I think many of us have the same experience WRT poor people — both native and immigrant, legal and illegal. My mother grew up during WWII in very bad circumstances (economically, personally, medically, socially, etc.). Still, she came here and made assimilating into our society her #1 goal while she managed to work her way out of poverty. She never used any “welfare” benefits of any sort, nor did any of her equally poor friends who immigrated around the same time.
If you care about poor people, then you would understand that they are most affected by illegal labor — and that legal immigrants (especially those who come from poor countries) are most affected by our lack of workable immigration policies.
I enjoy low prices, but enjoy higher wages even more. Yes, many Americans are very short-sighted, and fail to see the connection between the low costs they like to pay and the low wages with which they have to compete, but many of us are NOT stupid nor short-sighted.
I would rather pay an extra $2,000 per car so that the people who make that car can have health benefits and solid pension plans. I’d rather pay twice or three times as much for my produce so that the (legal!) farm workers could afford healthcare and live in clean, safe living conditions.
Yes, we need an underclass, but an underclass develops naturally in any society. The question is whether we want to live with a first-world underclass or a third-world underclass.
As many could probably guess from my posts, I’m a rather unabashed socialist (NOT communist — big difference), and specifically advocate for workers’ rights and oppose the concentration of wealth that we’ve been seeing in the past few decades.
We cannot help others unless we first help ourselves. Without a solid middle class, there is nothing to stand in the way of the growing wealth disparity. This is why I feel workers are foolish to rail against unions. If not for those unions, the non-union workers would quickly join the underclass — working for poverty-inducing wages and without worker protections WRT overtime, workplace safety, sick days, holiday pay, etc. Non-union employers have to compete with union employers for those workers, and the wages and benefits (and general quality of life) of non-union employees are raised because of the union workers’ efforts.
Allowing an ever-expanding base of desperate, unskilled, unrepresented workers who come here illegally puts workers — across all categories — at a great disadvantage.
If you care about poor people, you would understand that those of us who oppose illegal immigration are your best allies.