Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Yes, I'm a man.
Why all the vitriol? Let's rewind and see how we got here.
I came from nothing and made good money. I bought a second home with some land in a deeply red state. I hired a lot of local "American" folks to do a lot of things on it, including yard work, with mixed results.
Sometime down the road I complimented a nice neighbor lady on her lawn. She said she had help and would have the guy reach out if he wanted to and I was interested. I said sure. She then said she paid him in cash because he's undocumented. I said ok to that as well.
He reached out and I tried him out. He did an outstanding job. It was clear he knew what he was doing -- and that I didn't. I told him to come back anytime he wanted and to do whatever he wanted. He's been doing that ever since. He's not here every week or even every month. He comes and goes when he wants. And I pay him $36 an hour.
I haven't stopped hiring "American" workers because of him. "American" workers are shuffling in and out of this place constantly, it seems. My regular lawn service is "American" and they're here every week. And you know what? They come even when it's painfully obviously to both them and me that the lawn doesn't need mowing and mow it and charge me anyway. And there are plenty of times when it annoys me and I think I should just buy a ride mower and do it myself. But I keep them on because I know they need the work. The undocumented guy never does work that isn't needed . . .
So, yeah, among the many workers I have had here is an undocumented one. That doesn't make me the devil. It just makes me a fair, equal opportunity human being. It's not his fault he wasn't born here and I certainly don't consider him a charity case. He works hard and deserves my money.
The vitriol is no worse than what you have dished out in this thread. Nonetheless, 99% of us concede that you have a heart-warming rags-to-riches story and your laborer is a perfectly fine and decent human being that delivers a work product you are happy with at a price point you are happy with. Can you try to actually address the real issues that I and many others have raised? We are asking you to engage in the actual exchange of ideas?
1. Assume your laborer is completing 2000 hours worth of work per year. At $36/hour he's grossing $72,000 per year. What salary would an American or properly documented immigrant in a job role that complies with all applicable laws need to earn pre-tax to get to the same purchasing power enjoyed by your laborer?
2. Immigration is always and everywhere an issue of scale. If your laborer were the only undocumented worker in the county, barely anybody would care and it would be a non-issue. It is 2000 labor hours in a country as big as the United States. No big deal. Best estimates suggest there are somewhere between 8 and 12 million undocumented laborers in the USA. Now we are talking about a massive 24 billion+ labor hours. Assume an average wage of $25/hour. That is $600 billion in wages. At a time when the working class is constantly getting squeezed from all angles, do you really not see why the scale of this is an issue?
3. Do you agree or disagree that increasing the supply of labor, especially by using black and gray market labor, reduces the market clearing price of labor? Do you really think it is unreasonable for legal labor to have a problem with this? If so, are you also against labor unions and their tactics for creating scarcity of labor and increasing the value of labor? What do you think would happen to the cost of labor in this country if the supply of labor was reduced by removing/preventing unauthorized workers? What do you think would happen to the cost of housing if the 12 to 20 million unauthorized migrants were no longer in the country (hint: demand goes down while supply remains stable)?
4. In my jurisdiction, the unauthorized practice of law is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Can you please reconcile the fact that your livelihood and fortune were made off of a special government license that was required to legally engage in your chosen craft yet you simultaneously seem to have nothing but contempt for people that want their livelihoods protected by limiting the labor pool to properly authorized workers?
Again, I and many others in this thread concede your wonderful story of seemingly overcoming really bad odds and also concede that your undocumented laborer is a fine, hardworking person and that you are highly satisfied with his work product. Can you try to actually address the issues listed above?
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