[LowCountryJoe]

Yes, in some industries wages have fallen but is it all because of immigration? Or is some of it due to capital equipment replacing labor or maybe even international trade forcing cost cutting measures. On the whole, though, and not limiting this so-called evidence to just semi-skilled or low-skilled labor, can you show me where real wages are being depressed in the economy as a whole?

[taxed2death]

"...can you show me where real wages are being depressed in the economy as a whole?"

Well, you could take a leisurely stroll over to your closest tech high school and ask the soon to graduate students who is their biggest threat to getting a job in their chosen field. Guess who?

LOL

You could stop by any Auto Body Shop and ask someone who's been working in threat field for 20+ years what has happened to wages?

Ask then *why* they're wages are stagnant.

Do the same for Heating HVAC shops.

[newcthem]

Perhaps if you had to compete in industries where you invest in up-to-date equipment and your competitors under-bid you by using "Mexi-matics" you would not be nearly so smug in your position.
You probably will never believe that the ILLEGALS are lowering real wages until such time as one takes your job.

[Sally'sConcerns]

On the whole, though, and not limiting this so-called evidence to just semi-skilled or low-skilled labor, can you show me where real wages are being depressed in the economy as a whole?

I don't normally post on the immigration threads because I haven't quite reasoned out my personal position on what should be done about the illegal's who have lived in the US for more than say five years.

I do take exception to your statement about semi-skilled and low-skilled wages not being taken into consideration as having any affect on real wages being depressed. I'm unsure if I'm misunderstanding you. Semi and low-skilled wages help to make up the backbone of real wages. I'm going to use new home construction as an example because illegals are hired for a lot of the low/semi skilled positions in that particular industry.

When I was a young adult I had a number of acquaintances who had summer jobs working on new home sites as carpenters, bricklayers, roofers, painters, etc. Upon graduation they would find construction work on a full time basis and they would command a larger per hour wage because of their summer job 'internship'. As they gained more experience along with more knowledge they would be able to advance up to being able to manage a crew. With even more experience they would strike out on their own and become a contractor. Even working as part of a crew, these men were able to support themselves and a family.

In looking at the kids who graduated with my son (he's 28) I can't name one who went into construction. The illegals took the majority of the jobs and the jobs would no longer support a single young man much less one who wanted to raise a family. By the way, I'm not talking union either since there wasn't a union for construction workers (at least not in Texas there wasn't.)

Based on what I saw with my son's peers, in order to be able to get a job where they were self-supporting, they first had to go to college. A large number of his friends graduated with large debt in the form of student loans. Needless to say if they wanted to have the standard of living of a 'skilled' worker, they had to command a larger salary or they had to live paycheck to paycheck.

I'm not sure what you consider real wages to be. To me a real wage is any wage which will allow a person to be self-supporting and to have some discretionary income.