[quote=SK in CV][quote=dumbrenter]Maybe if their employer paid 25% more, they’d buy more Tequila or bling or send some via western union back home. What makes you think they will move out to say 8/farmhouse just because the wages went up?[/quote]

Because I think they’re probably just like you and me. If they’re married with children, they want a home with their spouse and kids, not a farmhouse with 8 other people they didn’t know from adam’s cat when they moved in. If they’re single and over 25, they probably don’t want to live with more than a single roommate or two. If they’re immigrants, I doubt they moved here to live in similar conditions as where they came from, but better. Would you buy bling and tequila with your 25% raise? That would never be on my radar. Why would you even consider that an option for these workers?[/quote]

What is with ‘you and me’ here? I could be living with 10 other workers in my apartment. Are you?

My point was that living in such conditions might not be their first choice, but is definitely not their last or only choice. That would be going back to where they come from. They all know they have that choice. If the conditions are similar, why live in a foreign country where you barely understand the language?
Sending money back home to their families whose only survival is on the Western Union delivery is very high on their list of priorities, not burning bridges and raising brand new family in CO. And with Tequila, I will get my hands on the best of the best with my 25% raise. Because that will make me forget for a few hours that I have a back breaking job and have to share personal space with 10 other people.

I find that your attitude towards ‘these workers’ is reeking of condescension and lacking in empathy. One of the problems that ‘these workers’ have is ‘friends’ like you advocating on their behalf.