Who Should Build all the Infrastructure We Need?

Thousands of Latin Americans want to work in the U.S. We should hire them.

We need to rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, and water system networks. We need to hire more construction workers for a wide array of projects. And we need to train new electricians and other skilled workers. There's just one problem: almost no one wants these old school jobs. That's the impression I get from articles about skilled labor shortage from 2016. If this country is really going to invest in its infrastructure, who will do all the work? Is this guaranteed lifetime income for the small pool of laborers willing to do these jobs?

It should come as no surprise that the racist Donald Trump, now our President, has turned his back on thousands of willing laborers who want to migrate to our country. He's all about building his stupid wall. Instead of turning families away we should be inviting them in provided they agree to work in these critical industries.

As global warming becomes a more serious problem even the most racist Republicans will feel the effects. Every year storms grow worse across the world. We can expect, scientists say, more flooding, more wind damage, more broken water systems and other utilities. As the existing population of skilled workers becomes stretched thin they'll fall behind on the repair and recovery projects our coastal cities will need.

All we need is another hurricane like Katrina to come in and swamp the coastline. Roads and bridges will be washed out. Homes will be flooded. Trash will be pushed around everywhere. It will take months to clean up the mess and rebuild infrastructure.

And we'll do it, too. But we'll do it at the expense of rebuilding older highways and bridges. We'll forego building new schools, utility corridors, and power plants. Why? Because we don't have enough skilled laborers.

I ask myself if the Republican lawmakers who rattle their anti-immigration sabers are waiting for the robot revolution. Our warehouse workers are already losing jobs to robots. Factory workers have lost thousands of jobs to robots, too. Maybe the old white guys in Congress believe we'll live in a happy Jetsons future where robots assemble highrise apartments in a day.

They might be right. Maybe technology will make that happen. But it hasn't happened yet and we need more skilled laborers now. According to this article the United States lost nearly 1 million construction workers between 2008 and 2015. Those people didn't just get up and walk away from their jobs. They lost their jobs and had nothing to go back to. And by the time they found new jobs they lost interest in their old industry.

This story will play itself out again the next time we have an economic downturn. I'm not saying recession is around the corner. But until this nation's conservatives agree that we need to keep immigration strong, especially among people who are willing to do the hard labor the wealthy elites don't want to do for themselves, we're going to face labor shortages.