Wait until some union leaders start organizing immigrants to rally for increased wages and benefit against those who employ them. The prospect of union membership and a better way of life will open the floodgates for immigrants to come here possibly, at even two or three times the rate they’re arriving now. At the same time, it will empower unions to levels unprecedented in their history, with the ability to shut down entire industries with job actions.

And when these industries who chose to hire these “undocumented workers” for cheap labor in the first place, find themselves the target for unionization and want help from Washington, only then, will the politicians listen. However, it’ll be too late

I see little difference in liberals and conservatives on this issue. In SC developers stated the made over $1 billion in extra profits simply because of the supply of illegal immigrants. That means that construction workers LOST $1B in wages they could have put into their pockets.

The reality is we wouldn’t have these problems if workers regardless of their status could bring suit against employers for ripping them off and if employers would be fined $10k for each undocumented worker they hired.

This is a problem created by the wealthy conservatives and democrats at the expence of the working class.

It is good to know that we are using smart bombing in the “War on Poverty.” Ford, you’re advocating for a greater welfare state — one that can lavish entitlements on its members in the security of jingoism to the detriment of the market.

I encourage you doing whatever the hell it takes to keep as much of your money as legally possible from the federal government. Your issue is with the Welfare State, not the people.

God bless 2006, legal and illegal alike.

Yes, very often the illegal immigrant is either paid “under the table� or as an independent contractor, in which no FICA or worker comp. is paid. Oh, what a horrible economic concept!! UNTAXED INCOME, be still my beating heart. That is going to screw up the economy terribly.

By your argument, I should leave the country, renounce my citizenship, then come back illegally so I can work without paying taxes.

I hate paying taxes as much as the next guy, but if I have to, so do they!

Respectfully, illegal immigration does present the following (economic) risk factors … source – http://www.newsbatch.com/immigration.htm

Greater poverty Because immigrants occupy low income employment, their wages are low and they are more affected by downturns in the economy. In comparison to natives, they tend not to have health insurance and need to resort to public assistance more often.

More educational costs Immigrant children and the children of immigrants account for a disproportionate amount of public education costs than do natives due to the greater birth rate for Hispanics and need for more intensive instruction. Immigrants have significantly lower educational attainment than do natives.

Lower unskilled wage levels Even studies that suggest that immigrants generate an overall increase in wage levels, acknowledge that they negatively impact wages in the low skill occupation sectors that they occupy.

These aspects would seem to offer sufficient examples of the type of negative economic impacts you were disputing in ford’s reply.

The crux of Ford4X4’s argument seems to be that illegal immigrants have a net negative effect on the U.S. economy. To come to this conclusion, one would have to prove this: Illegal Immigrants = government entitlements > economic production. The GAO told me no such thing and when I googled “Illegal Immigrants Suck Economic Life Out of the United States” — I still couldn’t find anything that showed me a net negative economic effect of illegal immigration.

Yes, very often the illegal immigrant is either paid “under the table” or as an independent contractor, in which no FICA or worker comp. is paid. Oh, what a horrible economic concept!! UNTAXED INCOME, be still my beating heart. That is going to screw up the economy terribly.

Unfair maybe, but I don’t buy the argument that illegal immigrants have a negative effect on our national economy. If that were the case, U.S. businesses wouldn’t welcome them with open arms. If California is have a financial crunch because of entitlements paid to illegal immigrants there is a simple solution: STOP PAYING ENTITLEMENTS TO THEM. The problem isn’t with illegal immigrants, it is with a welfare state.

If you think otherwise, please ask yourself this question: If we cut all the entitlement programs, from public schools to Medicaid, by 75%would the flow of illegal immigrants stop? Are they coming over because of the promise of LBJ’s Great Society? Answer: NO. They are coming because there is a labor demand that they can fill and make money. If they were coming over for the great entitlements, why wouldn’t they bring all their children. Instead, we hear about how they send all the money they make back to their families in their country of origin.

Much of the produce picked on the bigger farms in this country is done by legal migrants. They are paid a fair wage. Nowhere near as much as a UAW member, but still fair. I have no problem with that. I’m probably the most anti-union person that posts on this site, so you’ll not here me complain about them “stealing” american jobs. It’s the stealing of american tax dollars that bother me.

I’m sure that you can now produce sound statistics or data of some type to back your assertion that all these illegal immigrants are taking government entitlements.

I mean if this is the BASIS of your argument for building a giant wall and moving the military onto the border — I would hope that it is supported by something more than anecdotal evidence, or the even more suspicious “common knowledge”, but actual numbers that can be verified.

While you are collecting that evidence, I would suggest that the next time you buy a head of lettuce or tomato or have drywall installed in a new house or hire a law service company — you thank the “illegal” Mexican for the price you just paid.

I read both the Opinion Journal piece and Dosperos’ link. I think they both misrepresent how many Americans feel. I have absolutely no problem with Mexicans. In the area where I live, they provide much of the labor on farms. They are well paid, and they work their butts off.
Apparently, Mexican culture still teaches a strong work ethic, unlike American culture. So I have no problem with them “stealing” jobs from Americans. We let them take the jobs because we are too lazy to do them ourselves.

The problem I have is that there are laws that say these people are “illegal”, and even though they are illegal, we still give them government assistance in the form of welfare, food stamps, WIC, etc.
I have a hard enough time with American citizens living off welfare, much less illegals. On top of this, the wages they earn are “under the table”, and no taxes are paid. So they are getting free handouts, and putting nothing back in. Many of these people send their dollars back to Mexico to their extended families. The American dollar is one of the greatest things ever to happen to Mexico’s economy.

The argument (from Opinion Journal) that the years of border control that we’ve tried have done nothing is horribly weak. Just because we’ve done it wrong, we should just give up? Maybe we should try better tactics. Building a big wall would be a good step. For me, a better choice would be to pull 75% of the US Forces out of Europe, and put them on the American borders. But hey, as long as they are willing to try something to make the borders more secure, that’s fine with me.

http://www.boulderweekly.com/archive/121505/waynesword.html