Sorry Rustico, I don’t buy the noble laborer sentiment. Although I will buy that the illegal aliens are exploited buy the few for profit at the expense of the many that think they’re getting a cheaper product.
The true costs of the illegal labor gets borne by the consumer not in paying more for a head lettuce, construction or other work that is being done, but instead, a lack of entrepeneurial innovation, in inadequate funding for the schools, subpar education, unfunded hospitals and a collapse of emergency care services, and a ghettotizing of neighborhoods tolerating a two class system replicating the graft and corruption that most are fleeing in coming here.
It has been done before, in the middle ages, before the plague, society stagnanted becuase it was cheaper to use abundant cheap feudal labor than improve things. Things like the printing press didn’t get evented until after that plague made it too costly to have dozens of monks sitting around copying manuscripts by hand.
Immigration is good for the country. Illegal immigration is incredibly bad. Create a guest worker program for low skilled laborers where they come, make a reasonable amount money, pay taxes, have required insurance, a fees for the infrastructure use and go home. Much like Singapore. For highly skilled laborers, increase and expedite the immigration process.