Are "illegals" ruining the American economy?

No...1/10th of 1% are

I'm sure some of the usual suspects will tell you they are. Then again, they aren't really paying any attention to facts.

In simplest terms, no. They're not.

They are crowding the lower rungs of the labor market, however, and that tends to drive wages down.  If you're a lower to lower-middle-class individual (i.e., semi-skilled), that's a problem.  But for the fact that the left needs the votes (whereas the right needs cheap labor), liberals should be against illegal immigration above all other political factions...ASSUMING, which I don't, that they actually cared about the poor.  The fact that they like open borders--despite how injurious it is to America's working poor--is telling.

I find your politics perplexing.

You come off as an anarcho-libertarian but you align yourself with conservative views.

I'm wicked perplexed. 

*like*

@Nimitz, no one likes open borders. That is a myth that liberals do. Consevative think tanks make "sh**" up.

No, for the last time.

Really. And what "facts" would you be referring to?

No, Wall Street and Congress seem to have enough of a handle on that job.

But they are certainly changing it for many native-born and naturalized citizens.

Donald Trump writes our tax laws? Who knew?

And you point to the soft erosion of economic stability of the "the middle class".

For example, at one time skilled construction jobs were considered to be the well-paying domain of the blue-collar middle class. Those jobs are more and more going to the illegals. You even elude to those kind of jobs now being semi-skilled or unskilled. 

As to businesses hiring illegal invaders, why not? An illegal working "off the books", not paying taxes or paying for medical insurance/care have a BIG marketplace advantage, probably to the tune of 50%, over those working above board. And that's only one example.

There are plenty of facts. Too many to list up here. But several have been brought in the various discussions around this place, and you among others have a great skill ignoring them through a discussion. Have a lovely day. Ciao.

Yup.

For jobs that do not have college requirements....yes.  They are taking those jobs.  I have seen it.

Also you realize that the link you provided proves that they are not paying the same taxes they US citizents pay to the tune of 2.4 BILLION dollars....just in state and local taxes.   That is certainly not a help to our economy.

If no one hired them, they wouldn't come or stay. Who are those hiring the "illegalls"?

I've read enough to think there is a negative impact.  I wouldn't go as far as to say they are ruining the American economy. 

Any business which doesn't use e-Verify (no, it's not perfect, but at least it's an attempt) and hires an illegal should be fined $50,000 per illegal, and the execs should be jailed for 30 days.

Bringing in LEGAL immigrants to do work Americans would do, but for half the pay (IT at Disney for example) needs to stop too.

Let's ban ALL immigration for 5 years.

There's soooo many facts that you can't list a single one . . . seems legit.

Legitimate BS that is.

Ummm no. Their minions in Congress do that.

And Trump is a very small player indeed when compared to the likes of Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, B of A and that ilk, and their surrogate Hillary Clinton, . 

There's nothing inept about Congress or the White House. They always do the exact bidding of their handlers in the financial world. And while Mr. Trump may benefit from some of the crumbs that fall off that table he's hardly a targeted beneficiary of those machinations.

You live in a land of delusion. An overwheming majority of illegals are paid off the books, they contribute zero tax dollars to the system, neither do their illegal hiring employers. The money most illegals earn goes untaxed and a vast majority of these illegal aliens send a big chunk of this money back to Mexico via western union. Illegal immigration is destroying the health care system. Many illegals use the emergency room as their own personal doctors because it is free to them. Using emergemcy care to treat common colds, do you know the cost of emergency care? The system is being abused and destroyed. I guess you haven't heard, almost 14 percent of crimes committed in this country are by illegals and this doesn't take into account the crime of crossing the border illegally. A huge majority of illegals refuse to assimilate or learn the English language, not only a recipe for national chaos but also a logistical/financial nightmare where a government must create endless forms, signs, hire additional teachers for bi-lingual education and also employ an unbelievable amount of language interpreters throughout government agencies just to accomodate these illegals. We also see an insane amount of illegal aliens collecting some form of government subsidies.

Most illegal aliens do not ever attain a high school diploma. These illegals are seen as nothing other than work slaves used by the elite and rich businessman. The Democrat party sees them as future voting stooges who will depend on government from cradle to grave. Illegal immigration is destroying this country and will soon cause Europe a civil war. We were once a melting pot, we have become a salad bowl. This does not work, never has, never will. Those who support illegal immigration are never affected by it, people who live in a liberal bubble of academia oblivious to how the real world works and the hidden costs of illegal immigration. There is something called the rule of law, when a President and Congress refuse to uphold the rule of law, you then live in a banana republic tyranny. Welcome to America 2016, a nation destroying itself and the people letting it happen right before their eyes. Willful ignorance is the most dangerous crime a citizenry of a country can commit.

What on earth could you possibly find perplexing about it?  Citing an economic reality is hardly "aligning" myself with anyone.

Let's say there are one million low and semi-skilled jobs in America. We have approximately 1.2 million people to fill those jobs.  Along come 500,000 new immigrants ('illegal' or otherwise) who are willing to work for half what American citizens on that economic rung are willing to accept. What do you suppose will happen to those citizens who occupy those jobs?