Thread: Migrants Depressing construction Wages

Published: 03.19.2007

Robb : Migrants depressing construction wages
Robert Robb
robert.robb@arizonarepublic.com


The business community and others supporters of a liberal immigration policy say that illegal immigrants are taking jobs that Americans won't do.
Without the illegal immigrants, they contend, the United States would be facing chronic labor shortages.
A recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center about Latinos and the construction industry offers an opportunity to put these claims to the test.
According to Pew, 60 percent of new construction jobs between 2004 and 2006 went to foreign-born Latinos. Forty-six percent went to those who have arrived since 2000. Pew estimates that two-thirds of recently arrived Latino immigrant workers are illegal.
That means that, at a minimum, about 30 percent of all new construction jobs went to illegal immigrants.
This is hardly a new trend. Nearly 20 percent of all construction workers in the United States today are foreign-born Latinos.
So, what's been happening in the construction labor market overall?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there has been nearly a 30 percent increase in construction jobs over the last 10 years. That's considerably above the increase in total employment and in production workers in all industries, both of which only expanded about 10 percent.
So, demand for construction labor increased three times as fast as for labor generally. Wages for construction workers must have gone up more than for other workers, right?
Well, that's not what happened.
During the decade, the average hourly wage for production workers in all industries went up by 33 percent. For construction production workers, the increase was only 28 percent.
In fact, despite a 30 percent increase in demand, construction wages barely increased faster than inflation during this period, which was 25 percent.
The same phenomenon of stagnant or declining real wages can be found for other jobs heavily impacted by illegal immigration, such as farming, cleaning and food preparation.
Nowhere has the demand for construction labor increased faster than in Arizona. Yet, most construction jobs in Arizona now pay below the state's median hourly wage, which wasn't the case in 1990.
A stagnant or declining price of something is not an indication of a shortage of it.
Contrary to the contention of immigration liberals, in almost all cases illegal immigrants do compete with native-born workers.
A previous Pew study attempted to ascertain the percentage of the work force illegal immigrants represented in various job categories. The highest was insulation workers, at 36 percent. That means in virtually all job categories in which illegal immigrants are prominent, at least two-thirds of the workers are legal.
Agriculture is the only industry that might be able to make the claim of chronic labor shortages if illegal immigration were halted.
Yet even there, wage trends suggest a degree of skepticism.
In construction, it's clear that illegal immigration is displacing legal workers and depressing wages. Construction used to be one of the bridges to the middle class for native workers who didn't go on to college. Illegal immigration has washed away the bridge.
This isn't an argument for a deportation policy. The country got a peek at what a deportation policy would look like with a recent raid on a Massachusetts' leather-goods factory. Illegal moms were detained, leaving their legal American children stranded.
There are more than 3 million American-born children with an illegal mom or dad. The United States just isn't going to get into the family breakup business in a big way. That's why there will be an amnesty for those currently here illegally, regardless of what the politicians decide to call it.
The key is the policy regarding future immigration levels. The business community and others argue that the United States needs a continuous large volume of imported production workers.
Wage trends, illustrated most persuasively by what's happening in the construction industry, argue otherwise.
Robert Robb, an Arizona Republic columnist, writes about public policy and politics in Arizona. E-mail: robert.robb@arizonarepublic.com


http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/opinion/45197.php

There are more than 3 million American-born children with an illegal mom or dad. The United States just isn't going to get into the family breakup business in a big way. That's why there will be an amnesty for those currently here illegally, regardless of what the politicians decide to call it.

So it's OK for criminals to blackmail the government with an anchor baby(babies). There is absolutely no reason why those children can't go home with thier guardians, just like Illian Gonzales. Really, Illian set a presidence and the kids should go with their parents. No laws against Americans living in foreign countries with their parents/guardians.

No one is breaking up families, except the families throwing out the anchors, when they get shipped out. Hoist them up, and ahchors away.

Dixie

I agree. The illegal parents did'nt seem too broken up about their teenagers being deported last week. They still have'nt come forward.

What's wrong with this picture?

But, I thought they only did the jobs Americans won't do like Construction, HVAC, Roofing, Painting, Delivery Driving, etc.