What is happening in Northern Virginia and the Carolinas is that the furniture industry is moving to China. That is what happens when your labor costs are higher than the rest of the world's. That is what will happen to many industries if we require higher wages for Mexicans.
Pray for W and Our Troops
True enough. The same thing happened when the textile industry moved from New England to the South and now overseas. Cheap labor without many of the domestic governmental regulations and restrictions will lead more and more companies to relocate outside the US. No worry about OSHA, medical care, SS benefits, etc., which raise the cost of the product and price you out of the market. It is called the global economy.
It's not just labor. Regulatory costs, taxes, environmental rules and all the other costs of doing business have to be included for consideration. Just a comment.
So, we need to have our own third world labor force working off the books and at sub minimum wages in order to "keep the jobs here?" That's silly. What difference does it make if we're paying 50 cents an hour to Mexicans living in Los Angeles or in Chihuahua? The jobs aren't going to American citizens.