Poverty Pay Ping!
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.
Nop one is going to "give" anybody, anything. btw, there ae no facts, only animosity in your post.
How is it that illegals do not have to pay for housing, medical care, food, or energy costs? Do you have a source for this information or is it just your own assessment? I know of no program in this country that provides anyone cost free housing, medical care, food and energy.
BTTT
Ted Kennedy would fix this by mandating "guest workers" be paid "prevailing wages". I.e. union pay. What he doesn't seem to comprehend is that it then becomes an even bigger incentive to get illegal workers and pay them off the books. They'll be way cheaper than "guest workers".
Now if you could buy gas at $1 a gallon what would you do? You would buy the gas at $1 a gallon, but you damn American companies essentially doing the same thing with labor costs. Isn't that a bit hypocritical on your part.
your argument is fallacious. in the context of the instant issue, the analogy that you are really making is that of buying gas at three bucks, or stealing it. or buying it for a buck from someone else who has stolen it.
one cannot gainsay your point that there are many who would not be troubled by the moral implications thereof, but fashioning a national identity and policy on immigration around this less salubrious aspect of human nature has its obvious drawbacks. ne c'est pas?
please let me know if you need me to translate this into stupid for you.
Uh why the need for translation? Your reply #67 was already stated in stupid.
Heavily fining anyone who employees an illegal immigrant would secure our borders.
Raising wages will only attract more immigrants, not fewer...doh!
normally, i would take the bait and explain the obvious. this time? eh. i dunno. maybe i'm growing up. or just weary of people like you.
Have you retcracted your Tancredo lie yet?
For everyone, Dane lies about Tancredo here:
'but your hero tancredo would rather focus on the ethnic surnames of people who attend those schools, rather than the leftist attiudes by those who administer in today's govt. schools."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1623690/posts?page=137#137
See my 72 re: Dane's lies
Much of what this author says actually makes sense - - but I'm confused about this last paragraph: It almost sounds like the author wants the president and Congress to tell private businesses what they must pay employees, ie., what their wages must be. But that would make this author a socialist and a complete scumbag, so that can't be it, right?
Not when the American companies head for Mexico primarily because they can pay lower wages.
Having grown up in the cotton fields of East Tennessee, I know *exactly* what kind of work Americans will do. And on this issue Bush is full of hot air.
Sorry but outside of rural America and the iron belt cities that are on the decline, this is simply not the case anymore. In the wealthier suburban and urban regions it is extremely difficult to hire ANY American for certain jobs. Sad but true....so if you know of some Americans who are set to pack their bags and do labor intensive jobs, tell them to head to any growing metropolitan area.
Non-Mexicans can own land, just not beachfront property.
To become a resident of Mexico, one has to put up a rather large chunk of money.
Mexico is Rich- Mexican wealthy play American taxpayers for suckers
Every dollar spent in U.S. taxes for social services for illegal aliens frees up additional cash to be sent south as part of the annual remittances which provided $20 billion in 2005. According to the CNN news show Lou Dobbs Tonight (3/21/05), "Remittances, as they're called, are expected to become Mexico's primary source of income this year, surpassing the amount of money that Mexico makes on oil exports for the first time ever."
Mexico is Rich- Mexican wealthy play American taxpayers for suckers
Every dollar spent in U.S. taxes for social services for illegal aliens frees up additional cash to be sent south as part of the annual remittances which provided $20 billion in 2005. According to the CNN news show Lou Dobbs Tonight (3/21/05), "Remittances, as they're called, are expected to become Mexico's primary source of income this year, surpassing the amount of money that Mexico makes on oil exports for the first time ever."
Hong Kong didn't have resources, but under British rule they had a rule of law. Under that rule of law, they went from being a war torn city after WWII to one of the wealthiest cities in Asia.
If you want your nation to be wealthy, first allow your people to keep the wealth they earn.
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