Posted on 04/29/2006 5:06:53 AM PDT by A. Pole
Ever since President Bush unveiled his first guest worker plan, employer claims of labor shortages have dominated the economic side of the national immigration debate. Moreover, as Bush and his allies keep repeating, legal and illegal immigrants alike are mainly doing "the jobs Americans won't do" – physically demanding labor in low-paying but essential industries.
However, the most important statistics available show conclusively that, far from easing shortages, illegal immigrants are adding to labor gluts in America.
Specifically, when adjusted for inflation, wages in sectors that are highly dependent on illegals have either been stagnant or have actually fallen.
When too many workers are chasing too few jobs, employers typically cut wages, confident that beggars can't be choosers. What U.S. Labor Department data reveal is that the wage-cutting scenario is exactly what has unfolded recently throughout the economy's illegal immigrant-heavy sectors.
Take restaurants. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, illegal immigrants comprise 17 percent of the nation's food preparation workers, 20 percent of its cooks and 23 percent of its dishwashers.
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, though, inflation-adjusted wages for the broad Food Services and Drinking Establishments category fell 1.65 percent between 2000 and 2005.
Ten percent of the nation's hotel workers are illegal immigrants, the Pew Center estimates. But the BLS data show that their inflation-adjusted wages fell nearly 1 percent from 2000-2005.
In the booming construction industry, illegal immigrants make up some 12 percent of the work force. But from 1993 —when median home prices began surging at a record pace — through 2005, inflation-adjusted wages in the sector rose only 3.02 percent. And from 2000 to 2005 — the height of the boom — inflation-adjusted construction wages actually fell by 1.59 percent.
These wage trends in illegal immigrant-heavy industries make clear that these sectors are not facing shortages of native-born workers. They're facing shortages of native-born workers who can accept poverty-level pay.
If the president and Congress have any interest in ensuring that American immigration policy helps raise and not depress living standards, they'll tell these employers to stop the special-interest pleading and do what their predecessors throughout American history have done: Raise pay high enough to attract the U.S. workers you need.
Stop the corp greed, stop, are limit the welfare system in America, pay the American labor a decent wage he can live on.
Give the American labor force HOPE, they will give you a good day of labor.
Our greatest President, Ronald Regan restored to America the greatest thing it was lacking, HOPE and a brighter future.
That is what America now needs, HOPE and something to live for.
Translation: Raise the wages high enough to attract the chronically unemployed and hope they return to work on Monday.....
Uh President Reagan signed complete amnesty in 1986 and NAFTA is his idea, you should be damning him like you do those "evil" American corporations.
I said this on two other threads and I was flamed by the Bushbots. Bump.
What could be simpler?
Thankfully you write like Ronald Regan. We should not have to read a book are put lots of study in this issue.
You have nailed it properly, common sense.
I am all for closing the borders and controlling the flow of migrants, but it's not just a matter of wages....in wealthy urban/suburban centers you can't find any American willing to say...dig.
I know plenty of people in the landscaping biz, and construction trade. They advertise jobs in the paper and the pay scale for labor intensive jobs start at ten bucks per hour and goes up quickly. I have no idea how many of these people working are actually illegal. If they're working for a large employer, they have fake SS numbers, which are obviously NOT being flagged the the SS admin. Remember, currently an employer can not check the authenticity of a number untile AFTER the individual is hired, which is not something a busy employer will even bother with. The employer is also advised NOT to fire someone with a bad number, but go back to them and advise them that they may have made a mistake. The SS admin is complicit in all of this.
We have plenty of "poor" people and teenagers who are NOT applying for these jobs. Pass any road crew in the DC area and you will only see hispanics working.
Again....it's NOT the wages, it is the type of work. It may not be so in other parts of the country that are not as wealthy, but here, not even low income people want to do labor intensive work.
I loved Reagan, but he was the one who really started the policy of border neglect. The big amnesty in '86 occurred during his watch. We might not be in the situation we are today if he had set a better standard here. Not sure if the neglect was intentional or if he was preoccupied with other things, but I suspect elements of both.
Why do people automatically assume that ALL illegals are here to WORK?
I just read an article last night that stated that labor cost for a head of lettuce was 7 cents and that doubling the rate paid to laborers for picking it would add 7 cents to the price.
I'm willing to pay the extra 7 cents to have my lettuce picked by Americans.
A better deal for the pickers though would be to take John McCain up on his offer of $50 an hour for picking lettuce.
Personally I think it's a bit more complex. Our tiny little family-owned business pays very well (way above minimum wage) for menial task jobs. We do NOT ever consider hiring illegals. But I have to tell you that we have one heck of a time finding anyone BUT immigrants to work, and this is no joke. For example, we have HIRED no less than FOUR caucasians for a simple job and they always quit after one day. The excuses are endless: 'I don't want to stand up', 'My car needs to be repaired', 'I'll have to see if I'm available tomorrow' and on and on. I'm baffled about how they all survive, because they sure aren't going to work every day.
Evidently those indecent wages are incentive enough for millions of illegal immigrants to ignore US laws to get here to grab 'em up!
In all this debate, why is it that Nothing is said about Vincete Fox and his pathetically corrupt country that can not even provide the basics of human life to its population.
keep in mind that due to tax cuts, lower wages are higher than they used to be. Why not raise taxes on entry-level jobs? That'd make the jobs less attractive to illegals.
Do illegals pay taxes?
The analogy only works if the seller of the $1 gas had acquired it illegally which enabled him to sell it so cheaply. Companies that hire illegal aliens to lower their labor costs are committing an illegal act.
The ones who fake IDs do--not all is in cash.
They probably get more from WELFARE than working. When asked if they were looking for a job they say yeah I went to so and so, most of the job sytem workers are too busy to call and see if this is true. A friend of mine in California told me that almost 70% of the referals to jobs are neveer followed up as they claim they are snowed under.
It's impossible for anybody to understand economics and still think that any job exists in a vacuum. If an illegal takes a job that nobody else "wants", that lowers the price for other workers in the next round or circle of jobs.
Reporters need to understand that the high school kid across the street from you that can't find a job to help pay for college is affected by illegals somewhere up or down the job chain. The same thing holds true for the single mom, the retired person trying to supplement Social Security, and all the other most fragile members of the work force in this country.
Please if someone was selling gas at $1 a gallon in your town, IMO, you wouldn't care if the gas was legal or not and buy it, plus some on FR would be huzzahing, sticking it to the "evil" oil companies.
Then why do amusement parks across the country are recruiting summer workers(perfect jobs for American college kids) from foreign countries.
The reason is that Cedar Point can't find enough American workers.
Also stop having empathy for our enemies. These guys are here for a better life, YOURS. Question: are you willing to give them your home?
That is what will happen and it will happen soon.
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