this post was submitted on 19 Oct 2024
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While some contractors dismiss the plan as political rhetoric, many say they can’t afford to lose more people from an aging, immigrant-dependent workforce still short of nearly 400,000 people.

Both presidential candidates promise to build more homes. One promises to deport hundreds of thousands of people who build them.

Former President Donald Trump's pledge to "launch the largest deportation operation in the history of our country" would hamstring construction firms already facing labor shortages and push record home prices higher, say industry leaders, contractors and economists.

"It would be detrimental to the construction industry and our labor supply and exacerbate our housing affordability problems," said Jim Tobin, CEO of the National Association of Home Builders. The trade group considers foreign-born workers, regardless of legal status, "a vital and flexible source of labor" to builders, estimating they fill 30% of trade jobs like carpentry, plastering, masonry and electrical roles.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago

“Will somebody think of the companies that create the illegal immigration problem in the first place” is the worst take possible in all this.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago

it doesnt matter. even if trump get elected and all those predicted bad things happen, republicans have no hesitate to spin those onto some leftist/wokish things.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

By saying that, aren't contractors admitting that they're doing something illegal, and that undocumented workers are also prone to abuse and lower pay?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

A lot of farmers use farm hands from Mexico with permits and a form of green card that allows them to get paid in American dollars during work seasons to bring back home, and get a path towards American citizenship than if they just entered the country with a passport or applied directly for a visa.

I don't know if a lot of contractors do the same thing, but I wouldn't be shocked. The labor is cheap and it kinda looks good for the camera. Adam Raguesa, a YouTube chef, has a good video on how farmers in the modern era grow the crops we eat on the table every day.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 2 days ago (3 children)

The ONY REASON why immigrant labour is needed is because too much of the profits flow to the Parasite Class at the top.

It used to be that America could build affordable family homes for decent-sized families using well-paid American citizens. This was possible because those Americans were actually paid well enough to afford homes of their own; most of the value of their labour actually came back to them. Plus, most building materials weren’t beset by Greedflation and the need to keep obscene amounts of wealth flowing into pockets that were already overstuffed without more wealth than the person could spend in 100 lifetimes.

America could return to that time, where even the lowest-paid workers make enough to be within a stone’s throw of affording their own home. All it takes is a political leader willing to do the politically painful job of taxing the fuck out of the Parasite Class - including treating any loans taken out using stocks as collateral as “income” to be taxed, regardless of the destination of those funds.

That, plus a metric arseload of other things such as making corporate ownership of homes illegal and making “investor ownership” of homes beyond about 3-5 homes similarly illegal. Because not only do these parasites suck up the supply of homes, preventing renters from getting off the rental market, but they are also the primary players jacking up rents to unaffordable levels, seeking to squeeze every possible dollar out of hard-working Americans. Let these parasites find a real job if they want to continue earning money.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

That's a problem across all types of business.

If you are cutting wages or laying off people, there is less overall ability to pay for things. You're basically cutting your customers ability to pay.

Even if your employees aren't your target market, they probably buy stuff from the people who are your customers.

 

This psychotic race to the bottom among business owners is just shooting yourself in the foot with extra steps.

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 2 days ago (4 children)

This is proof they don't understand the endgame here. The only (legal) type of slavery left in the United States is prisoner labour. It is not a coincidence that the right wants to make so many things criminal. It's also not a coincidence they want to keep poor people desperate because it makes them more likely to commit crime. It's not a coincidence they support minimum sentences.

More crime, more free labour, more for profit prisons selling services.....

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

And then they turn around and call themselves the party of Lincoln.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Wow, that is pretty dark. If you take that to its logical conclusion, you could even turn parking fines into a slave sentence.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

It already can.

There are some places where an inability to pay fines, can result in a warrant and imprisonment.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

We can and we have for similar crimes. Loitering is a crime only for the poor, and then we send the homeless into camps and jails.

You owned a plant that was previously fine to own? Straight to jail, no questions asked.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

This is exactly what I've been thinking lately. And on top of already existing laws, make new ones that criminalize currently normal things. Hell, the South enacted new laws after slavery ended and only applied them against Black Americans. Why stop there, why not increase penalties for certain crimes from misdemeanors to felonies and make 3 felony convictions mean a life sentence?

The only part I disagree with is the for profit prisons part. 8% of prisoners are in private prisons which is 8% too many, but 92% are in publicly funded and operated prisons. And those publicly operated prisons sell the services of their trapped slave labor for so many more things than stamping license plates or road work. Not only do they fight fires and clean up after natural disasters, they also make kit (armor, helmets) for the armed forces, they pick crops, they manufacture white goods (washing machines, refrigerators)(I can't find a link specifically mentioning appliances and I'll update this it I find one), and so much more. Shoot, some cities' budgets would be blown up if not for the availability of publicly held prison slaves.

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[–] [email protected] 128 points 3 days ago (12 children)

The trade group considers foreign-born workers, regardless of legal status, “a vital and flexible source of labor”

oh yea, republicans will spend all day whining about "illegals" but not one nanosecond even talking about the CEOs who hire those illegals, giving them a reason to come here in the first place

[–] [email protected] 60 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

I’ve made this observation for some time now. Isn’t funny how the industries which hire illegal immigrants are skewed conservative ownership-wise? Construction, roofing, agriculture, trucking, hotels. My belief is that in addition to exploiting division and fear, they want to keep these workers marginalized so they can take advantage of them. Being able to dodge OSHA, medical comp, minimum wage, payroll tax, and so on are all Republican dreams.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 3 days ago (1 children)

sounds a bit like slavery, don't you think?

