My whole point in my post about this is every time people start talking about illegal aliens, or legal ones for that matter, taking "jobs", it's always the guy that picks you apples, or cleans your house, or mows you lawn.
I am simply making the point that in some regions of the Country, the Gulf Coast in particular, the "skilled Labor" jobs are now permiated with Hispanics in majority, and Asians in minority. You have to look hard to find a Caucasian on any job site. And this includes the supervisors.
I'm not saying it's right, I am simply stating the fact of the matter.
Go visit a location where a Strip Center is being put in, or a major Housing Sub Division. The guys that pour the slab, put up the framing, install the plumbing, run the electrical systems, install the air conditioning, put on the roof, do the floors, do the finish work......in all likely hood will be a Person of Latin American origin.
These are not "minimum wage jobs". They are the skilled jobs that our parents and grandparents used to do.
You can like it, or not like it. That's the way it is.
Originally Posted by Jackie S
Those jobs aren't considered glamorous enough anymore. Hard labor might have been a respectable job in the past but not so much anymore, and it's often stigmatized.
The reason why hispanics are hired for those jobs is twofold.
One, they are the MAJORITY of the labor supply looking for those jobs, so it makes sense that the majority of the workers are hispanic. And two, honestly, in my personal opinion, (and I personally know many people in various fields with the same opinion) immigrants are usually much harder working.
What we can't deny on both sides is that most of us Americans come with a sense of entitlement . As such, working as a welder or a plumber isn't really anyone's dream job. They might pay slightly higher that what our parents earned back in the day, but if you consider the cost of colleges up from a 2000 a year to 40000 at a private institution, you can see why most people with options have to look elsewhere for better luck.
You compared a recent college grad making 30000 to an experienced laborer making 150000. How many years of experience did that Mexican have? 20? 30?
If you do well in college and start out making the national average of 45k, in 20-30 years, you
should be making much much more than 150k. Heck, you can start out in Investment banking and be making that within your first year. Many of my friends did.
Of course there are examples of people stuck in dead end jobs making 50-60k after working 30-40 years. But those examples are a dime a dozen when it comes to the jobs you're talking about. Ultimately, theres no magic pill. Going to college will not unlock magical riches which you wont have to work for. Plenty of people go to college who have no business being there. They end up slaving away in the worst way possible, in a corner office or in their tiny little cubicle. But if you look at facts there is no question that going to college CAN give you a higher return, depending on how hard you work during and after. We can't really rely on personal anecdotes