You've probably heard it over and over in the debate over illegal immigration. "Immigrants do the jobs Americans won't do." It's a constant rallying cry from the left and immigration advocates, but is it really true? More critics are coming forward to debunk the 'jobs Americans won't do' theory. Writer Christian Vezilj in the American Thinker says this is a complete myth, noting, "Americans have long worked in agriculture, construction, hospitality, and service industries---the very jobs now said to be abandoned. What has changed is not willingness but incentives and human nature."
Ira Mehlman, media director for FAIR (The Federation for American Immigration Reform) agrees with that assessment. "American workers do not apply for these jobs, not because they don't want the jobs, but because they will not accept the wages and working conditions being offered," he tells KTRH. "And then the employers turn around and say see, the only people who will do these jobs are illegal aliens."
"Americans will do just about any job, provided they are compensated fairly and given fair working conditions," he continues. "And what we have seen is employers say why should we pay Americans top dollar to do this job, when we can get an illegal alien to do it for much less money?"
Mehlman argues the current system perversely encourages companies to hire cheap immigrant labor in order to stay competitive and keep prices and costs low. Now some Republican lawmakers are looking to change that, with new legislation called the Putting American Workers First Act that would penalize companies for hiring illegals.
Until something like that is passed, the system will continue to reward companies for hiring cheap labor, which undercuts wages for all American workers. "The myth is it's not the jobs that Americans won't do, it's the working conditions and the wages that they reject," says Mehlman. "And this all stems from the fact that we have not been enforcing our laws."