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If we close the borders and restrict illegals it will be devastating to the economy. Think Agriculture, Construction, Hotel and Motel and Restaurants. Get real folks. And BTW I AM a conservative.

So, your solution to the problem is to let things get even worse?

What happens when the illegals take your job because the illegals will do the work far cheaper than you will? Then your job becomes another job "that Americans don't want to do".

Are you willing to have your pay cut by two-thirds or even more?

I have spent some time thinking about this *devastation* to the economy.

Here is what I came up with:

Agriculture: plant a Victory Garden. Cook and bake from scratch. You will have to purchase some factory products, like flour, but you can cut down the contribution. You can form or join a buying club to cut the cost even further while buying in bulk. Band together and find small farmers who will raise and butcher a beef, some chickens, etc as a Community Supported Agriculture enterprise. This is done commonly in rural areas. I have seen Rent a Cow enterprises, as well. It isn't hard to skim cream or even pasteurize your own milk. Making small amounts of butter or farmers cheese isn't hard, either.

Construction: Do it yourself. Hire your own workers who are American citizens. Buy a building that is already built, in an area with the least amount of illegals and do improvements over time.

Hotel, Motel and Restaurants:
Stay home. Buy a motor home or small camper and camp. If you have to travel, stay with friends and family. Pack some homemade jerky and crackers if you have to drive somewhere. If you absolutely must travel, keep it to a minimum and avoid the high immigrant areas, if at all possible.

Encourage your kids to work at some of the undesirable jobs, even for minimum wage. Withhold allowances so they will have incentives. A summer or two picking crops or cleaning motel rooms or working at the *dirty jobs* will not hurt anyone. My son harvested tobacco, picked apples, worked in a recycling plant and his wife cleaned motel rooms when they were in college and in the first few months after graduation until they found good jobs. Today, he is self employed and she works for a small company that hires Americans. Siblings put themselves through med school hauling garbage cans out of the dormitory cafeterias. I have sewn clothing for people out of my home. My husband worked in commercial kitchens and box and shoe factories, as well as learning to silver solder in a factory that made snowmobiles. Our income was low, but we are all doing just fine today with the skills we acquired.

Where I live, migrants, some of whom are illegals, pick apples, produce and work in Libby warehouses. These are jobs American students used to do. The meat packers are the biggest employers of illegals. The large dairies are the second biggest employers of same. Not all these jobs are done by illegals. Some are done by citizens or by migrants who have work cards. There are Mexican construction workers and there are American construction workers. There is a choice, still. Hotels, motels and restaurants are still staffed by American citizens. It is totally possible to keep these segments full of Americans or legal workers. All it takes is will. Even now, I see that 85% of all ag workers are legal.

What would happen if huge developments were stopped until this mess is cleared up? It might delay some profits for some NYSE companies and commercial real estate tycoons.

Would it really harm anyone to not eat out for an entire year? Could we find small restaurants that are sole proprietorships and who employ legal workers? Could we avoid traveling to where illegals are most likely employed to do service jobs? We could vacation in the American Heartland for a year. Could we avoid purchasing Big Ag products for a year? Could we postpone building a McMansion? Just because the construction worker is paid less, the contractor doesn't charge less, because his profit remains the same or increases.

If a portion of Americans boycotting French products put some pressure on France, what would happen if those same Americans put pressure on American business? We would need some way to let employers know what we were doing. How long before "We only hire legal citizens at a fair wage" signs began appearing?

I am in business. Between my husband and myself, we have two business, one service, one manufacturing. We have both been self-employed for decades. I understand economics and business owners will bow to economic pressure. If everyone did as much of the above as is feasible, it could have an effect.

While YMMV, the alternative is losing our country. Personally, I would take a year of being conscious about my economic behavior over living in an anarchic state with no citizen guarantees or no sovereignty. As a bonus, I wonder how much this sort of behavior would revitalize the American economy? Americans invented DIY.