this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2026
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Those are two things I think someone might say about immigrants. Additionally, there's general disdain for the poor and many immigrants come here to escape worse poverty.
In some instances, particularly in the American South and in some European cities, a large influx of immigrants has proven disruptive to local culture as well.
But as the son of a roofer, I can confirm, #1 has historically been an issue. My dad's business, when he was still able to roof houses, was often undercut by illegal crews giving lower bids.
Of course the answer is a legit path to citizenship and resources to help people assimilate more easily and without fear, not Gestapo shit, but immigration, like abortion, is an issue that is purposely never resolved, and it never will be. This is a golden goose issue for Republicans, just like abortion is a golden goose issue for Democrats. They simply make too much money in donations and are able to grift all the public money they want in order to pretend it's being solved, and therefore, have no real motivation to fix it.
Not anymore. That's also not an equivalence. One side rails against illegal immigrants while hiring them at the same time. The other side wants to protect a woman's right to choose. You don't see how those are different?
Yes, immigrants drive down wages is the biggest issue. The second is if you bring in a large enough glut of 1 type of immigrant all at once (like refugees for a real world example) they can establish an insulated community and not actually join "the mixing pot."
There are obviously a lot of positives and neutral points as well, but everything has a give and take. The biggest positive is that children are a pure drain on society but an immigrant doesn't need schooling or rearing. They can simply begin working (for that lowered wage).
This is less of an issue in America than it is in Europe, and I think it comes down to religion. The immigrants to the United States are generally more likely to adjust and conform since American culture is highly syncretic, and refugees are more likely to be Christian and meld into the predominantly Christian Unites States.
European immigrants are more likely to be Muslim, which clashes with European customs, cultures, and ideals. This is why they form such tight, insular communities where they can control the communities customs and ideals. You see this in Muslim and Jewish communities in the United States as well but it is less pronounced.
it's also true in both cases that after the third generation the insularity disappears, outside of extremist groups, like hasidics, etc. most children of who came to Germany in the 1970s are now more or less integrated and fully german because they have been there for generations. Just like Italians and Irish in America. I'm a third generation immigrant and i'm fully integrated, whereas my grandparents very much were not as integrated and saw themselves as irish/italian more than american.
but that takes 50+ years.
There is plenty of evidence that driving down wages is not true.
https://www.congress.gov/118/meeting/house/116727/documents/HHRG-118-JU01-20240111-SD013.pdf
also, the simple fact that more people looking for somewhere to live means less accessibility to that housing if supply is fixed
The supply is "fixed" by the people who already have a big pile of cookies. Fight them, not the dude trying for a better life for his kids
yep. housing hoarders disgust me
When has the housing supply ever been fixed, though? It's always growing, and it should always be driven by demand.
fixed how? it's been artificially restricted for 50+ years now, because people want values to go up.
those restrictions didn't exist in the 1970s and prior.
In an ideal world it should. But in reality the demand can rapidly outpace the growth.
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/1c9138dc24064b2e8142ff156345a719
New York added 33,000 homes in 2024 and gave permits for 15,000 new ones but you still see extremely low vacancy rates and high demand outpacing these constructions.
https://comptroller.nyc.gov/reports/spotlight-new-york-citys-housing-supply-challenge/
Well that's fair enough for the larger point, at least within NY. I guess I was mostly reacting to the notion of "fixed", mathematically speaking.
There's also the fact that whether or not the undocumented are illegally voting in national elections, states currently receive representation in Congress based on their total population, not citizen population. Which is a strong motivator for blue sanctuary states and cities to want open borders, and for conservatives to push for legal deportations. This is a power struggle.
They're not.
Also, California and New York have lost House seats in recent reapportionments despite having large undocumented populations, because people are moving out of those states. That counters your argument.
There are a ton of illegal immigrants in red states, because people hire them there. It's not some one-sided conspiracy to get more House representation.
I'd guess they'll lose even more seats. Will housing become more affordable? It should, but it won't.