We get the same prejudices against immigrants in Britain and Ireland. Arguably they are stronger or at least less PC in Ireland.
There are several "unseens" in the prejudice
In Britain, Ireland and America, there are costs to employing people which are not apparent to the employee.
Certainly the employee gets to see some of the tax and national insurance deductions on their pay slip - that is money which it has cost the employer to hire the person, but it is money which the employee does not get to enjoy (private sector payroll hiests are rare and make the news - state sector ones are vastly bigger happen every single month and never make the news)
But there are also the employers contributions to national insurance and the many thousands of pages of legislation which suddenly apply as soon as someone is taken onto the books to do a job.
Add on to that that there are then minimum wages. even if someone wants to, they can't get a job at less than the minimum.
arguments that the minimum wage is the minimum someone can live on fall flat - in Britain someone working a 37 1/2 hour week on the minimum, pays £3,000 a year feckin income tax!
arguments that a minimum wage protects vulnerable workers are refuted by the early 20th century advocates of minimum wages (I've previously cited leading British Fabien socialist Sidney Webb - who praised a minimum wage as it would price immigrants, people with disabilities, women and young people OUT of work
Work would then be enjoyed only by non disabled white males.
If a minimum wage actually made low paid workers more prosperous - why keep it so low, why not make it $30 / hour? or even better $100 / hour?
Union bosses realise full well that such rates would price their members out of work - but they are perfectly happy to have anyone who might compete with their members priced out of work - and people taxed to pay the welfare payments to keep them priced out of work.
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Those costs increase the cost of employing people
what are the economic effects of price controls?
a minimum price set above where the market price would have been results in less being bought, but more being brought to market
hence a surplus
anyone remember the european beef butter and grain mountains and wine milk and vegetable oil lakes back in the days of minimum prices? - that's what you see with labour with a minimum wage and high payroll taxes, too few jobs and lots of people looking for jobs.
a maximum price set below where the market would have set the price - results in fewer goods brought to the market and more people seeking those goods
Think of after a natural disaster and bans on "price gouging"
if there's no incentive to move goods in, why bother?
The same in venezuela now - there are maximum prices set for food and other goods - so they all get smuggled accross the border to Columbia where market prices still apply.
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OK, I mentioned smuggling.
If someone is below the state's radar, they can live ok on lower wages, because there aren't all of the deductions.
They're also a lot simpler to employ - just pay cash and keep your gob shut.
there aren't the thousands of pages of laws and regs to follow, there are no arduous procedures to follow if the work relationship doesn't work out.
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Please see the problem for what it is
the problem is not informal immigrants
It doesn't lie with either side in an informal employment arrangement
The problem is the costs and massive complications piled onto employers and employees
Think how mny jobs would become affordable to have done if they were approximately 40% to 50% cheaper?
that 40% to 50% is what the various levels of gubbernmint steals from the two sides in an "on the books" work arrangement
That's why we have both large scale unemployment AND informal immigrants and informal work arrangements at the same time
The Corrollary of Sidney Webb wanting only fit healthy white males working - was that a free market was making too many jobs for Women, young people, minorities, disabled and mentally ill people.... Too many for his bigoted liking
We have very strong common cause with the informal immigrants, if only most people could see it - and very strong arguments against the state.
instead the state tries to blame immigrants for the problems which it causes - and some people believe those lies.
