It is difficult for Americans to work and sustain themselves with this wage. For fulltime work. it doesnt even come close to the poverty line for an individual. let alone provide a family with a living wage. As a result. many immigrants are filling in the gaps left over by Americans. often working for minimum and subminimum earnings. The minimum wage has already proven helpful to former welfare recipients who are entering the workforce. A study of a 1999 State minimum wage increase in Oregon found that as many as onehalf of the welfare recipients entering the workforce in 1998 were likely to have received a raise due to the increase. After the increase. the real hourly starting wages for former welfare recipients rose to $7.23. If we want to reduce illegal immigration. we must reduce the number of low paying jobs that fuels it. By raising the minimum wage. more Americans would be more willing to work in what is currently considered low paying jobs. denying them to people who arent supposed to be here in the first place. I enter into the RECORD the New York Times opinion editorial written by Governor Michael S. Dukakis and Daniel J.B. Mitchell and commend them for including raising minimum wage to the contentious debate concerning how to approach illegal immigration. I believe raising the minimum wage is by far a more effective way to deal with illegal immigration. [From the New York Times. July 25. 2006]
Keywords matched
immigrants illegal immigration