Just because some greedy cretins want to get a rich a lot faster and love importing lots of cheap labor doesn't constitute a 'labor shortage', and despite all the gushing narratives many of those European immigrants suffered and died instead of 'assimilating and prospering later on'; malnutrition and epidemics were the norm, so were slums. Slaves were actually better off economically than 'free white labor', especially in the South. The current use of immigrant labor both illegal and legal has zero to do with 'labor shortages' and a lot to do with mere greed, same as always, only with the current crop the corporations have them living on welfare to keep them here while buying themselves tax breaks and subsidies, and it's bankrupting the social safety net for real citizens and tanking their incomes.