Just one reason we need immigration reform

JOBS! With the United States unemployment levels nearing 10%, we can’t afford to give jobs to illegal immigrants.

According to NumbersUSA.org, around 22 million American workers who want a full-time job can’t find one. This counts the officially unemployed, those involuntarily in part-time jobs, and those who recently dropped off the official unemployment list. Just this past week, the Obama administration said they will start granting work permits to illegal immigrants. This will, obviously, negatively affect those millions of unemployed and underemployed U.S. citizens.

As to the argument that immigrants typically accept jobs Americans are unwilling to do, NumbersUSA points out that those unemployed are from all levels of job skills but a disproportionate number of those looking for work are in the lower skilled jobs that are primarily taken by foreign workers. In addition, NumbersUSA said that less than 10% of ALL foreign workers enter the country with any regard to their skills or whether the job market needs their skills.

From a personal perspective, a job doing yard work for us, typically filled by a high school student, was applied for by several adult men (and one woman) eager to find any work. Many of the applicants were looking for yet another part-time job to supplement other part-time jobs they had going. A middle aged Army vet who was unwilling to accept government hand-outs as a way to get by was eventually hired; he also has a couple of other part-time jobs.

While legal immigration has been a part of the history of the United States from the very beginning of this great nation and while immigrants have helped form our country, recent trends in the flow of immigration have changed dramatically. From 1776-1976, legal immigration averaged around 250,000 people per year. Since 1990, according to NumbersUSA, around 1 million legal immigrants a year and more than 800,000 illegal aliens a year settle permanently in the United States. The job force cannot possibly sustain this influx of workers.

Who is most affected by the increase in immigration?

• Blacks – Forty years after Congress passed Civil Rights laws, the lack of job opportunities for the Black Americans without skills is disproportionate to the general population with an unemployment rate of about 40% for black American men between the ages of 18 and 65.
• Low-skilled workers – Occupations such as those in meatpacking, dry-walling, other construction trades, and hospitality jobs that once paid decent money have collapsed into near-poverty or poverty levels with a disproportionate number of those jobs filled by foreign workers.
• Youth – The unemployment rate for Americans ages 16-17 is 34%; for Hispanic teens it is 48%; and for Black American teenagers it is 60%.

We need reform and we need it yesterday. Let your voice be heard and tell your elected officials we need immigration reform!

~ Patty