If we decide to go down the path of not having 'illegals', start expecting to see a major price increase at the grocery store, the new home market and tons of other industries that pretty much use this labor to keep costs low.
The other thing is most 'Americans' don't want these jobs at all. I've heard many stories in the south one state started really cracking down, so the migrant population pretty much left the state and the farmers couldn't pay anyone to pick the fruit.
kicking out illegal immigrants has devastating effects on local economies. while the position of "they broke the law to get here so we need to kick them out no matter what" reeks of moral superiority and is a complete disregard of reality.
Alabama, Georgia and Oklahoma (all bastions of racial tolerance) all passed don't-hire-illegals laws, and the results were horrible:
A new study details the economic impact of harsh immigration laws such as those passed by Alabama and five other states. Published by the Center for Business & Economic Research at the University of Alabama, it?s the first economic cost-benefit analysis (PDF) of the state?s immigration statute. Dr. Samuel Addy, an economist and director of the Center, found that the law, known as HB 56, will annually shrink Alabama?s economy by at least $2.3 billion and will cost the state not less than 70,000 jobs.
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-02-14/alabamas-immigration-law-could-cost-billions-annuallyBitter Harvest: U.S. Farmers Blame Billion-Dollar Losses on Immigration Laws
http://business.time.com/2012/09/21/bitter-harvest-u-s-farmers-blame-billion-dollar-losses-on-immigration-laws/Following the passage of Alabama's strict immigration law, which has caused thousands of undocumented immigrants to flee the state due to fears of deportation, farmers are suffering from a labor shortage that they say won't be filled by unemployed American citizens
Farmers in Alabama and other parts of the country often must rely on undocumented immigrants for labor because they say Americans aren't willing to commit themselves to strenuous, low-paying jobs that immigrants are willing to perform -- and well.
http://www.ibtimes.com/illegal-immigrant-crackdown-alabama-leads-severe-agricultural-labor-shortage-325334To forgo a repeat of last year, when labor shortages triggered an estimated $140 million in agricultural losses, as crops rotted in the fields, officials in Georgia are now dispatching prisoners to the state?s farms to help harvest fruit and vegetables. (this plan didn't work)
http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2012/05/17/the-law-of-unintended-consequences-georgias-immigration-law-backfires/Alabama?s situation is not unique. Georgia passed a similar immigration law in 2011. When undocumented workers fled, farmers lost around 40% of their workers and $140 million worth of blueberries, melons, onions, and other crops due to labor shortages. This year Georgia farmers again fear they will be short on workers to pick the crops, and many have scaled back production or stopped planting altogether. (...) Many farmers want to hire local workers, but it is increasingly difficult to find U.S. natives with the proper skills. Few are willing or able to perform the physically taxing and low paying labor which requires them to move with the crops, even with wages of $15-$20 an hour.
http://www.policymic.com/articles/8272/alabama-illegal-immigrant-crackdown-destroys-farm-businessBack in 2007, theOklahomalegislature passed a bill titled the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007, otherwise known as HB 1804. Its intent was just like that ofAlabama?s HB56 ? drive out undocumented immigrants.
Supporters of HB 1804 said the same thing about undocumented immigrants that Alabama supporters are saying now ? that the undocumented are a drain on their state.
Well, it?s been four years and Oklahoma legislators are seeing and feeling the effects of just how wrong they were.
?Since the passage of House Bill 1804, we?ve seen a mass exodus of undocumented immigrants who have taken up residence in Texas and other surrounding states where they pump millions of dollars into those economies,? Sen. Harry Coates, R-Seminole said. ?House Bill 1804 did little more than put Oklahoma companies at a disadvantage by sending dedicated, knowledgeable workers to competing companies in other states. Losing that workforce has been devastating for many of Oklahoma?s industries, including agriculture, energy and construction.?
http://laprensa-sandiego.org/editorial-and-commentary/commentary/oklahoma-latest-state-recognizing-anti-immigrant-law-was-bad-business/so all the build-a-wall yahoos are essentially saying: it's more important to kick people out on principle (AKA "just because"), then it is to have jobs and a healthy economy.
what exactly is the problem that is being solved here?
tell that to the sixth-generation farmer who now has to sell his farm, for pennies on the dollar, because his business is no longer viable.
