I've written several posts on illegal immigration. In fact, I've written enough posts on illegal immigration that some may think of me as a racist. While I have never thought of myself as a racist, I do have prejudices. I have prejudices just like every other human being. We all have them to some extent.
My prejudices aren't based on the country someone was born in, the color of their skin, or even the accent they speak with. And just like prejudices, we all have accents in our speech. My prejudices don't blanket large groups of people and they are not knee jerk reactions based on looking at someone for the first time.
My prejudices are based on content of character, or they may be better said to be based on a lack of content of character. Is this persons words consistent over time or does their position change to meet their desires? Does this persons actions back up what they say? Basically, is this the type of person I would like a third party to associate me with. I have a local bar that I stop in several times a week to have a few beers and talk to friends. When I walk in the bar, I have been there enough I know which people are going to get loud on their second beer and I know if any are in there who are going to get belligerent after a couple of beers, so I stay away from them. These are my prejudices and they are pointed at individuals rather than groups of people. Although I am starting to group every school teacher together since they don't seem to be able to control themselves and get really loud after a drink or two.
Illegal Immigration's Impact
I am not against illegal immigration because I am against those from other countries but because I am pro-American. Illegal immigrants in this country adds labor to the workforce. As a result, companies don't have to pay more for labor. If someone threatens to quit a job over a request for higher pay, the company can simply let them quit and probably replace them with someone that needs some training for less money. In the post Illegal Immigration and the Economy - Part 2 I presented data showing apprehensions of illegal immigrants at the southern border started increasing in the late 1960's. By 1973 there were enough illegal immigrants in the country occupying jobs employers no longer needed to raise wages to get employees. Yes, the vast majority of these illegals were looking to make a better life for themselves. What has resulted from this is almost an extinction of the American middle class.
The addition of illegal immigrants also places a burden on the price of housing. More people in a given area need more housing, when there are too many people wanting houses the price of houses goes up. Our ever shrinking American middle class now has to pay more for housing out of a wage that has stagnated. The eventual result for those at the bottom end of the middle class is homelessness.
We Need a Wall at the Southern Border
In the book, The Law of Nations, de Vattel defined what made a nation to be
a society of men united together for the purpose of promoting their mutual safety and advantage by their combined strength
Part of people being united together is the control of others entering the group. Even high school kids in cliques know this, to protect their shared interests they are hesitant to let others enter the group. To protect the shared interests of Americans, we need to control our southern border, which is currently out of control. A couple of our shared interests are noted above, wages and affordable housing. Understandably, many in the world want to get in the clique. Not only for those interests of wages and housing but to share in the country with the most freedom and opportunity in the world. To protect our interest we can't let everyone in into the United States.
Walls are Un-American. Walls are Immoral. You've probably seen these headlines. Look around your neighborhood where you live. I bet most of you have neighbors with fences, if not in the front yard certainly in the back yard. Why do we do this? To protect who enters our property. Why is a fence around our property not Un-American or immoral but one around our country is. It makes no sense. To hold this belief is not a consistent application of logic. It's not that we hate those on the outside, it's to protect those on the inside. To not support controlling our southern border is paramount to saying we should dissolve the country, that we should no longer bind together to support our common interest.
The people of Mexico understand this. Pick any city in Mexico then go to google maps and find a residential area. Now move to street view, chances are you landed on a street with a wall or fence protecting a house. If not move down the street a block or two and look around. The country of Mexico also understands protecting their common interest. The Constitution of Mexico is very explicit that native born Mexicans come first. Don't believe me, read it for yourself.
We all have prejudices against certain people. For some it rises to the level to be called racism. It may be directed toward someone based on the color of their skin or the accent in their voice, or it could be pointed toward the person wearing a MAGA hat or t-shirt. In either case, it's an unreasonable hatred for someone based on prejudices that have gone out of control.
I appreciate you putting your opinion out there, but I do disagree, and I hope you will hear me out on my perspective.
It's good that you acknowledge that everyone does have prejudices, but I feel it's unfair to say you only judge people based on their character. There are a lot of societally ingrained prejudices that exist subconsciously within everyone.
There is not a finite amount of labor, so the idea of undocumented immigrants "taking people's jobs" is not grounded in reality. (Lump of labor fallacy)
While it is true that with how things currently are, undocumented citizens can work for lower wages, which does negatively impact other working people, keeping undocumented citizens out is not the only solution. As a country we could provide amnesty to the undocumented citizens that are currently here, which would require employers to pay them the same rate as their other employees, which would solve this problem.
The issue of the price of housing seems to be artificial (not on your end, just as a whole), due to the fact that there are currently more empty homes than there are homeless people. The problem with housing is an underlying issue beyond immigration.
The rest of what you wrote is merely a matter of values, so nothing in particular I can say to oppose it, aside from that I don't believe America should resemble an exclusive clique.
Thank you for your time, and consideration of a differing perspective.
Arguments against the lump of labor fallacy focus on legal immigration, which I am not against. They point out the potential of immigrants to start new businesses, employing workers and expanding the economy. I agree with this. Where I disagree is in the area of low skilled employment. The vast majority of illegal immigrants are not going to start businesses and expand the economy, just become part of it. The assumption that jobs are infinite in number makes it impossible to "expand the economy". How do you expand something that is already infinite?
While there is the potential for an economy to expand to provide jobs for more people, at any one moment in time there is a finite amount of constructive work available in a given economy. For the last 40-50 years, economists have endeavored to protect us from inflation by limiting economic growth to a around 3%. The ongoing influx of illegals has allowed this economic growth by limiting the reward to workers (wage increases).
Thank you for the time you took reading and responding to my opinions. These may be points that we simply have to agree to disagree on.