Illegal immigrants say jobs are scarce

NEW YORK, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Some illegal immigrants in New York are considering returning home because the market for day laborers has dried up, The New York Sun reports.

"These past months have been really hard," said Enrique Ortiz, who came to New York from Mexico. "People rent rooms and many are not able to make rent and they are sleeping in the street. And now the cold is coming."

With the economic slowdown, the average daily pay has dropped from $120 to $60, workers told The Sun.

Luis Perez said he used to send $200 a month to his family in Ecuador. Now he sometimes has trouble making enough money to feed himself.

"Construction is no good anymore," he said. "Sometimes I just work one day a week. I used to work all week." said Ortiz, who is from Mexico.

Construction is off sharply in New York, with the city issuing about half the building permits this year it did in 2004.