That we need to eliminate minimum wage? Sure. But it won't happen. Would we be stronger economically if we could dramatically cut down the number of illegals? Not if we didn't eliminate the minimum wage and various other social benefits that create disincentives for taking low paying work.
Is it an "insult" to decide to offer foreign worker status to a large portion of the illegals currently here (because that would sanction law breaking)? No more than it was to end Prohibition back in the 30s when millions of Americans became lawbreakers.
Is Sowell right about having stronger border enforcement? Yes, to a point. But he maybe ought to go back and re-read his own book, Knowledge and Decisions.
That comparison also qualifies as an insult to our intelligence.
There is no parallel between AMERICANS taking a drink and INVADERS violating our sovereignty and being rewarded for it with one of the most valuable things on earth: AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP.
Illegal workers distort the market; I'm amazed that anyone even casually familiar with econonics doesn't weigh this. The wages paid to illegals do not represent the costs of employing them. The public subsidizes these wages through indigent health care and public school load, along with increased crime rates.
Employment in agriculture as a % of workforce has been moving downward for decades. Illegals are slowing (not reversing) this trend. There's not a job that can't be done by an American, mechanized, or eliminated.
Those who say they are doing jobs "Americans won't do," ignored the article. "Jobs Americans won't do at the pay that is being offered," is factually correct. Mow your own freakin lawns, hire the neighbor kid, and pay market rate for child care.