"Illegal Immigrants Take jobs that no one else wants" : Comment of the Week

This week there was a HUGE discussion on the issue of whether illegal immigrants (undocumented workers) take jobs away of  Legal workers. You can read the full article: "Does Arizona Immigration Law Really effect USA Jobs ?

We had dozens of comments with many differing views on how this has effected their careers or job search. But The Comment of the week is:

"Hmmm how many Americans are eager to take the underclass jobs.  These "underclass" jobs include harvesting crops, unskilled labor in landscaping and construction, house-cleaning, and maid and busboy work in hotels and restaurants, yes all of which have a disproportionate number of illegal workers.  I keep hearing that the illegals are taking "all the jobs" from us US Citizens.  But are they really? 

Here in the US, where now only 12% of the labor force has less than a high school education, there is a lack of native-born workers to take undesirable manual labor jobs.   Since illegal immigrants often anticipate working only temporarily in the destination country (the US), the lack of opportunity for advancement is less of a problem. Evidence for this can be seen in one Pew Hispanic Center poll of over 3,000 illegal immigrants from Mexico in the US, which found that 79% would voluntarily join a temporary worker program that allowed them to work legally for several years but then required them to leave.

This structural demand theory posits that simple willingness to work undesirable jobs, rather than for unusually low wages, is what gives illegal immigrants their employment. So to argue cases like this that there is no direct competition between unskilled illegal immigrants and native-born workers is a stretch.  I mean how many degreed skilled workers out there are willing to take these under skilled positions - they are the ones taking unemployment until the economy turns.

The concept that illegal immigrants "take jobs that no one else wants". This has certain implications for policy, as it may refute claims that illegal immigrants are "lowering wages" or stealing jobs from native-born workers.

As far as Federal government reform, I absolutely agree.  But the current administration inherited 8 years from the prior administration that did absolutely nothing.

I am from a legal immigrant family,  second generation, and I never saw one white American out in the cotton fields next to my father and grandfather picking cotton." Comment Source: requested to be anonymous.