Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

To the Editor:

Re “Illegal
Workers Swept From Jobs in ‘Silent Raids’” (front page, July 10):

You report that the Obama administration’s use of audits to force
employers to fire and not rehire illegal immigrants is leading some
employers to complain that it’s creating a shortage of cheap labor.
These employers claim that they cannot attract legal American workers to
perform work, like farming, for low wages.

These employers need to understand that in a free-market capitalist
system, as we have here in the United States, any shortage of labor can
be overcome by raising wages until a balance between demand and supply
is achieved. Raise the wages offered and legal American workers will
gladly take the jobs. If it turns out that these companies cannot make a
profit without paying a below-free-market wage, then they are not
viable businesses and should be abandoned.

Denis A. Grabowski
Philadelphia, July 10, 2010

Note from KBJ: Every now and then, the New York Times lets the truth shine through. Thank you, Mr Grabowski!