Built to Exploit: How a Broken Immigration System Hurts Workers, and Who Profits From It

The real immigration crisis isn’t at the border. It’s in your paycheck.

Americans are told the immigration system is “broken.” That the border is out of control. That no one’s in charge.

But that’s not quite true. The system isn’t broken. It’s rigged, rigged to provide millions of people for our fields, restaurants, and construction sites, and then strip them of any rights, protections, or voice. Rigged to let politicians posture for the cameras while doing nothing to fix the core issue: the U.S. economy runs on undocumented labor and silence.

If you’re an employer, this shadow economy is a goldmine. If you’re a politician, it’s a permanent scapegoat. But if you’re a worker — immigrant or citizen — you’re trapped in a system where wages stay low, abuse goes unpunished, and power stays at the top.

So, let’s stop asking why immigration is chaotic and start asking: Who’s getting rich off the chaos?

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Who Really Benefits From the Chaos?

Every few months, Congress dusts off the same tired talking points: “secure the border,” “fix the loopholes,” and “protect American jobs.” However, behind the rhetoric lies a reality that few in power are willing to confront. The United States doesn’t want to end undocumented labor. It depends on it.

Industries across the country, especially agriculture, meatpacking, construction, and hospitality, rely on undocumented workers. Meaningful reform never happens. Why?

Because the current system delivers exactly what the most powerful players want:

• Cheap labor has no bargaining power.

• Workers are too afraid to report abuse.

• A permanent underclass to keep wages low and unions weak.

According to the Pew Research Center, undocumented immigrants make up over 7 million workers. These workers generate billions in economic output and are routinely abused with little recourse.

This isn’t some bureaucratic oversight. It’s an economic strategy.
And it doesn’t just hurt immigrants. It hurts everyone.

When one group of workers can be threatened, silenced, and discarded, every other worker loses leverage.

See our previous reporting regarding the economic impact of visa holders here:

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More Than Visitors: How Visa Holders Boost—and Often Outpace—the U.S. Economy

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What Exploitation Looks Like on the Ground

While politicians posture and employers profit, the people caught in the middle live a reality most Americans never see.

A 2023 Department of Labor report found that wage theft is rampant in industries dominated by immigrant labor. Tomato pickers making $3/hour. Construction crews paid cash with no overtime. Workers are charged for safety gear.

And that’s just what gets reported.

Many undocumented and temporary visa workers face the following issues:

• Retaliation for organizing

• Unsafe housing and work conditions

• Sexual harassment and assault

• Deportation threats if they speak up

Even “legal” visa holders under H-2A and H-2B programs are often trapped in employer-tied contracts. They’re legally here but practically voiceless.

And because much of this occurs in the shadows, enforcement is rare, and fines are laughable. The system encourages cheating. The workers are disposable.

But here’s the twist: this system lowers the floor for everyone. When exploitation becomes the standard, it’s only a matter of time before the rest of us are asked to live with less, too.

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The Numbers: Who This System Could Help

These aren’t isolated stories. These are patterns affecting millions.

Let’s break it down:

Undocumented Workers: 7–8 Million

• ~10.5–11 million undocumented people in the U.S.

• 70–75% are in the workforce

• Found in agriculture, construction, hospitality, elder care, logistics

Temporary Visa Holders: ~1.6 Million

• H-2A (agriculture): ~370,000

• H-2B (seasonal labor): ~150,000

• H-1B (skilled labor): ~600,000+

• OPT, J-1, and others: hundreds of thousands more

Legal Immigrants in Limbo: ~300,000–500,000

• Asylum seekers, green card applicants, and DACA recipients stuck waiting for work permits

• Many forced to work off the books to survive

Total Impact: ~9–10 million workers could benefit from a fair, transparent labor system

And with legal status:

• They’d pay more taxes

• Join formal markets

• Raise labor standards

• Organize without fear

So, with numbers like that, patchwork solutions won’t cut it. What we need is a complete overhaul, one that legalizes labor, empowers workers, and restores dignity to the system.

What Real Reform Could Look Like

A real fix means stopping the exploitation at the root. Here’s what that looks like:

1. Secure Registration

• Voluntary, background-checked registration for undocumented and liminal-status workers

• Digital ID or biometric card to prove eligibility

• No data sharing with ICE

2. Independent Work Authorization

• Workers can change jobs without losing status

• Employer abuse = loss of certification, not worker deportation

3. Enforced Labor Rights

• Target bad employers, not vulnerable workers

• Wage enforcement, OSHA protections, and retaliation penalties

4. Tax Compliance

• Workers pay into Social Security, Medicare, and income taxes legally

• No more shadow payrolls

5. Path to Permanent Residency

• Registration must come with a route to legal status. Otherwise, it’s just legalized exploitation

This isn’t “amnesty.” This is an economic reality with moral clarity, a system that works for workers, not against them.

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What Could Go Wrong And How to Get It Right

Bold reform without safeguards is dangerous. Here's what could derail it — and how to stop it:

1. Surveillance Creep

• Risk: Registration data used for raids or deportation

• Fix: Legal firewalls, oversight, judicial protections

2. Employer Retaliation

• Risk: Workers fired for registering or speaking up

• Fix: Whistleblower laws, grace periods, and heavy employer fines

3. Political Weaponization

• Risk: Future administrations turn the registry into mass enforcement

• Fix: Limit executive power, mandate bipartisan oversight

4. Bureaucratic Breakdown

• Risk: System gets overloaded and fails

• Fix: Local centers, temporary permits, worker-org partnerships

5. Legalized Second-Class Status

• Risk: Workers can work, but never stay

• Fix: Tie registration to long-term legal status

6. Blowback from All Sides

• Fix: Frame it truthfully. This is pro-worker, anti-exploitation, and pro-accountability

We don’t need another high-tech version of the same old cruelty. We need to flip the power structure, not digitize the abuse.

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Why Neither Party Will Fix This Without Pressure

Both parties love the crisis, just in different ways.

Republicans weaponize fear.

They shout about the border while protecting the industries built on undocumented labor. They don’t want reform; they want rage.

Democrats posture, then fold.

They promise action and deliver process. They’re terrified of “amnesty” attacks and let progress die in committee.

Gridlock is the point.

Fixing the system would raise wages, empower workers, and disrupt corporate donors, so it never happens until we force it.

Pressure got us the New Deal, Civil Rights, and DACA. Nothing changes until we organize and make it too costly not to.

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The American Labor System Can’t Be Fixed Without Fixing This

The two-tiered system isn’t a glitch. It’s the bedrock of modern exploitation.

• One tier: legal protections, benefits, and leverage.

• Other tier: fear, silence, and disposability.

That bottom tier drags everyone down.

You think immigrants are the reason wages are low? No, it’s the employers who exploit them to keep yours low.

Every time a worker is threatened with deportation for organizing, your union gets weaker. Every time a boss pays cash under the table, your wage loses leverage. Every time millions of workers are kept in legal limbo, your bargaining power disappears.

Fixing this isn’t charity. It’s survival. Fix this or stay broken.

This Was Built to Exploit, But It Doesn’t Have to Stay That Way

This isn’t just a policy failure. It’s a moral failure wrapped in economic convenience.

We’ve built a system that profits from fear, erases labor rights, and lets powerful people get rich while pretending to do nothing.

They call it a crisis, but the only crisis is how long we’ve allowed a system this rigged to keep going.

No more silence. No more scapegoats. Legalize labor. End the underground economy. Build one wage floor, and let no worker fall beneath it.

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What You Can Do

• Contact your lawmakers: Demand immigration reform based on labor rights, not border theater.

• Support immigrant worker organizations, including farmworker unions, worker centers, and legal defense funds.

• Educate others: Share this article. Start conversations. Don’t fall for the fear playbook.

• Vote like this matters, because it does.

If you work, you count. That should be the first law of labor and the last.

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Bibliography

• U.S. Department of Labor, “Impact in Fiscal Year 2024,” Wage and Hour Division.

• Poydock, Margaret, and Jiayi (Sonia) Zhang. “More than $1.5 Billion in Stolen Wages Recovered for Workers Between 2021 and 2023.” Economic Policy Institute, December 20, 2024.

• Pew Research Center. “What We Know About Unauthorized Immigrants Living in the U.S.” July 22, 2024

• Pew Research Center. “Key Findings About U.S. Immigrants.” September 27, 2024.

• Economic Policy Institute. “Unauthorized Immigrants and the Economy.” April 2025.