[TomGuy]

their cheap labor

That is the key.
How many of these illegals are being paid even less than minimum wage, no employment benefits, etc. They won't complain because of fear/threat of being deported.

The administration argues that the nation needs foreign workers to farm and garden and to do the menial hotel, restaurant and hospital jobs that many American workers disdain.

There are Americans doing these jobs. Pay is the key. You pay a decent wage, and you can find someone to do the job. Ask any plumber--I'm sure they don't really rejoice as having to clear out a stopped up toilet, but for $50+ an hour they even list their services in the yellow pages.

[Brownie74]

Pay is the key. You pay a decent wage, and you can find someone to do the job.

You're right. But where can I find an employer that will pay me a decent wage when he or she can get an illegal to work for 1/4 (or less) of what I would?

[angkor]

How many of these illegals are being paid even less than minimum wage, no employment benefits, etc.

In my neck of the woods, the going rate for illegal alien day laborers is $8 to $12 per hour. Cash.