You should come check out California. I feel like the immigrants are the only ones working. Often under the table for cash. Mostly these are Central American immigrants.
It’s funny that you bring up Ukrainian carpenters, we have had an influx to the Sacramento area, and I’m looking to hire one that does the most incredible custom parquet floors I’ve ever seen.
All of this is anecdotal, it’s funny to me that we are seeing such different sides of the coin here both living in progressive hotbeds.
I’m all for more legal immigration of people that want to work, have kids, learn English, and pay their taxes.
This system we have encourages illegal immigration, tax fraud, and population migration to/from the “sanctuary” states. Still we need immigrants, and unskilled ones at that as long as they’re willing to work. The amount of home health care and trades workers needed in this country over the next decades requires lots of unskilled immigration, and demographics require it too unless Gen Z wants to start working real jobs and procreating (both unlikely).