New houses shouldn't be built on the workers' backs
Arguments over immigration can be smart or misguided, but they are always complicated. Let's start with an annoying one. Donald Trump's ramp-up of immigration arrests has hit the construction industry, much of whose labor force is undocumented. Employers of such workers are blaming the raids for the rising cost of housing, a hot topic at the moment. But then you hear of a builder in Jacksonville, Florida, complaining that because of the supposed labor shortage, framers who used to be paid $20 an hour may now cost $40 an hour or more. A framer cuts the wood and erects the skeleton of ...