigrants are willing to take those jobs."

I thought this today (having read Sowell's Basic Economics and Applied Economics). If we deported every illegal, whatever work they were doing would suddenly have a huge shortage of workers. Because of supply and demand, the rate of pay to do those jobs would go up -- up closer to what Americans need for their standard of living.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Americans will not take many jobs at their current pay levels -- and those pay levels will not rise so long as poverty-stricken immigrants are willing to take those jobs."

They will also not take many jobs at their current pay levels as long as there are various welfare programs that allow them to pass up these jobs. Otherwise, they might take them until something better comes along.