Quote Originally Posted by carl View Post
I suppose that statement would be true if they were all working for unreported cash. I don't believe that is true. Most of the ones I ran into worked for established companies and got a paycheck. Some had been working those jobs for years, especially construction jobs. If they were legalized, why would they suddenly refuse to do jobs that they had been making an adequate living at, especially in an uncertain economy?
I'm not saying that they won't do those jobs. I'm saying that they won't do them for the same low wages and under the same working conditions that they did when they had no legal recourse. Maybe nine out of ten might be willing to continue working for the same wages in order to keep the job but that tenth guy is going to demand his federally mandated minimum wage and compliance with OSHA standards and so on and so forth. Either that or "do gooders" will do it for them, either way the result will be the same.

Quote Originally Posted by carl View Post
A more powerful argument in favor of some kind of change from illegal to legal status is that you aren't going to move 12 million or so people out of the country short or resurrecting the SS. They are here, they are going to stay here so why not recognize the situation and make it easier for all involved? One of the perverse benefits of a legal status that has been commented upon is that a number of those people might go home. Right now they are in and they stay because they don't want to take the chance of not getting back in if they go home. Who knows what will happen in the future so they stay. If they have a legal status they can go home without worry because they can come back if they have to.
I would tend to see that as a better argument for the status quo than legalization. I agree that simply removing 12 million people is a daunting task and probably not even reallistically possible but I don't think that legalization is the answer either. Somebody correct me if I am wrong but the main reason that employers hire illegal workers is because they are cheaper hire than legal workers. You can pay them sub-minimal wage, no benefits and don't have to worry about OHSA standards and the like. If you legalize them then they are no longer cheaper to hire.