The University of Illinois at Chicago and UCLA have conducted a survey of 2660 day laborers in 20 states and D.C. The NYT provides some of the findings in "Broad Survey of Day Laborers Finds High Level of Injuries and Pay Violations":

- 75% were illegal aliens
- more than half said they'd been cheated out of wages in the past 2 months
- earnings median: $10/hour, $700/month
- only a "small number" make over $15,000/year

"We were disturbed by the incredibly high incidence of wage violations," said study author Nik Theodore, of the University of Illinois at Chicago. "We also found a very high level of injuries."

..."This is a labor market that thrives on cheap wages and the fact that most of these workers are undocumented. They're in a situation where they're extremely vulnerable, and employers know that and take advantage of them," said another study author, Abel Valenzuela Jr., of the University of California at Los Angeles...

...In addition, the laborers have become the target of groups opposed to illegal immigrants...

...The biggest hope for day laborers, the study said, are the 63 day-labor centers that operate as hiring halls where workers and employers arrange to meet. These centers, usually created in partnerships with local government or community organizations, often require workers and employers to register, helping to reduce abuses. Many of the centers set a minimum wage, often $10 an hour, that employers must pay laborers.

Would you please send an email to public *at* nytimes.com and suggest they put on their thinking caps? The reason those laborers are able to be abused is because they're illegal aliens. Many "liberals" - including those at the NYT - support illegal immigration, and they therefore support the abuses that those workers are subjected to. There is no other option: if someone is here illegally, they're liable to be abused. And, "liberals" support that abuse by supporting illegal immigration.

Note also that while the NYT covers their immigration status in the second paragraph, the AP - another illegal immigration supporter - waits until the twelfth paragraph: "Day-Laborer Study Finds Community Ties". Please write to feedback *at* ap.org about that.