[–] [email protected] 27 points 3 days ago

Wait until you hear about the prison industrial complex.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 2 days ago (9 children)

Why not pay builders a fair wage then?

It's certainly not labour costs driving up house prices.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 days ago (5 children)

Not always about the wage. You could pay 200k per year and still have trouble finding people willing to climb up on a roof day in and day out.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Especially if they find out that roofer is the fourth-most dangerous job in the U.S.

https://www.ishn.com/articles/112748-top-25-most-dangerous-jobs-in-the-united-states

Incidentally, police officer is ranked at 22. Well below garbage collectors (5), delivery drivers (7), or agricultural workers (11).

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago (3 children)

delivery drivers (7)

I shudder at the thought of driving for work. It's already so hard to keep up spatial awareness of the crazy drivers for an hour or less. I cannot imagine 8 hours of that.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago (8 children)

And on top of all of that, you usually have to provide your own vehicle. Which means you basically drive it to death much earlier than the average lifespan of the car. If we're talking something like Uber Eats, they don't even cover your gas.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago (11 children)

Then the wages are still too low...

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago (4 children)

The idea has also drawn skepticism on logistical grounds, with some analysts saying its costs would be “astronomical.”

This is like being skeptical that Nazi Germany would send people to death camps because it would be too expensive.

Bryan Dunn, an-Arizona based senior vice president at Big-D Construction, a major Southwest firm, called “the idea that they could actually move that many people” out of the country “almost laughable.”

Societies have been able to move millions of people around since they developed railway systems.

What's almost laughable is the state of denial people are in.

Last year, the state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, enacted a series of restrictions and penalties to deter the employment of undocumented workers. Many immigrant workers hastily left the state even before the policies took effect, with social media videos showing some construction sites sitting empty.

This is the best case scenario in theory. Immigrants would flee to safety before the US government could harm them. However, in practice, where can they go? Many people already come here because their home countries are too dangerous for them.

This gets to a broader point. I've seen a lot of discussion in the past about trying to flee the country if things go wrong. There isn't going to be anywhere to flee to that's any safer if the US becomes a christo-fascist dictatorship. The EU is going to have to fend for itself against Russia. Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan will be on their own. Unrest in North America, South America, Africa and Asia will only get worse. We are seeing a global rise of fascism along with dictatorships becoming bolder and more willing to challenge the international order. Anyway we slice it, the only good outcomes involve fascists staying out of power.

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[–] [email protected] 61 points 3 days ago (6 children)

Here's the thing these fucking racist shitbags are not telling you. If the country the illegal immigrants came from won't take them back then the sending country can do shit all to make them. That teams no deportation. No deportation means indefinite detention. Indefinite detention means free labor. I harbor no illusions that this hasn't been the plan from the start.

The world is at a tipping point. Do we backslide into slavery and genocide, or do we stand against it? It's not looking good. I, for one, never thought I would see a time when Americans would so blindly goose-step their way into fascism.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 days ago

during the 2016 election cycle, the national association of home builders pac gave $361,500 to democrat campaigns and $1,820,000 to republicans (83.4%).

for the current election (reported so far), they are even more unbalanced at 85.9% republican.

^source

remind me again, mr tobin, which political party wants to deport your 'vital' workers?

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Pretty much.

I walked by a construction site when I lived in California, I heard everyone speaking Spanish.

I walk by a construction site now that I live in Indiana and I hear... everyone speaking Spanish.

I'm guessing that at least some of them aren't citizens.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

Anytime you come across someone shitting on immigration ask them who built their house.

I've been saying this for years, the American dream is subsidized by cheap labor from South of the border. Without them we would be doing far worse

Not to mention illegal immigrants are half as likely to commit crime as American citizens

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago

Translation: Builders would rather go broke than pay anyone a living wage.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago

Almost all trump related policies will drive up costs for the consumer. He's only worried about lining the pockets of his rich friends, not making daily life for the average family more affordable

[–] [email protected] 44 points 3 days ago (5 children)

That’s because these anti immigrant views aren’t supported by data, or logic, or common sense. It’s not like Americans are lining up to do the jobs immigrants are taking. The US can’t function as a society today without those immigrants. But the right just wants to coddle its racist base with “brown man bad”.

[–] [email protected] 53 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Americans aren’t lining up to do these jobs at low wages, without proper worker protections. Creating a society that depends on a lower tier of people that have fewer rights is seriously fucked up and is not something we should be embracing.

Siding with the rich business owners who are taking advantage of illegal immigrants is extra weird.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Thank you. I've always thought it was fucked people used this line of argument. If we can't build our buildings and clear our own trash? We need an endless stream of low paid poorly treated brown folk to do all those troublesome chores? Seems kinda fucked to me

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'll be so glad when this election is over and he can just lose the rest of his criminal cases and get sentenced, or have his final Big Mac Attack and dodge justice forever.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 days ago

We also wouldn't have, you know, food, since agriculture and meat-packing are heavily dependent on undocumented immigrants and almost every kitchen in every restaurant in the country is staffed with undocumented immigrants. I want to think that the importance of food and housing would make Republicans not actually do this, but you never know with these crazy fuckwits. Perhaps they think child and prison labor would make an adequate replacement.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

You mean to tell me that a real estate investor would do something that would drive up housing costs? You mean to tell me that a guy who doesn't pay his workers doesn't give a shit about people who work for a living?

[–] [email protected] 30 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (8 children)

They did that in UK. Brexit worked out perfectly, and everyone lived happily ever after. Oh wait… Wrong story. It was a total dumpster fire and now labor shortage is crippling various industries.

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