This morning’s episode of The Daily, “Trump’s Clashing Goals: More Housing, Fewer Immigrants” and the NYT article “Senior Living Facility in Distress as Immigrant Caregivers Are Forced Out” highlight a longstanding dilemma of our public policy. In both cases, which are by no means exhaustive, we see sectors where low-cost foreign labor predominates and is essentially not replaceable with U.S. citizens.
The caregivers example is somewhat less interesting. I strongly suspect the industry has always been relatively low-paying and unglamorous. So, immigrants from the Global South have displaced low-wage American workers, who presumably have moved on to jobs that pay somewhat better.
The housing story is more complicated. While the account here is largely anecdotal, it tracks other industries. Half a century ago, roofing and other residential construction jobs were done almost exclusively by Americans, mostly white men, with a high school diploma or less. The jobs were unionized and came with good pay and benefits. Starting in the 1980s, the combination of more industry-favorable labor laws and more generous immigration policies led to the gradual displacement of unionized Americans with at-will immigrants.
Many hope that the latter case, at least, can be reversed. Why, if home builders can’t rely on cheap immigrant labor, they’ll be forced to raise their wage offerings to attract Americans. At least in the short term, there’s just no evidence this will happen. By and large, Americans want to do less physically demanding and more psychically rewarding work. We’re not going to be able to turn back the clock.
Morally, I’m somewhat squeamish about turning over our most dangerous and soul-draining jobs to immigrants. But it’s a longstanding path to citizenship and a better life for subsequent generations.
