Many of the workers are ending up in the construction industry and many are ending up working grounds and landscapes across the country.

So what are we to do? One of the main arguments is that Americans won?EUR??,,????'???t take the jobs being worked by the migrant . . . I believe that the truth is that the Americans won?EUR??,,????'???t take the work at the below-minimum-wage rates that are being paid. This is causing a few things to happen . . . First, because the IMW is getting paid so little, they are consuming public monies for health care, education, etc., which is paid across the board by taxpayers. The employer saves a bit of money, but the consumer pays the same because the money they save in labor is countered by the money they pay in public services (taxes). Still, since the tax burden is spread out amongst the populace and we all know taxes rarely go down, there is not a lot of motivation for the citizen to complain.

Another element that is not being talked about is the lost skill sets that America?EUR??,,????'???s youth are losing to the IMW. I do hear a lot about middle America losing jobs to the overseas labor force. The jobs they are talking about are factory work and manufacturing . . . Good ol?EUR??,,????'???e ?EUR??,,????'??get your hands dirty?EUR??,,????'?? manufacturing jobs that cause your back to hurt and your hands to ache when the day is done. However, at the same time, the pundits are saying that Americans won?EUR??,,????'???t do back breaking work, and even if they did there are not enough Americans to do the job . . . I call BS . . .

The way I see it, the one set of jobs that cannot be lost to overseas competition are the jobs in the construction/landscape industries. You won?EUR??,,????'???t find a child living 10 miles outside Beijing mowing your turf or applying pesticides at your facility. However, you may find an IMW taking that job.

Landscape work is sometimes tough, but it is an honorable and necessary profession. Yet, young Americans are not being trained to take these jobs.

In America, the unemployment rate for males 18-19 years old is more than 14.6% and more than 9% for males 20-24 years old. This equates to some 2 million men. Enough to fill many of the jobs taken by the IMW. Sure they might not take the job at below minimum wage, but they would at reasonable wages. At the same time they would be learning a skill set that they can carry forward into managerial positions and/or self employment.

It has just become too much the norm to hire out those jobs at the ultra-cheap IMW rate. From there, many of the IMW?EUR??,,????'???s have taken that next step to self-employment, creating a sub-culture of IMW business owners.

The problem is not a simple one, but there is one part of the solution that you can affect. I believe that the landscape industry, as a whole, should look at its labor force and make an attempt to both attract and hire American citizens, especially in the under-24-year-old category. Not only will you become an active part of the IMW solution, but you will also be taking part in growth and stewardship of our youth. It has to start somewhere and you are in a great position to be leaders . . .

?EUR??,,????'??+God Bless