Illegal labor helped builders, harmed nation

Richard Rychtarik, Las Vegas

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 | 2:05 a.m.

Regarding the Las Vegas Sun’s Monday story headlined “Immigrants affect economy but how much?”:

The article says 60 percent to 80 percent of residential construction workers were here illegally. Now Assemblyman Moises Denis wants a study to see how much worse off we are because they are leaving.

Let’s put all this in perspective. Illegal immigrants got the work because they worked for less and lived accordingly. The difference between what a qualified American and an illegal immigrant requires to do this work was and is substantial.

So what was the benefit to the homeowner? None. The developer most likely profited more by pocketing the difference.

Even if this weren’t the case, the poor quality of our residential construction will be felt and paid for by homeowners here for decades. Relatively unskilled labor plus poor supervision coupled with insufficient local building codes and lax building inspections have been a recipe for disaster.

Theses issues aside, why would the same number of American construction workers being laid off have had a different effect? Sure, their incomes would have been higher, thus leaving a bigger tax revenue gap, but they would have also contributed far more to the tax base during the good times.

There is nothing inherently wrong with importing the labor needed to fill open positions. The economic problem arises when the workers are illegal immigrants. They are difficult to identify and they drain taxpayer resources.

For those employers who wish to import labor legally, I say: Let them. But let’s also level the playing field. Those employers must be held accountable for all of the economic and social costs of those workers, and not the American taxpayer.