John Derbyshire — National Review

An immigration time out

I find myself increasingly oppressed by the feeling that our big national policies are not merely mistaken, but deeply irrational. — Take the president’s recent “jobs summit.” Like several other people — Pat Buchanan for example — I was baffled by the absence of any talk about limiting immigration…

How can [Democrats] justify bringing in another 1.5 [million] immigrants in 2010 and another 1.5 million in 2011, when 25 million Americans they are supposed to represent are unemployed or underemployed?

HERE

Virgil Goode — Human Events

Time for an immigration moratorium

When Barack Obama completely ignored the problem of uncontrolled immigration during his Jobs Summit, my former colleague Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) issued the following statement that was signed by 21 conservative Republican congressmen…

“Even if we completely stopped illegal immigration tomorrow, the government still issues 75,000 permanent work visas and approximately 50,000 temporary work visas every month. These 125,000 jobs should go to Americans first.

On Monday, the Census Bureau released an analysis on the immigrant make up of the American workforce. They found that nearly one out of every six workers is foreign born. This is the highest number since the early 1920s, at which point Congress significantly reduced immigration levels that continued until Ted Kennedy’s 1965 Immigration Act. Immigrants only accounted for five percent of the workforce when Kennedy’s bill passed.

Since the economic crisis began over a year ago, there’s been no discussion about reducing total immigration levels and we’ve allowed over 1.5 million new legal foreign workers in the country.

As Pat Buchanan recently wrote, “probably twice as many jobs have been taken by these folks as the 650,000 the Obamaites claim were saved or created by their $787 billion stimulus package…”

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Note from D.A.- The DIS blog welcomes Mr. “Mike” Seigle as a poster here.

Mike Michael is a College Instructor of History and long time political activists. He have taught History in the Atlanta area for almost 15 years and worked on political campaigns for more than 18 years. Michael has held positions within the Republican Party of Georgia at the county, district, and state level as well as working on a major Georgia based conservative PAC for three election cycles. He has worked either as a paid staffer, professional support or as a volunteer on close to 100 political campaigns.

Michael described himself as a law and order conservative. Mr. Seigle is currently the dbase manager and director of research for a major political consulting firm and holds a position in the 4th district Republican Party. Michael lives in Norcross with his wife and son.

How significant is the Hispanic vote in Georgia

How significant is the Hispanic vote in Georgia? GALEO and other Hispanic oriented political organizations have been warning for years that the Hispanic vote is something the Anti-amnesty crowd should fear. By their way of thing the Hispanic voter is 100% for amnesty and growing in political importance. Republicans in Hall and Whitfield county need to be careful or they will anger the growing Hispanic voting block.

However, a look at the actual numbers provides a far more accurate understanding of the real power of Hispanic voters or even pro-amnesty voters.

First, it is wrong to think that all Hispanic are pro-amnesty. According to the Secretary of State of Georgia there were 44,474 Hispanic voters who voted in the 2008 general election or the 2008 general election run-off in Georgia. Of these 21,622 or 49% registered to vote or have a voting history before January 2006. This tells me that more Hispanic voters are registering to vote, but almost half of the Hispanic voters were politically active before the amnesty debate started. Many of these older more established Hispanic voters are Cuban, or South American and some are even native born. It is wrong to think that they are pro-amnesty or even care about the more radical positions of groups like LARAZA or GALEO.

More than half of the Hispanic voters are over 40. They are a slightly younger demographic than White or even Black voters, but a person starts to settle down a great deal after 40. It is wrong to think that the activism of radical youth would translate into the same kind of single-issue politics for the long established and older reality of almost half of the Hispanic voters.

It is a myth that elections are being stolen by such as small population. Hispanics are not a unified political force and even if they were they are not numerous enough to move the political landscape very much. The 44,474 Hispanic voters who voted in the general election or general election run-off in 2008, represent 1.1% of the total general election voters.

Finally, the amnesty bill coming out next year will depend on a grassroots core that includes roughly half of the 44 thousand Hispanic voters who are recently registered and/or young enough to care. Against them will be the more than 70,000 unemployed who applied for first time unemployment benefits last week, the more than 10% of Georgian who are out of work, and the tens of thousands of otherwise able bodied people who are on government welfare. If a grassroots conflict is between these two groups, it is obvious to me that the political power is in the hands of the unemployed not the pro-amnesty activists.

