Seriously. In the grand scheme of things, they have super important jobs that should pay fairly well. They should make enough money that on their salary alone, they can afford to keep homes in both DC and wherever they are coming from. $175k isn’t really enough.
…and they need to make way stronger laws preventing them from engaging in any unethical revenue streams.
I definitely don’t want to make the impression that I don’t think immigrants are hard workers. I’ve certainly worked with a few.
My main point is that the system is designed to keep undocumented immigrants in the “informal economy” by paying under the table. They can absolutely make equivalent (or even greater) wages because their employers save a lot of money by not paying all the right taxes and benefits. If employers were forced to provide the same working environment and benefits to all their employees, the system would fall apart.
There’s also obviously plenty of, for lack of a better word, entrepreneurs. Unlicensed childcarers, contractors, landscapers, etc.
In all honesty, the plan is likely not mass deportation, it’s increased fear combined with pandering to racist fans. Mass deportation would hurt the bottom line of too many important people. Undocumented immigrants don’t “do the work legal citizens aren’t willing to do” or “work harder than legal citizens”. Those are both racist liberal talking points. The reason they appear to work harder and do jobs that others don’t want to do is that the whole ecosystem of fear is designed to keep immigrants working jobs below minimum wage and/or in appalling working conditions.
If they really wanted to reduce illegal immigration, they could pass laws giving protection to any immigrants who report illegal working conditions. There would still end up being immigrants working in the “informal economy”, but at least big employers would have some risk.
This book describes it well, I think, around page 32.
Basically, helping others keeps you sane.
https://www.goral-shoes.co.uk/products/the-smugs-horween-natural-pre-order
Certainly out of my price range, lol. To make a long story short, though, sneakers (and all other athletic foam-based shoes) are inherently not durable, nor designed to be. To get long life out of footwear, you really need to wear more traditionally constructed (i.e., no foam) shoes or boots for 95% of the time, and save athletic footwear for when it’s needed. You don’t even really need foamy shoes for all athletics.
I’m lucky if I can get 700 km out of a standard pair of running shoes, but foamless (or foam-lite) “barefoot” shoes like xeroshoes have a 5000 mile warranty.