Great News for Skeeter and Bobby Ray !

Kevin, I believe that you support the unlimited influx of immigrants, which drives down wages for American workers?  A real example of this comes from my friend John, who I flew with to Vegas this past weekend.  They are no longer hiring illegals, and have a difficult time filling open jobs.  They raised started wages for new hires at this large landscaping company from $12 to $16 over the past year...............and they still need more people.  He said that we can't get enough employees, and I told him "You'd get more at $20 an hour".

Once unlimited cheap foreign labor is cut off, companies will be forced to increase wages.  I'm all for this.  Those supporting illegals are in favor of policies which are holding wages down for the American laborer.

That's a stupid thing to say. And it isn't even original. You just copied it from Fox News talking points. "Liberals want open borders blah blah blah." It's a Trumpian, childish tactic: state the other side's views in the most extreme way possible. It's a idiot tactic, one not worthy of even you, which is saying a lot.

And you know what--that them gol-durn FURRINERS is drahvin' down our WAGES isn't a new argument. It was an old saw back in 1900. But it is now and has always been utterly false. I would explain to you why, but I really, really doubt you'd understand.

But let me just ask you--why can't Joe True Blue American convince his boss that he'll do a better job than those nasty Messkins, and therefore he should hire Joe? Could it be because those no-good immigrants are doing as good a job as Joe ever could?

Or to put it another way, if you're selling something (your labor), and someone else comes along selling the exact same thing for less money, what do you do? 1) Lower your prices 2) Improve the quality of your product 3) Get the local sherriff to beat the other guy up and run him out of town. "American workers" have chosen #3 rather than improving the quality of the labor they're selling.

What is the liberal plan to stop illegal immigration?

My suggestion would be to arrest the company owners/boards of directors that hire these illegal immigrants. The warrants that were released for these raids showed that they had probable cause to arrest the company management/owners.  Why didn't they? According to the warrants they were knowingly hiring illegal immigrants. That is a lot more serious crime than illegally crossing the border which is a misdemeanor at best. The government had evidence implicating company management at the highest levels but yet they did not act? Strange don't you think?  Can you explain this discrepancy Tom?

I have no problem with arresting people who intentionally hire illegals, but that doesn’t solve the problem of people crossing the border illegally. What do you do about them?

Mark is 1/3 of the there......fine employers who hire illegals, fine landlords who rent to illegals, and offer NO benefits to illegals except for lifesaving measures. Problem solved.

Kevin, economics 101 teaches us that in influx of laborers lowers the salaries for laborers.  You don't believe so?

I, for once, agree with Mark.

I agree with lvfritz.

Actually, Econ 101 teaches no such thing. That's a Fox News talking point, but it's nonsense.

Let me explain to you why. First of all, if an influx of laborers depressed salaries, then, logically, everyone's salary would have gotten lower and lower and lower as the Irish and the Germans and the Russians and the Poles and the Chinese and (etc. etc. etc.)...all came to our country over the years. But the opposite happened--salaries went up. Why?

Because laborers/workers/immigrants/no-good Messkin scum are consumers. They create markets. They buy clothes and food and rent houses and buy cars and smartphones and electricity and bandwidth. And that, in turn, creates more jobs. Whether they're here legally or illegally--they still are going to buy stuff and services. That money goes directly into the economy. And for all you fiscally responsible Republicans--they pay taxes. Not only payroll but also sales taxes.

There's a chance that you may have heard of the "economic multiplier effect." If you haven't, I suggest you look it up and think about it in terms of immigration. Also, any student of history will tell you that immigration is and always has been a strength of our country. Nothing's changed in that regard. It's a standard racist Republican meme that immigrants are lazy, mooching scumbags, but that's all it is--racism.