Perhaps the removal of an undocumented workforce that requires being paid under the table will force agricultural and construction companies to obey the laws.

Downvoting, really? Are upvotes and downvotes a popularity contest?

To a large extent, yes. Try not to worry about it, they still help sort more interesting comments to the top.

(I gave you a net 0, upvoting your comment and downvoting your complaining)

> Agriculture jobs never went anywhere.

I'm going to need a source on that. Here's mine: http://protecttheharvest.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/numb...

What do you think "productivity gains" means? It doesn't mean we need to hire more workers.

Oh, well, if you're talking about the jobs lost in the 1800's, I agree, those jobs aren't coming back.

But that graph is relatively flat since 1970, and I seriously doubt they were able to count all the jobs now being performed without documentation and not reported to the government.

This is the key distinction. Everyone is so quick to blame the immigrant, not the employer who paying them and dodging taxes.

BTW, is it just about dodging taxes?

I could imagine that illegal immigrants are also a much easier workforce to manage. They won't be forming unions and going to strikes; if you want to terminate the employment, they won't go to a lawyer and sue you. They're humble, they're flexible.

(I don't know that job market so well and I don't even live in the US, but this is the perception I get from the system.)