Note:
The statistical analysis is based on data provided by the Secretary of State of Georgia and the Georgia Labor Department. The current unemployment statistics can be found at http://www.dol.state.ga.us/

Rasmussen Reports

Obama’s approval rating circling the bowl

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 24% of the nation’s voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-two percent (42%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -18…

HERE

KRGV-TV — Weslaco, Texas

Hilarious!: U.S. Consulate declares Mexico safe

The U.S. Consul General at Matamoros visited McAllen today. — U.S. Consul Michael Barkin was honored at a reception at the McAllen Chamber of Commerce. He has been on the job as U.S. Consul General in Matamoros since September. — Barkin says Mexico is a safe place visit…

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Glen Colton — The Coloradoan — Ft. Collins

Tougher immigration laws will likely create more jobs

If President Barack Obama and Congress could provide jobs for millions of unemployed American workers in a few years with little cost to taxpayers, would you want them to do so? — Of course you would. Well, all it would take is action to replace illegal foreign workers with legal American workers and dramatically reduce legal immigration

HERE

Center for Immigration Studies

Jobs Americans Won’t Do? A Detailed Look at Immigrant Employment by Occupation

By Steven A. Camarota, Karen Jensenius

August 2009

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Steven A. Camarota is the Director of Research and Karen Jensenius is a demographer at the Center for Immigration Studies.

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This analysis tests the often-made argument that immigrants only do jobs Americans don’t want. If the argument is correct, there should be occupations comprised entirely or almost entirely of immigrants. But Census Bureau data collected from 2005 to 2007, which allow for very detailed analysis, show that even before the recession there were only a tiny number of majority-immigrant occupations. (Click here to see detailed table.)

Among the findings:

Of the 465 civilian occupations, only four are majority immigrant. These four occupations account for less than 1 percent of the total U.S. workforce. Moreover, native-born Americans comprise 47 percent of workers in these occupations.

Many jobs often thought to be overwhelmingly immigrant are in fact majority native-born:
Maids and housekeepers: 55 percent native-born
Taxi drivers and chauffeurs: 58 percent native-born
Butchers and meat processors: 63 percent native-born
Grounds maintenance workers: 65 percent native-born
Construction laborers: 65 percent native-born
Porters, bellhops, and concierges: 71 percent native-born
Janitors: 75 percent native-born

There are 93 occupations in which 20 percent or more of workers are immigrants. These high-immigrant occupations are primarily, but not exclusively, lower-wage jobs that require relatively little formal education.

There are 23.6 million natives in these high-immigrant occupations (20 percent or more immigrant). These occupations include 19 percent of all native workers.

Most natives do not face significant job competition from immigrants; however, those who do tend to be less-educated and poorer than those who face relatively little competition from immigrants.

In high-immigrant occupations, 57 percent of natives have no more than a high school education. In occupations that are less than 20 percent immigrant, 35 percent of natives have no more than a high school education. And in occupations that are less than 10 percent immigrant, only 26 percent of natives have no more than a high school education.

In high-immigrant occupations the average wages and salary for natives is one-fourth lower than in occupations that are less than 20 percent immigrant.

Some may believe that natives in high-immigrant occupations are older and that few young natives are willing to do that kind of work. But 33 percent of natives in these occupations are age 30 or younger. In occupations that are less than 20 percent immigrant, 28 percent of natives are 30 or younger.

It is worth remembering that not all high-immigrant occupations are lower-skilled and lower-wage. For example, 44 percent of medical scientists are immigrants, as are 34 percent of software engineers, 27 percent of physicians, and 25 percent of chemists.

It is also worth noting that a number of politically important groups tend to face very little job competition from immigrants. For example, just 10 percent of reporters are immigrants, as are only 6 percent of lawyers and judges and 3 percent of farmers and ranchers.

HERE

More seek day-labor jobs, but work is scarce

By Emily Bazar, USA TODAY

ARLINGTON, Va. — When mechanic Donald Thee used to arrive at his job every morning, he would glance at the day laborers gathering across the street jostling for work when a pickup rolled by.
Over time, he befriended some, buying them meals from a taco truck when they were hungry.

Three months ago, he joined them.

“That’s how quick things can change, especially in an economy this poor,” he says.

Thee, 39, was laid off from the gas station where he worked and needed a way to make money. He applied for jobs at more than 100 businesses — “even McDonald’s, and they’re not hiring,” he says — and finally decided to try to get pick-up work as a day laborer.

TRENDS: Unemployed U.S.-born workers seek day-labor jobs

Thee’s story, like that of other U.S. citizens who never expected to become day laborers, is one of economic desperation. Job openings are scarce, so the unemployed are starting their days at busy intersections and home improvement stores where, if they’re lucky, someone will drive up and offer work that could last a few hours or several weeks.

