Excellent Boston Globe article about illegal immigration
Quite unexpectedly, the Boston Globe yesterday published a solid article about illegal immigration. Written by Yvonne Abraham, the article, without fanfare, makes two things clear.
The first is that illegal immigration undercuts American wages. In the case covered by this particular article, it serves as a subsidy of the fishing industry, an industry that long ago essentially outgrew its natural size. The illegals work for little more than minimum wage, and often for even less than that.
The article also underscores the dysfunctional nature of Guatemala’s economy, a condition shared by virtually all of Latin America. The article mentions how poor Guatemalans borrow several thousands of dollars to pay for so-called coyotes to take them to the United States. It is insane that Guatemalans can’t earn a reasonable return, at much less risk, on that capital in their home country.
