I worked on a farm in high school. I was making $12/hr in the 90's -- pretty decent money.
Sitting on your behind is easier, regardless of pay.
Sitting on your behind is easier, regardless of pay.
Sources: BLS http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#45-0000 http://146.142.4.24/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=12.00&year1...
The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that in the 1980s the net advance of the undocumented population was at the 130,000 per year, increasing to 450,000 per year from 1990–1994, and further increasing to 750,000 per year from 1995–1999, and staying at 700,000–850,000+ per year since about 2000
(see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigrant_population_of... )
Either way, i think we're well served by including some specific claims (and that's why i cited the wikipedia page)
Why?
"Free trade" destroyed many US factory jobs, but it vaporized Mexican agriculture. Small proprietor farms were out of business overnight by the flood of cheap US corn.
The human element in illegal immigration is usually completely ignored. People don't pull up stakes and walk across a desert because they think that working in a poultry slaughterhouse is a great life. They do so because it is a better life than complete destitution that they face at home.