Once again, the Credentialed Media has conflated legal immigrants and migrant workers with those who are unlawfully present
Fewer immigrants could mean fewer new homes
For Stephan Sardone, owner of a Dallas-based home remodeling company, “a day without immigrants†last month meant a day without one of his subcontractors on a job in the city’s affluent Preston Hollow neighborhood.
Every one of the subcontractor’s employees skipped work on Feb. 16 to take part in an informal nationwide strike designed to highlight the importance of foreign-born workers to the U.S. economy and protest President Trump’s immigration agenda. The strike caused a minor inconvenience for Sardone, but its message certainly wasn’t lost on him.
Perhaps that subcontractor should be investigated for potentially employing illegal aliens.
That’s because homebuilders, remodelers and subcontractors rely heavily on foreign-born workers and are already coping with a long-running labor shortage. The lack of labor has depressed construction levels throughout the housing recovery, contributing to an imbalance between supply and demand for homes and thus driving up prices.
Well, gee, there are millions of Americans out of work. They could certainly do the job, could they not?
Tighter controls on immigration, whether legal or illegal, under President Trump may only exacerbate the homebuilding industry’s labor shortfall.
But, Trump is not talking about legals: he’s talking about illegals.
Foreign-born workers represent nearly 30 percent of those employed in construction trades, according to a study by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) that analyzed Census data. The share of immigrants is particularly high in some trades that are crucial to homebuilding (such as carpentry, painting and drywall installation) and don’t require much formal training.
It’s an open secret that many unauthorized immigrants work in the construction industry. While they represented a 5 percent share of the U.S. civilian labor force in 2014, they made up about 13 percent of workers in the construction sector that year, according to a Pew Research Center study. In a ranking of industries with high shares of unauthorized immigrant workers, agriculture came in first, followed by construction.
Those are disturbing stats: 5% of the civilian workforce and 13% of those in the construction sector are unlawfully present and taking jobs away from legal citizens and those who are here on visas. Much of the rest of the article does its best to mix legal with illegal immigration.
What’s even more disturbingthan 5% of the civilian workforce and 13% of those in the construction sector are unlawfully present and taking jobs away from legal citizens is the fact that “The share of immigrants is particularly high in some trades that are crucial to homebuilding (such as carpentry*, painting and drywall installation) and don’t require much formal training”. IOW, with a little training we could get Americans off the dole and into the middle class.
**Since when is a carpenter not require “much formal training”? These elitists really have no idea about the real world and the years of training required to be a carpenter. Another democrat in a leftist bubble.
Our esteemed host wrote:
Alas! They could, but they won’t, which is why we have Mexican workers (legal or otherwise) framing houses, roofing houses, pouring concrete, siding houses, hanging drywall and painting. About the only residential building trades the immigrants haven’t taken over are electrical, plumbing and finish carpentry.
Why? Because residential construction is hard, physical work, out in the hot sun of the summer and the cold winds of winter, and it’s just not a lot of fun. But Americans don’t do those jobs because we have a welfare system which allows them to still have a roof over their heads and food on the table if they don’t work. End that, make it a choice between working or starving, and you’d see a whole bunch of American citizens who discovered that they could do roofing or framing or pour concrete.
Perhaps it is the employers who always leave out the caveat “at the wage we’re willing to pay” when discussing their labor needs.
Employers & “contractors”, who employ “day laborers” (like construction) do it to avoid paying prevailing union wages, payroll taxes, workman’s compensation insurance, unemployment insurance, or comply with OSHA & Labor department regulations, provide benefits, 401k, etc.
Of course when someone does get injured or disabled, “The Government” will pay those bills.
Have the IRS put the hammer down on a few shady “contractors” and the options are A) Abide by all labor & employment laws with their day laborers (including immigration issues) or B) “Lazy Americans” look more attractive as employees.
Actually, we are at or near statistical full employment, unless you think trump’s BLS is lying to us.
Um no. Real unemployment is still hovering around 10%. But to you and your ilk, those that have run out of unemployment benefits or have simply given up looking for a job don’t matter.
U-3 stands at 4.7%, but the real unemployment rate, U-6, is at 9.2%. U-6 includes the discouraged people who want work but have quit looking, and those who are employed part-time, but want full-time work and can’t find it.
This was what the left never understood, as they trumpeted the ‘official’ U-3 rate. CNNMoney noted that Most Americans think unemployment is a lot higher than 5%, back before the election, and shazamm! they guessed that unemployment was really over 9%, at a time when U-6 stood at 9.7%. Why, it’s almost as though the plebeians understand more about the economy than the patricians.
If there is a labor shortage in a particular industry, economic first principles has the solution. Offer higher pay.
Dana blames illegal immigration on lazy white guys and the gov’t that caters to them. Interesting.
Leave it to you to bring race into it. I don’t care if that lazy guy is white, black blue or green. They are lazy living off the government dole because the government allows it. Cut their benefits and these people will work.
Please describe this “government dole” that lazy people are using to avoid work.
Almost all Americans “not looking for work” are either retired (40 million, do Social Security and Medicare constitute “the dole”?) or students (20 million, many of whom work part time by choice). Some are on disability where disability payments average $1171/month ($14,052/year) and recipients are likely on Medicaid as well.
SNAP pays an average of about $125/month in food assistance to the poor ($1500/year). Do you begrudge a single father of two, working for $10/hr, $125/month to help feed his kids? Do you propose to let them starve?
Some are stay at home parents by choice.
Finally, many people did get discouraged during the Great Recession and stopped looking for full time work that wasn’t there. Many are returning to the job market.
Most of your federal taxes pay for the military (which trump promises to expand), Medicare/Medicaid (which promised not to cut, but lied), infrastructure (which trump promises to expand, but likely through a mechanism that sends tax dollars to his cronies), interest on the debt and Social Security. Why do you worry so much about someone with Parkinson’s getting $14,052 a year + Medicaid??
trump is spending $3 million a weekend on travel to and from his resort house in Florida. His upppity wife is costing us $0.5 million a day because she refuses to lower her standards and live in our White House. And you’re bothered by a single dad trying to feed his kids.
Actually, a single dad making $10 an hour should be able to feed his kids without assistance. I did it working a part time job making $6.25 an hour.
Also, where did I say that the disabled or those otherwise unable to work do not deserve benefits?
It’s the 5% that is not included in your statistical ‘full employment’ that are able bodied and can work but choose not to that I was referring to but you knew that right?
Also funny that NOW you are concerned about what is spent when the president travels. When it was Obama you could care less.
I’ve seen estimates that in my state of Pennsylvania one can net around $38-42K a year in cash and benefits if they apply themselves. That money and benefits are supplied by hard working middle and lower class working Pennsylvanians who would rather be doing something for their own families I’d bet.
You are serious? They become other people’s responsibility because they choose to stay home? The same depravation of morality you display regarding abortion you apply to work ethics, I see. Dumbass.
Of course in the end J, as usual, does nothing to refute the BS “fewer immigrants means fewer homes” meme.