That's one way of looking at it, but I don't think it's right. An employer is interested in paying the least amount possible that will still attract qualified people to take the job.
Illegal aliens aren't generally equipped to compete for grocery clerk jobs, at least not until they've been here long enough to speak passable english, etc. So their presence isn't really relevant to what employers must pay to attract labor for that position.
I guess it's true that if a large portion of the population doesn't make enough money to buy stuff, that puts a squeeze on employers, but that doesn't seem apparent yet. Witness the lines at any store this week.
That is what I was suggesting (not that I knew it was true, but that it would make some sense that it could be).
BTW out here in S. FL most of our grocery checkers speak Creole (I think they're from Haiti) and their English is often not very good. With the scanners I guess it doesn't matter all that much. They speak back and forth to each other in Creole and speak minimally to customers, either because they can't or maybe they're just rude. Hard to tell. I also doubt they are here illegally, just making the point that you don't appear to have to have a great command of English to do that job. In many parts of S. FL you could probably do it well if you spoke predominantly Spanish.
susie
How much English does it take to be a checker at a grocery story? Hi, how are you, thank you.
I shop is several stores where the employees don't speak much English beyond that. Perhaps you live in an area with fewer immigrants.