Politicians have been talking a lot about bringing jobs back to the US. They say that jobs are being outsourced to other countries by corporations to take advantage of cheap labour. A number of other jobs are being taken up by undocumented immigrants.
The reality of the matter is, while undocumented immigrants take a large number of low-skill jobs (jobs most Americans are not focused on earning), it's not them that are to be feared. The scarier competitor is not even a man, rather a machine.
Earlier I'd discussed working robots and what that means for us. The fear is also highlighted by CGP Grey's "Humans Need Not Apply". In fact, the undocumented immigrants have the same fears as most Americans do. The issues of immigration and automation are more related than not. Everyone wants a job to support themselves and their families. Everyone is scared, and in times of fear, we are quick to point fingers. Major markets are subject to being purged of workers. Hardworking American, both native and not, are more at risk than ever of being unemployed. You can't point a finger at immigrants and tell them that it's their fault. At the same time, you can't halt technological progress and market trends. So what do we do? This is a complicated problem, but there is definitely a solution to this chaos.
Replacement of humans for robots creates higher quality products/services at a higher rate of production, inflating supply and driving down the price. The corporation would then have a lesser need for subsidies and tax breaks, giving the government extra money to spend on paying its debts, allocating to its own projects, funding education, or reforming immigration, offering undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship. The new citizens would be eligible for welfare if they so need it. A freshly funded education system could improve dramatically, therefore potentially offer new jobs which are, for the moment, safe from robots.
Is it ideal? At this point, yes. But with the ever growing demand for robots, and their prices freefalling at the same time, losing your job to an undocumented immigrant is very unlikely. Losing it to a robot is very likely (about a 50% chance.)
