The labor market in the USA is subject to many distortions…among the major one is welfare. If you look at welfare as a totality , you will learn that being on public assistance is far better than a minimum wage job. For example, you might (in addition to welfare) receive:
-food stamps (half-price food)
-free health care
-subsidized (or free!) rent
-free education
-supplemental Social Security (i.e. “crazy money”)
One study found that the aggregate of all of these programs was worth in excess of $16.00/hour…so why would anyone on welfare work at Crapmart for $8.00/hour? It is simple economics…and many illegals are from counties with a much lower living standard…a tenement apartment with heat is paradise for the average rural mexican peasant!
Let me guess – whoever tossed out that nugget is a well-fed conservative insta-pundit who’s never had to live off public assistance, eh?