The Jobs That Americans Didn't Want ( illegals )

From Post Chronicle By Miguel Perez

It was bigger than any border wall, more secure than any sophisticated ID card, and more effective than immigration raids and border vigilantes. It turned out to be the most effective weapon for deterring illegal immigration. Who would have thought of it? All we needed to do was thrash our economy!

Now that the so-called "jobs that Americans don't want" are becoming much more desirable for Americans, many of those immigrants who would have come illegally to fill those jobs have practically stopped coming. In fact, some who were here before the economic crisis are deporting themselves back to their homelands.

It proves what some of us have been saying all along: They came because we needed them. It's all about supply and demand. We had jobs for them, things we wanted them to do for us. And the economy was doing so well that most of our fellow Americans felt they had no need to pick crops, wash dishes and cars, mow lawns or work in sweatshops.

But now, as those less desirable jobs are filled by Americans (who may have lost better jobs), illegal immigrants are facing hard times -- worse than ever, some say.

They may have been able to enter the country illegally, evade authorities, live in the shadows of society, and overcome prejudice, discrimination and harassment, but when there are no jobs, there's nada! The American dream becomes a nightmare. When illegal immigrants no longer can send remittances to their loved ones back home, what's the sense in staying here? That's just one of the questions many illegal immigrants are asking themselves nowadays.

(Excerpt) Read more at postchronicle.com ...