Heck, these Hispanics would have us believe nothing would get done in this country without them. They call themselves "workers." I guess we should start calling Rapists "Casanovas?"
12:00 AM CST on Thursday, March 23, 2006
By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT / The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON – Business, labor and immigrant-rights groups lobbying Congress to legalize millions of illegal immigrants and permit a future flow of foreign job seekers often cite low unemployment rates as proof of the economy's hunger for new workers.
Immigrants are filling the jobs Americans won't take, they say, such as backbreaking work in farming and meatpacking.
Nonsense, says a think tank opposed to immigration increases. Competition from immigrant workers, the majority coming here with a high school diploma at most, may be proving harmful to native-born workers at the lower end of the educational and pay scales, the Center for Immigration Studies says.
In a report issued Wednesday, the center said its analysis of Census Bureau data shows that of the 65 million native-born American adults with a high school degree or less, nearly 4 million are unemployed and 19 million more have stopped looking for work.
"It is extraordinarily hard to make the case that America is desperately short of less-educated workers," said the report's author, Center for Immigration Studies research director Steven Camarota.
Critics say the study represents at best a partial snapshot and makes no reference to the benefits that immigrant workers bring to the U.S. economy.
Between 2000 and 2005, labor force participation for native-born adults without a high school degree fell from 59 percent to 56 percent, the center said, citing findings of the Current Population Survey conducted by the Census Bureau each March. Participation for native-born adults with a high school degree dropped from 78 percent to 75 percent, the report said.
At the same time, the number of adult immigrant workers with a high school degree or less increased by 1.5 million, rising from 15.5 percent of the workforce to 17.4 percent, or about 11.6 million people.
The trend held in Texas, too. Less-educated native-born workers' participation in the labor market fell from 66.9 percent in 2000 to 65.6 percent in 2005 – compared with a rise from 24.9 percent to 28.9 percent for immigrants of similar educational background.
"No one disputes that less-educated natives have done very poorly in the last five years," Mr. Camarota said.
And yet, he said, the ongoing Senate debate over immigration changes that could include legalizing many of the nation's 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants has been largely silent on what he called the "enormous implications" for U.S. workers at the lower end of the spectrum.
"The whole idea that 'America has a 5 percent unemployment rate and therefore clearly we need lots of immigrant labor' is very foolish," Mr. Camarota said.
12:00 AM CST on Thursday, March 23, 2006
By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT / The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON – Business, labor and immigrant-rights groups lobbying Congress to legalize millions of illegal immigrants and permit a future flow of foreign job seekers often cite low unemployment rates as proof of the economy's hunger for new workers.
Immigrants are filling the jobs Americans won't take, they say, such as backbreaking work in farming and meatpacking.
Nonsense, says a think tank opposed to immigration increases. Competition from immigrant workers, the majority coming here with a high school diploma at most, may be proving harmful to native-born workers at the lower end of the educational and pay scales, the Center for Immigration Studies says.
In a report issued Wednesday, the center said its analysis of Census Bureau data shows that of the 65 million native-born American adults with a high school degree or less, nearly 4 million are unemployed and 19 million more have stopped looking for work.
"It is extraordinarily hard to make the case that America is desperately short of less-educated workers," said the report's author, Center for Immigration Studies research director Steven Camarota.
Critics say the study represents at best a partial snapshot and makes no reference to the benefits that immigrant workers bring to the U.S. economy.
Between 2000 and 2005, labor force participation for native-born adults without a high school degree fell from 59 percent to 56 percent, the center said, citing findings of the Current Population Survey conducted by the Census Bureau each March. Participation for native-born adults with a high school degree dropped from 78 percent to 75 percent, the report said.
At the same time, the number of adult immigrant workers with a high school degree or less increased by 1.5 million, rising from 15.5 percent of the workforce to 17.4 percent, or about 11.6 million people.
The trend held in Texas, too. Less-educated native-born workers' participation in the labor market fell from 66.9 percent in 2000 to 65.6 percent in 2005 – compared with a rise from 24.9 percent to 28.9 percent for immigrants of similar educational background.
"No one disputes that less-educated natives have done very poorly in the last five years," Mr. Camarota said.
And yet, he said, the ongoing Senate debate over immigration changes that could include legalizing many of the nation's 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants has been largely silent on what he called the "enormous implications" for U.S. workers at the lower end of the spectrum.
"The whole idea that 'America has a 5 percent unemployment rate and therefore clearly we need lots of immigrant labor' is very foolish," Mr. Camarota said.
