Earlier this month I met Pedro Chan at his small apartment above an evangelical church in Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighborhood. Chan, who shares the place with three others, is short and muscular. He has a quiet voice and a patient demeanor that seems to have served him well on his journey to New York. In 2002, he left his Guatemalan village for a long trip through Mexico and, with the help of a smuggler, across the Texas border. In 2004, he made it to Brooklyn, where his uncle helped him find work on small construction crews. These days, Chan helps skilled (and fully documented) carpenters, electricians, and stucco installers do their jobs by carrying heavy things and cleaning the worksite. For this, he earns up to $25,000 a year, which is considerably less than the average entry wage for New York City's 100,000 or so documented construction workers. Chan's boss, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that unless he learned a specialized skill, Chan would never be able to move up the income ladder. As long as there are thousands of undocumented workers competing for low-end jobs, salaries are more likely to fall than to rise. As Congress debates the contours of immigration reform, many arguments have been made on economic grounds. Undocumented workers, some suggest, undercut wages and take jobs that would otherwise go to Americans. Worse, the argument goes, many use social programs, like hospitals and schools, that cost taxpayer and add to our $16 trillion national debt.
Given the above scenario, would deport Pedro Chan and the other 11 million or so undocumented workers mean more jobs, lower taxes, and a stronger economy? What will be the impact of such a decision on the supply of labor force? And finally, on the production of many hundreds of products where such workers are employed?
Ā
Important:
Please make sure that you answer all questions given above. Read and do research on undocumented workers. Use actual data to support your answers.
Please Answer 300 words.
Earlier this month I met Pedro Chan at his small apartment above an evangelical church in Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighborhood. Chan, who shares the place with three others, is short and muscular. He has a quiet voice and a patient demeanor that seems to have served him well on his journey to New York. In 2002, he left his Guatemalan village for a long trip through Mexico and, with the help of a smuggler, across the Texas border. In 2004, he made it to Brooklyn, where his uncle helped him find work on small construction crews. These days, Chan helps skilled (and fully documented) carpenters, electricians, and stucco installers do their jobs by carrying heavy things and cleaning the worksite. For this, he earns up to $25,000 a year, which is considerably less than the average entry wage for New York City's 100,000 or so documented construction workers. Chan's boss, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that unless he learned a specialized skill, Chan would never be able to move up the income ladder. As long as there are thousands of undocumented workers competing for low-end jobs, salaries are more likely to fall than to rise. As Congress debates the contours of immigration reform, many arguments have been made on economic grounds. Undocumented workers, some suggest, undercut wages and take jobs that would otherwise go to Americans. Worse, the argument goes, many use social programs, like hospitals and schools, that cost taxpayer and add to our $16 trillion national debt.
Given the above scenario, would deport Pedro Chan and the other 11 million or so undocumented workers mean more jobs, lower taxes, and a stronger economy? What will be the impact of such a decision on the supply of labor force? And finally, on the production of many hundreds of products where such workers are employed?
Ā
Important:
Please make sure that you answer all questions given above. Read and do research on undocumented workers. Use actual data to support your answers.
Please Answer 300 words.
