If you want to see why illegal immigrants have no trouble finding work when they come to the United States, take a look at this story. A landscaper in Southern California is struggling to find workers to take the jobs at $34 an hour, reports the Los Angeles Times.

That’s extreme and the jobs require some skill but even the lowest paid jobs start at $14 an hour and no one will do them. The owner of the small landscaping company that specializes in public projects like planting median strips cannot explain the dearth of workers. All of the contributing factors play out in Southern Nevada as well: The strong economy and low unemployment. And then there’s just the fact that many Americans wouldn’t dream of doing manual labor even at these rates.

Cyndi Smallwood, who owns the landscaping company, tells the paper: “To get workers, you have to steal them from other companies.” One study says one quarter of all landscape workers are illegal and that the workforce is almost totally Latino. Another contractor has tried to get his son to work twice but ended up firing him both times because he would not do the work.

The issue seems to be that California is not attractive despite its low unemployment because housing is so expensive. That same issue could bite here soon, although so far inbound workers appear to be happy to buy a condo, which has quickly become the new starter home in Las Vegas. If we see a dramatic drop-off in new arrivals, we’ll know we’re moving towards the same state as Orange County. The only problem is that we don’t have any commuter counties to provide workers - apart from the small population in Nye County.