Wow! So much I disagree with here!
#1 There's a lot of work that Americans won't do anymore, like seasonal work, due to perceptions of standard of living and its entitlements. Only the most direly poor will do it and they live in make-shift camps where buses shuttle them to work every day.
While there may be some truth with some of the jobs, a great many jobs are low paying because illegal and immigrant labor has driven them low. I've seen in my lifetime where local construction jobs went from decent paying middle-class jobs that paid American men a living wage with decent benefits, to low paying jobs without benefits that are done predominately by Mexicans. Why are these jobs now done mostly by Mexican labor? Because cheap Mexican labor, often illegal, has driven the wages down to where few Americans will do them.
But it didn't come about because Americans wouldn't do the jobs. They were desirable jobs! This came about because cheap labor drove the wages and working conditions into the ground! They've become 3rd world jobs for 3rd world labor.
#2 Immigrant workers are usually okay with being paid less because they are making USD which still amounts to way more than they'd make in their home countries.
What? So exploit them? :doh
#3 Some temporary workers are here on skills and development exchanges through corporate relationships with companies in their home countries. These are reciprocal arrangements.
Not familiar. So you may have a valid point, here. But when it comes to corporate America, I'm wary.
#4 In most cutting edge jobs, there are more people in populated countries like India and China with advanced skill sets than there are workers in those entire fields in the U.S. Companies have a right to seek the highest qualifications from any source now -- you can thank globalization for that. If an IT person in India has more skills than the resume pool of Americans and will accept lower pay then he's going to be offered a visa, and the government will allow it because it technically qualifies as need.
I agree we can't fight globalization. But I see no reason for granting a visa. Who says any given foreign citizen is entitled to a visa? Some corporation? I certainly don't. Let the wages and working conditions rise, and young Americans will once again flock to university science programs to land good paying technical jobs.
#5 Temporary workers are not entitled to the same rights as American citizens, and they tend to be more reliable/better behaved so that they won't be sent home.
Holy Jeezus! Again? So exploit them? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!
#6 Temporary workers tend to be contractual whereas most Americans are looking for permanent work.
So? You import overseas workers, because you refuse to give Americans a fair shake? Or pay unemployment? This doesn't fly with me at all.
#7 The skilled population is aging and retiring and despite the propaganda there is not enough equivalent skill to replace it.
B.S. Offer decent pay & benefits, and young people will happily flock to your industry. Instate a training or apprenticeship program, and with the prices of a college education as high as it is, there will be plenty of non-college bound kids looking for skilled quality employment, and eager as hell to learn a decent paying technical skill.
We have and always will be in need of immigrant workers to shore up our economy.
I won't deny that. But what illegal and skill-less (H2B) immigration is doing is giving us a stratified society, with two classes of residents. One of which is that of a 2nd class to be exploited, as you described so well above. We are allowing these employers to offer positions below American standards.
You're really scaring me now! :shock:
