I think that might have been more relevant back in the 17th through 19th centuries, even for most of the 20th, when there were plenty of jobs for low or limited skill workers. Nowadays western countries are having to try very hard to maximize the numbers going into education because without a degree you won't get much work as a result of hugely increased automation that shows no signs of stopping. For better or for worse, that's just how it is.
In this new environment a massive influx of people without much in the way of qualification becomes a burden moreso than a positive addition, even if they're willing to work their asses off, as most of them are. Meanwhile all they're actually doing is competing for the crap jobs with the most disadvantaged in whatever country and driving down salaries for those that need them the most. I may have missed something here, but I don't think so.
If the US really wanted to address this problem it would legalise most drugs besides the nastiest ones (added bonus of prison populations falling through the floor and people not being stigmatised for life, leading to greater earning potential, plus taxes on drugs) and provide incentives for its neighbours to the south to deal with corruption within their own governments. I've become firmly convinced that 90% of the causes for impoverishment on a national level are plain old graft. Wealth isn't being shared as it is in developed countries.
Anyway yeah. My two cents.