Is it all a matter of money?

As with most of the big issues that confront America today, I have mixed emotions on illegal immigration. I don't believe people should be able to violate the law but making illegals felons while doing nothing to address those who hire them doesn't seem to be realistic to me. Nor do I believe a blanket amnesty program that doesn't have some better future way of stopping future illegal immigrants is a long term solution either. In the interest of trying to provide all views on this issue, the title link is to a Washington Post article that discusses one part of this; some key points:

Year after year, Professional Grounds Inc. runs a help-wanted ad to find landscapers and groundskeepers. Starting wage: $7.74 per hour.

In a good year, three people call. Most years, no one does.

"I don't think it's a wage situation. It's the type of work and the nature of the work. It's hard, backbreaking work," said Trimmer, who started the company 31 years ago. "I think we're a more affluent society now. They expect more. Everybody expects more. . . . I have contracts, and they want an affordable price, too."

Employers in many of these sectors have gotten themselves into a Catch-22 situation where if they do not look the other way and hire illegal workers, they will not be competitive with other businesses," said Jack Martin, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, an advocacy group governed by business leaders and activists favoring national immigration limits.

"The wages and working conditions where there are large numbers of illegal workers have been driven down to the point where those jobs are not as attractive to American workers," Martin said.

Forty-three percent of the region's construction workers are illegally in the United States or have only temporary work authorization, the data show. Construction wages in the Washington area have risen from an average of $15.86 in 1999 to $17.19 in 2004, according to the bureau. McMahon estimated that construction wages these days are even higher -- roughly $20 an hour, plus health care.

"People think construction is about hiring day laborers in a Lowe's parking lot and throwing them in a pickup and paying them $2 an hour," McMahon said.

The guest workers arrive in February or March and pay $40 a week for housing subsidized by the company. A van picks up and drops off those who can't drive; workers who have driver's licenses pay $3 per day for the use of a company car. Workers pay income, Social Security and Medicare taxes.

Of course there are those that take advantage of illegal immigrants, and I'm not sure what kind of housing they get for 40 dollars a week. There's more at the link for the article, I'm not sure exactly what my take on it is at this point, but I thought I'd point it out and see where the discussion on this leads.