While sitting on a park bench in Lincoln, Mass., I recently watched a roofer fall two stories after the scaffolding under him gave way. He appeared to be an immigrant. And if he was here illegally, as about 15 percent of all construction industry workers are, he probably lacked worker's comp and health insurance.That's precisely why many employers—in the construction industry and other sectors—hire immigrants. They don't demand decent wages or working conditions.
President Biden's recent executive order on asylum will not deter asylum fraud and it accepts more than 900,000 illegal border crossings a year—a disaster for the employment hopes of our low-skilled citizens. And it is riddled with loopholes.Expanding the size of the low-wage workforce depresses earnings for blue-collar Americans by forcing them to compete directly with immigrants for jobs.