Landing a job as a day laborer isn’t easy.

As the economy has soured, fewer workers get picked up, says Andres Tobar, executive director of the Shirlington Employment and Education Center, which runs the day-labor site where Thee and about 100 other workers converge each morning.

About 10 to 15 workers land jobs each day, compared with 40 to 50 a few years ago, he says.

At the WeCount! Community Worker Center in Miami-Dade County, Fla., executive director Jonathan Fried agrees it’s hard for anyone to get work these days, regardless of their legal status.

More citizens are coming to the center seeking work, he says, including people who had previously offered jobs to day laborers. “About a year ago, we started seeing contractors coming into the center and trying to get jobs themselves,” he says.

“Everyone’s getting limited work right now because there’s not much out there.”

Marc Maida, a U.S. citizen, has been visiting the center a few times a week for two months. So far, he hasn’t gotten a day-labor job.

Maida, 38, has been working on and off at his father’s painting and pressure-cleaning business for more than 20 years. Over time, business has dropped off, he says. “This year is the worst of all,” he says. “People don’t want to spend money to keep their houses up.”

He lost the room he was renting about a year ago and has since been living with his parents or on the streets, and is trying anything he can to get work, including temp agencies.

“There’s so many people looking for work, they just don’t have enough work to get everybody out there,” he says.

In Arlington, Thee has earned a nickname among the day laborers as “el toro blanco,” or “the white bull.”

“As one of the largest and strongest, I’m one of the more favorable workers,” he says, waiting for work on a cold morning in jeans and a leather jacket.

The Arkansas native is at the hiring site seven days a week at 6:30 a.m. and lands a job about three days a week, he says. Among the jobs he has done: installing a lock on a door, mowing grass, working on a home under construction and helping people move.

Since Nov. 1, he has been living in a homeless shelter and remains hopeful he can land a permanent job. The competition is fierce, though, even at the day-labor site. “There’s more and more American citizens out here,” he says. “The way this economy is going, more of it is going to happen.” HERE

The Administration’s Phantom Immigration Enforcement Policy
Ira Mehlman

December 07, 2009

The setting was not quite the flight deck of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln with a “Mission Accomplished” banner as the backdrop, but it was the next best thing. Speaking at the Center for American Progress (CAP) on Nov. 13, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano declared victory over illegal immigration and announced that the Obama administration is ready to move forward with a mass amnesty for the millions of illegal aliens already living in the United States.
Arguing the Obama administration’s case for amnesty, Napolitano laid out what she described as the “three-legged stool” for immigration reform. As the administration views it, immigration reform must include “a commitment to serious and effective enforcement, improved legal flows for families and workers, and a firm but fair way to deal with those who are already here.”

Acknowledging that a lack of confidence in the government’s ability and commitment to effectively enforce the immigration laws it passes proved to be the Waterloo of previous efforts to gain amnesty for illegal aliens, Napolitano was quick to reassure the American public that those concerns could be put to rest.

“For starters, the security of the Southwest border has been transformed from where it was in 2007,” stated the secretary. Not only is the border locked up tight, she continued, but the situation is well in-hand in the interior of the country as well. “We’ve also shown that the government is serious and strategic in its approach to enforcement by making changes in how we enforce the law in the interior of the country and at worksites…Furthermore, we’ve transformed worksite enforcement to truly address the demand side of illegal immigration.”

If Rep. Joe Wilson had been in attendance to hear Secretary Napolitano’s CAP speech he might well have had a few choice comments to offer. But since he wasn’t, we will have to rely on the Department of Homeland Security’s own data to assess the veracity of Napolitano’s claims.

According to DHS’s own reports, very little of our nation’s borders (Southwestern or otherwise) are secure, and gaining control is not even a goal of the department. DHS claims to have “effective control” over just 894 miles of border. That’s 894 out of 8,607 miles they are charged with protecting. As for the other 7,713 miles? DHS’s stated border security goal for FY 2010 is the same 894 miles.

The administration’s strategic approach to interior and worksite enforcement is just as chimerical as its strategy at the border, unless one considers shuffling paper to be a strategy. DHS data, released November 18, show that administrative arrests of immigration law violators fell by 68 percent between 2008 and 2009. The department also carried out 60 percent fewer arrests for criminal violations of immigration laws, 58 percent fewer criminal indictments, and won 63 percent fewer convictions.

While the official unemployment rate has climbed from 7.6 percent when President Obama took office in January to 10 percent today, the administration’s worksite enforcement strategy has amounted to a bureaucratic game of musical chairs. The administration has all but ended worksite enforcement actions and replaced them with paperwork audits. When the audits determine that illegal aliens are on the payroll, employers are given the opportunity to fire them with little or no adverse consequence to the company, while no action is taken to remove the illegal workers from the country. The illegal workers simply acquire a new set of fraudulent documents and move on to the next employer seeking workers willing to accept substandard wages.

In Janet Napolitano’s alternative reality a mere 10 percent of our borders under “effective control” and sharp declines in arrests and prosecutions of immigration lawbreakers may be construed as confidence builders, but it is hard to imagine that the American public is going to see it that way. If anything, the administration’s record has left the public less confident that promises of future immigration enforcement would be worth the government paper they’re printed on.

As Americans scrutinize the administration’s plans to overhaul immigration policy, they are likely to find little in the “three-legged stool” being offered that they like or trust. The first leg – enforcement – the administration has all but sawed off. The second – increased admissions of extended family members and workers – makes little sense with some 25 million Americans either unemployed or relegated to part-time work. And the third – amnesty for millions of illegal aliens – is anathema to their sense of justice and fair play.

As Americans well know, declaring “Mission Accomplished” and actually accomplishing a mission are two completely different things. When it comes to enforcing immigration laws, the only message the public is receiving from this administration is “Mission Aborted.”

HERE

Unemployed Natives Available for Work

Report Finds Huge Number of Less-Educated Americans Not Working

WASHINGTON (December 10, 2009) – The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) has released a new study detailing the U-6 unemployment rates among native born workers. U-6 is a broader measure of employment that includes the unemployed, people who would like to work but who have not looked for a job recently, and those involuntarily working part-time. A look at these numbers shows the situation is particularly bad for minorities, the young, and less-educated Americans. These are the workers who face the most competition from immigrants – legal and illegal.

The study, “A Huge Pool of Potential Workers: Unemployment, Underemployment, and Non-Work Among Native-Born Americans,” is authored by CIS Director of Research Steven A. Camarota and Demographer Karen Jensenius.

Among the findings:

As of the third quarter of 2009, there are 12.5 million unemployed native-born Americans, but the broader U-6 measure shows 21 million natives unemployed or underemployed.

There are 6.1 million natives with a high school education or less who are unemployed. Using the U-6 measure, it is 10.4 million.

In addition to those less-educated natives covered by U-6, there are another 18.7 million natives with a high school education or less not in the labor force, which means they are not looking for work.

The total number of less-educated (high school education or less) natives who are unemployed, underemployed, or not in the labor force is 29.1 million.

To place these numbers in perspective, there are an estimated seven to eight million illegal immigrants holding jobs.

As of the third quarter of 2009, the overall unemployment rate for native-born Americans is 9.5 percent; the U-6 measure shows it as 15.9 percent.

Nationally, the unemployment rate for natives with a high school degree or less is 13.1 percent. Their U-6 measure is 21.9 percent.

State with the highest U-6 rates for less-educated natives are Michigan, California, Arizona, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Nevada, Illinois, and Georgia.

The unemployment rate for natives nationally with less than a high school education is 20.5 percent. Their U-6 measure is 32.4 percent.

Nationally, the unemployment rate for young native-born Americans (18-29) who have only a high school education is 19 percent. Their U-6 measure is 31.2 percent.

Nationally, the unemployment rate for native-born blacks with less than a high school education is 28.8 percent. Their U-6 measure is 42.2 percent.

The unemployment rate for young native-born blacks (18-29) with only a high school education is 27.1 percent. Their U-6 measure is 39.8 percent.

Nationally, the unemployment rate for native-born Hispanics with less than a high school education is 23.2 percent. Their U-6 measure is 35.6 percent.

The unemployment rate for young native-born Hispanics (18-29) with only a high school degree is 20.9 percent. Their U-6 measure is 33.9 percent.

Nationally, the overall unemployment rate for immigrants (legal and illegal) is 9.9 percent. Their U-6 measure is 19.6 percent, which is significantly higher than the rate for natives.

The unemployment rate for immigrants with less than a high school education is 12.3 percent. Their U-6 measure is 27.4 percent. The unemployment rate for young immigrants (18-29) with only a high school education is 12.2 percent. Their U-6 measure is 25.2 percent.

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The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent research institution that examines the impact of immigration on the United States.