Since I am also from Georgia and my family is in the construction business, I am going to have to tell you that is a lie. Construction workers are paid more, at least minimum wage.
Though you may be confusing "$2 to dollars an hour" with "$2 dollars a square foot", which can be a lot of money. Most small houses are around 2000 to 2500 square feet, do the math, that is a decent amount of money for a worker.
"Dollar by the square foot" is a construction formula contractors use to figure out how much a house cost to build; material, time and labor.
Hello Paul C. - I am in Georgia too. And my family is in construction too.
A group can be picked up in a number of places and will do a FULL day's work for $25 plus food and a ride.
This is for unskilleds. Subs are something different. But to clean up, unload, carry, etc it's $25 a day plus food.
My guess is you run an honest business and don't knowlingly hire illegals and pay cash with no questions asked. Not every business is run like that. As a caller to a local radio station said last week, the $2.00 per hour (not square foot) is a very livable wage for him because they have 20 people living in one house and pool their money. He said it is a lot more than they could ever make in Mexico. Now, admittedly, I don't know this guy. He could be lying for all I know, but the host of the show knows him and believed he was telling the truth.
I've also had people I know personally, tell me they have lost construction jobs because they won't work for below minimum wage.