AMNA NAWAZ: Immigration remains another key issue# in this campaign.

Vice President Harris says,## if elected, she will pass a bipartisan# bill strengthening border security.

Former President Trump promises a much larger# crackdown, including mass deportations.

One of the## key claims from Trump and others, that immigrants# committed disproportionate number of crimes,## has been disputed and contradicted by data.# But there's been an economic argument made by## the former president as well, that immigrants# take jobs and lower wages for other Americans.

Our economic correspondent, Paul# Solman, gave that a closer look.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: An invasion of criminal migrants.

PAUL SOLMAN: For former President Donald# Trump, immigration has long been an obsession.

DONALD TRUMP: We are a dumping ground.# We are like a garbage can for the world.

PAUL SOLMAN: But Vice President Harris too# promises to crack down on illegal crossings.

KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States# (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: We will## pursue more severe.. PAUL SOLMAN: Fifty-five percent of Americans# say they favor reduced immigration amidst a## record number of illegal crossings late last# year, straining resources in several cities,## including here in New York, though# crossings have since plunged.

These are immigrants in the South Bronx# learning construction safety basis.## Almost all have asked for asylum and are in# legal limbo until their cases are resolved.

How many of you think you# will be working in two months?

What kind of work?

Well, Karmeen# Tavares came here years ago from## the Dominican Republic.

He says# he's done every job he could find.

KARMEEN TAVARES, Dominican Migrant: Construction,# electrician, carpenter, plumber, and locksmith.

PAUL SOLMAN: Wilbur Alva has# been here just one month.

WILBUR ALVA, Peruvian Migrant# (through translator): I go to## Home Depot.

A lot of migrants go to# look for construction jobs there.

PAUL SOLMAN: Alfonso Melendez endured the# nightmare trek from Venezuela through the## Darien Gap jungle to get to America with# his two young sons and wife, Bianney.

BIANNEY PACHECO, Venezuela Migrant# (through translator): We were robbed## just as we were exiting the jungle.# The ma.. stopped everybody crossing.

So it was in a# large group and they stole from everyone.## And those who didn't have anything to# give, at times there were young women,## pretty women there.

And these men just# took it upon themselves to rape them.

PAUL SOLMAN: Bianney and her# husband say they're forever scarred.

Knowing what now, would you do it again?

ALFONSO MELENDEZ, Venezuela Migrant# (through translator): No.

It's too## much psychologically.

Lots# of bodies riddled the path.

PAUL SOLMAN: Donald Trump also stresses# a more seemingly plausible dark side of## immigration, the immigrant's economic impact.

DONALD TRUMP: It's not just a crime.# Your jobs are being taken away too.

PAUL SOLMAN: Especially low-wage jobs,# says Steven Camarota, who has long## advocated for fewer immigrants.

STEVEN CAMAROTA, Center for Immigration# Studies: The vast majority of people## who do all the low-wage work in# the United States are U.S.-born.

PAUL SOLMAN: So key question, are immigrants# displacing American workers?

Well,## almost any employer will tell you how hard# it is to find reliable workers these days.

JUAN PABLO MORALES, Catholic Charities: Most# of the people that are coming are in working## age.

They're going to do the jobs that I# don't want to do, you don't want to do,## nobody else wants to do and we're not doing.

PAUL SOLMAN: When Juan Pablo Morales, the program## coordinator here, came from Guatemala 14# years ago, he too started at the bottom.

JUAN PABLO MORALES: I was putting floors.

I was# teaching English, cutting hair, killing rats.

PAUL SOLMAN: Killing rats?

(LAUGHTER) JUAN PABLO MORALES: Absolutely.

PAUL SOLMAN: How do you kill rats?

JUAN PABLO MORALES: I have some friends that have# Jack terriers, a.. and hunt rats in vacant lots of New York City.

And# would we get paid just to walk around and do that.

PAUL SOLMAN: Karmeen Tavares says immigrants# have to take whatever job they can get.

KARMEEN TAVARES (through translator): They# have to take any opportunity available,## because they have to provide for# themselves and for the people they're with,## and they don't have access to health# care.

They don't have any assistance.

PAUL SOLMAN: Twenty-hour miles west,## Janelle Baker runs a ranch in rural Eastern# Nevada.

Her father has a dairy .. What's your reaction when you hear that# immigrants are taking jobs from Americans?

JANELLE BAKER (Baker Ranches): I think it's dumb.

PAUL SOLMAN: Dumb?

Yes.

JANELLE BAKER: It's uninformed.

They're not taking# your job.

You don't want it... do it.

If you want to, you would be applying# when we advertise.

My dad wouldn't be looking## for milkers all the time.

Nearly everyone we# know in agriculture is looking for someone.

PAUL SOLMAN: Case in point, for years,# Baker has posted an irrigation job.

JANELLE BAKER: We had a# couple of people that said:## "My son would like a job."

I never heard# from them.

Another time, we had someone## call, say they were interested and# they never showed up.

This year,## we had someone looked at the requirements# of the job and decided they didn't want to## do it.

But he was the only person to actually# show up and talk to my husband about the job.

PAUL SOLMAN: OK, but what about the recent wave of## immigrants?

Can the economy# really absorb all of them?

JUAN PABLO MORALES: New York City is a vacuum of# jobs, especially in the construction industry.## There is a job for anybody that wants to work,# especially if you're willing to do anything.

PAUL SOLMAN: Jobs that native-born# Americans don't or won't do?

STEVEN CAMAROTA: It would be wrong to# say there are jobs that Americans simply## don't do.

If two-thirds of construction# laborers, based on the American Community## Survey, are U.S.-born, you can't say no# American does that job or is interested.

PAUL SOLMAN: And here's a crucial point,## says Steven Camarota.

Immigrants depress# wages below what m.. STEVEN CAMAROTA: If you increase the supply# of anything, in this case labor or workers,## you tend to lower its price.

If# a job is very heavily immigrant,## then that is likely an area where immigration# has significantly pushed down wages.

And some of those jobs are really unpleasant,## like construction labor.

So you would want# wages to be relatively high there, and one## of the things immigration does is tends to hold# down wages, making the occupation less attractive.

PAUL SOLMAN: But Karmeen Tavares# says there are construction jobs## American workers won't do even for high pay.

KARMEEN TAVARES: I see the people you pay# $50 something and work in the construction,## and sometimes don't work.

I see that with my eyes.

PAUL SOLMAN: Juan Pablo Morales, long# since an American citizen, sympathizes.

JUAN PABLO MORALES: There's a lot of# jobs that I had to do.

If I'm not in## a spot in my life again where# I have to, I won't.

I won't.

PAUL SOLMAN: Business school# Professor Zeke Hernandez.

ZEKE HERNANDEZ, The Wharton School, University# of Pennsylvania: We have very clear evidence that## native-born young men and women will simply# not do those jobs.

They will not ta.. even during times of very high unemployment.

PAUL SOLMAN: But, argues Camarota,# if fewer immigrants mean higher wages## then maybe Americans will take the# jobs, especially less educated men.

STEVEN CAMAROTA: The share of# men not in the labor force,## that is neither working nor looking# for work, is about triple what it## was in 1960.

And it's nearly double what# it was even 20, 25 years ago.

As long as## we have a supply of eager immigrants, we# are never going to address this problem.

PAUL SOLMAN: And think of all the available jobs# were Donald Trump to deliver on his campaign vow.

DONALD TRUMP: We're going to get these people# out.

We're going to deport them so rapidly.

PAUL SOLMAN: That would cost all of# us, says economist Giovanni Peri.

GIOVANNI PERI, University of California, Davis:# The income that this undocumented generating## in the U.S. is about 3.5 percent of the U.S.# GDP, so on the order of $1 trillion per year.

Plus, you will have all the cost of running# this operation that will also be huge.

From a## pure economic point of view, massive cost.# Some sectors will have huge disruption.

PAUL SOLMAN: What would happen to# American agriculture, let's say?

JANELLE BAKER: So I think you would tank# it in our area.

If you were to pull out## all of the immigrants, documented and# undocumented, it would devastate our area.

JUAN PABLO MORALES: Here in New York,construction# never stops.

Who's doing that construction?

Tim Driscoll runs the bricklayers union.

TIMOTHY DRISCOLL, President, International Union# of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers: I don't## believe the industry.. PAUL SOLMAN: And besides, says Driscoll: TIMOTHY DRISCOLL: The only way there .. this country was when the pandemic# hit and employment opportunities## ceased to exist and the reason that a lot# of folks were attracted here disappeared.

We had the four-year experiment# of self-deportation.

It failed.

PAUL SOLMAN: Just so, says Professor Hernandez.

ZEKE HERNANDEZ: There's a study that came out# recently showing that the biggest predictor of## illegal border crossings is unfilled job openings# in the United States.

We need these people.

PAUL SOLMAN: And, at the moment,# at least, we certainly seem to.

For the "PBS News Hour," Paul Solman in the Bronx.