Illegal Immigration Hurts More Than You Think

Earl Ofari Hutchinson: Why So Many Blacks Fear Illegal immigrants Pt.1

I'm not coming at this from the racial standpoint of black men, of course, but this has been my argument against illegal immigration all along.

The argument for illegal immigration has always been that illegals do jobs that "Americans won't do" which is a B.S. argument. There is no such thing as a job that an American won't do as Discovery Channel's show "Dirty Jobs" so neatly illustrates. The difference is that when Americans are asked to do undesirable jobs, they expect to get paid for them.

The real answer is that we couldn't have certain products or services as cheaply as we do now if the employers were forced to pay the workers a decent wage - which they would have to do were their "employees" American citizens. I, for one, would be more than happy to pay twice or triple the price for a head of lettuce if it meant that the work was performed by American citizens earning a decent wage.

It also would mean that many, in the Southwest and in major metropolitan areas especially, would have to give up their uber-cheap domestic help. Somebody hold back my tears! You mean that upper-middle class and upper-class people might have to do with maid service once a week rather than every day? They might be forced to care for their own children? Oh, the humanity!

What do we get in return? We get a class of people who cannot be victimized because reporting crimes against them is no longer going to mean deportation. We get lower insurance premiums because there won't be any more uninsured aliens getting involved in accidents. The benefits go on and on, and if it means more expensive lettuce or forcing the Park Avenue crowd to give up a day to housework, I'm willing to live with it...