[kg_veteran]

Originally Posted by MavKikiNYC

Is Sowell advocating an increase in the minimum wage, so that the jobs Americans will not do would become jobs they MIGHT do at the right price? Do conservative commemtators like Sowell see reducing immigration as a way of putting Americans to work (albeit at low paid jobs) thereby reducing welfare expenditures? If so, why not say so explicitly?

I think he's simply pointing out the obvious: cheap, unskilled immigrant labor drives the overall price of unskilled labor down. As such, if you removed the unskilled illegal immigrant labor from the equation, the overall price of unskilled labor would rise. I don't think he's advocating an increase in minimum wage. It sounds to me like he's pointing out that the market would operate to increase wages.

As for the argument that reducing immigration would also reduce welfare expenditures, I don't see Sowell making that argument, at least not in this article.

One thing we do need to acknowledge, however, is this: Those folks that perform unskilled labor are going to be working in low paid jobs (relative to the median wage for all workers) as long as they are doing unskilled labor.

What measures would Sowell suggest as penalites for undocumented workers/illegal immigrants found to be working and residing in this country? Imprisonment? If that's what he suggests, why doesn't he say so explicitly?

Good question, but my guess is probably because he had a limit on the length of his column. That said, surely you'd agree with the premise that immigrations laws are toothless if deportation is the only consequence.

If Sowell can suggest that politicians (Democrat AND Republican truth be told) fear losing the Hispanic vote, could someone else not posit that Far Right politicians and commentators fear the votes of those who might vote differently than they? If so, why not say so explicitly?

I think Sowell is indicting both Democratic and Republican politicians with his comments. As for the comment about Far Right politicians, I think it is fair for you to say that some of the pro-business interests would love to have a cheap labor force that couldn't vote (read: guest workers). That's exactly what Krugman suggested.