There is a persistent idea that immigrants take away domestic jobs because they get paid less to do the same work. My question: Can this actually be true, or is it just a myth borne of anti-immigrant sentiment?
From a legal standpoint, (as in, regardless of what your position on immigration is, or what your political stances are) it doesn’t seem possible. That kind of situation would clearly be considered salary discrimination on the basis of national origin, which falls under the same category as salary discrimination on the basis of race or gender. How could a corporation get away with it? If this were true, wouldn’t there be lawsuits?
Assuming that the premise is true, K think this may be due to the virtual indenture between H1-B visa holders and their employer. Essentially, if one of the peons makes trouble, they would be kicked out of the country faster than they could sneeze. I suppose that may account for some of it, but I can’t believe that the ACLU or some other group wouldn’t find some way to craft a lawsuit to that effect.
Thoughts?
Tags: immigration, salary
I think the common immigrants are driving down our salaries comment is not about H1-B visa toting immigrants outside of IT jobs. I think most people have little if any understanding about how those visas work. I think that train of thought comes from the changes in agriculture, and textile and meat packing plant jobs. The idea is that because those jobs are not competitively priced, at least not enough to attract native workers because there are plenty of non-visa carrying immigrants willing to to do the work. And because they lack legal immigration status those employers then abuse them, by denying them safe working conditions. That all then gets simplified to immigrants will work for less and are taking away our jobs.