Do illegal immigrants take jobs from American workers?

(FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions)

Do illegal immigrants take jobs from American workers?

Yes, illegal immigrant workers have taken millions of jobs from
American workers.

If illegal immigrant workers had been kept out of our country, the
employers would have had to pay higher wages to attract American
workers.

The American workers are unable to work for the low wages that many
illegal immigrants are willing to work for.

Some Illegal immigrant workers may live 10 or more adults in a single
residence or apartment. Many do not have insurance on their cars.

Many illegal immigrant workers do not have health insurance. But
they can go to the emergency room of a hospital, and most hospitals
must supply emergency medical care to any patient.

And the health care may essentially end up costing the illegal workers
nothing. Since most illegal immigrant workers have no or very few
assets, it is not cost-efficient for the hospital to spend much time and
money trying to collect payment.

This is assuming that the illegal immigrant workers even give the
hospital a correct name and address.

Not only have illegal immigrants taken jobs from American workers, but
illegal workers have driven down the wages for many other jobs.

This is because the millions of American workers who lost jobs to
illegal immigrant workers still need jobs. This competition puts
tremendous downward pressure on wages for the jobs that are left.

The more workers competing for a job will often cause the wages for a
job to go down. It is the basic economic law of supply and demand.

The opposite is also true. If no one is applying for a job, the employer
will have to offer higher wages to attract potential employees.

So illegal immigrant workers have taken jobs away from American
workers and driven down the wages for many of those jobs that
remain.