Special report on immigration: Do Americans really want those jobs filled by illegal immigrants?
It didn’t go so well for the newcomers. Within an hour, all four had quit. At the heart of the debate over illegal immigration is a question that burns as hot as the afternoon sun over the Central Valley: Are illegal immigrants doing the work that no one else wants, or are they stealing jobs from Americans and dragging down their wages? To some extent, both are true. As Vanessa’s story shows, some jobs might go unfilled — even in tough times — without illegal immigrants. But there are drawbacks. Illegal immigrants push down wages for legal workers in food-processing, factory and service jobs, economists say. Because illegal immigrants will work for almost any wage, employers have little reason to pay other workers more. Sometimes jobs that low-skilled Americans would be willing to do, such as washing dishes and cleaning bathrooms, are instead taken by illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants help the nation’s private-sector economy by providing cheap labor — something that is especial
