Washington ( CNN ) -- `` When Dr. Johnson defined patriotism as the last refuge of a scoundrel , he was unconscious of the then undeveloped capabilities of the word 'reform . ' '' So quipped U.S. Sen. Roscoe Conkling of New York 130 years ago . The particular reform that irked Conkling was the then-novel proposal to eliminate patronage in federal civil service hiring . Conkling lost his argument and lost his battle , but his quip endures -- and applies much more aptly to today 's most discussed `` reform '' : immigration reform . `` Immigration reform '' is a deliberately ambiguous phrase , a phrase used equally by opposite sides in the immigration debate . Those who want amnesty for illegal immigrants call themselves `` reformers . '' So do those who want stricter enforcement of the laws against illegal immigration . But there 's a third group to be heard , and these are the people who validate Conkling 's cynical remark : the group of `` reformers '' who want to expand and enlarge guest worker programs . The United States is entering its sixth year of extraordinarily high unemployment . Twelve million Americans who want work can not find it . Millions more have quit searching . Slack labor markets have depressed wages throughout the economy . Here 's the picture that 's worth a thousand words , from an economic commentary by Margaret Jacobson and Filippo Occhino for the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland . Whichever of the two competing data series you use , wages account for a substantially lower share of national income today than at any point since World War II , when record-keeping began . Yet even these dismal findings understate the problem . Remember , `` labor income '' includes all salary income , including the salaries of the most highly paid , the famous 1 % , who have enjoyed the benefit of almost all productivity gains since the 1990s . The wage situation of the typical worker looks even worse than the chart implies . Whatever else you say about the U.S. economy of the 21st century , it can not be described as suffering from labor shortages . Yet however little workers earn , there is always somebody who wishes they earned even less . And for those somebodies , the solution is : Import more cheap labor . But not just any cheap labor -- cheap labor that can not quit , that can not accept a better offer , that can not complain . Bonded labor is the oldest idea in American labor markets . In the 17th and 18th centuries , about half the British migrants to the United States arrived as indentured servants , people who agreed to work for a term of years in exchange for food , lodging , and the cost of their passage . Perhaps you assumed that such arrangements had expired centuries ago ? Think again . The March 8 Wall Street Journal tells the story of 14 foreign students who entered the United States on `` J '' class visas , which allow three months of work to support student study and travel . `` 'Since I got to the States , I have been working just to pay to live in a basement , ' says Mr. Rios , who arrived in mid-December and shares the one-room space with five other foreigners who work at the same outlet . He said he worked about 25 hours a week earning $ 7.25 an hour and Mr. Cheung , his boss , deducted weekly rent of $ 75 from his pay . ... Kah Inn Lee , a 23-year-old student from Malaysia , said a curtain separated the men 's and women 's beds in the tiny basement she shared with seven other students in a house owned by Mr. Cheung 's son . Earning about $ 250 a week , she calculates she is in the red after paying for housing and food . To travel after completing her assignment at McDonald 's , which ends this weekend , she has asked relatives to wire her money . '' Stories like this are often told about the J-1 visa program , which brought about 109,000 students to the United States in 2011 . The Associated Press reported on the program last year : `` In August 2011 , dozens of workers protested conditions at a candy factory that contracts to pack Hershey chocolates in Hershey , Pa. , complaining of hard physical labor and pay deductions for rent that often left them with little money . Then in December , a federal indictment accused the mafia of using the cultural exchange program to bring Eastern European women to work in New York strip clubs . '' J-1 visa workers have told investigators that deductions for rent and food reduce their earnings to zero . They have described sexual abuse and exploitation . The State Department has proposed some changes to the program , but -- well , let Alaska 's KTVA Channel 11 tell the rest of the story . `` Many seafood processors in Alaska rely on foreign students to fill their seasonal employment needs . Now there is uncertainty in the industry because of proposed changes to the foreign worker visa program . These changes could take effect as soon as this spring . `` The federal government wants to remove some jobs offered to foreign students who want to work in the U.S. on a J-1 visa . They include jobs in factories and manufacturing , a potential change that could hit Alaska 's seafood processors hard . `` In a letter Senator Mark Begich wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last month , he says 'such an abrupt change in the available labor pool just before the start of the salmon season would have immediate negative consequences for the companies , and the fishermen and communities , which depend on their operations , ' '' KTVA reported . You might wonder : Are there really no Americans who could do these jobs ? The unemployment rate for Alaskans 16-24 years old was over 15 % in 2011 . Might n't they want the work ? Yes , they might . But the wage for lawful American labor in the seafood-processing industry averages over $ 10 an hour . Employers can cut their wage costs by almost 25 % by using J-1 labor instead , according to one union-backed think tank . And J-1 labor is not only cheaper , but also often more motivated . `` The J-1 student workers have been a godsend for Nancy Blakey , co-owner of Sno-Pac , '' reported PRI 's `` The World . '' `` 'They 're educated , they 're bright , and they 're working really hard , long hours , ' Blakey said . Alaska fish processors started hiring J-1 students in the 1990s when unemployment was low and they could n't find American workers . The J-1â€²s are not just hard workers , Blakey said ; they 're also really interesting . `` 'We had a young man come through who was studying nuclear physics . And we were talking , and he loved the beauty of nuclear physics . He was passionate and he was explaining it to me , in his limited English and doing very well . And he was going to be going out to gut fish . I think that 's pretty fantastic ! ' '' The immigration debate is often premised on the assumption that high wages for American workers are a problem to be overcome . If you 'll look again at the Cleveland Fed chart above , you 'll notice that the collapse in labor 's share of national income coincides with the start of the mass immigration influx after 1970 . Since then 40 million people have migrated to the United States , most of them very low-skilled . About one-third that number arrived illegally . Immigration advocates insist that this huge surge of cheap labor has nothing to do with the persistent decline in wages that began about the same time . If so , that 's one hell of a coincidence . With President Obama proposing accelerated flows of immigration in future , American workers should ready themselves for more coincidences ahead . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of David Frum .
David Frum : Immigration `` reform '' is a deliberately ambiguous phrase . It means " we 'll do it, but only if you give us something in return for our support of your cause and the promise to vote Republican next time around. " Frum : Big wave of immigration coincides with decline in labor 's share of economy . America does n't have a labor shortage , but wages may be too low , he says .