As the U. S. Senate continues to debate a highly controversial immigration reform act this week, consider these interesting facts about immigration in the United States today:
15% of the U. S. labor force is foreign-born.
Immigrant workers account for 36% of all labor without a high school diploma.
Immigrant workers account for 41% of scientists with doctoral degrees.
Immigrants earn 77 cents for every 1 dollar earned by native workers, though this gap almost evaporates for those with college degrees.
Over 90% of native workers benefit from the influx of low-wage immigrants because these workers take jobs that complement the work of higher paid native workers. For example, immigrants who work in the roofing business lower costs for contractors and home builders, who create jobs for plumbers, electricians and others, while lowering the prices for houses that benefit consumers.
Some native workers who compete directly with immigrants may suffer in certain, unskilled labor areas, but not as much as they do thanks to other factors, such as technological advances, globalization and minimum wage levels.
____________________________
Final thought regarding the impact of immigrants on our nation's workforce:
"There's this aversion to immigration, but people should be much more averse to computers. They are much more responsible for the bad effects."
Giovanni Peri
Professor of Economics
University of California at Davis
15% of the U. S. labor force is foreign-born.
Immigrant workers account for 36% of all labor without a high school diploma.
Immigrant workers account for 41% of scientists with doctoral degrees.
Immigrants earn 77 cents for every 1 dollar earned by native workers, though this gap almost evaporates for those with college degrees.
Over 90% of native workers benefit from the influx of low-wage immigrants because these workers take jobs that complement the work of higher paid native workers. For example, immigrants who work in the roofing business lower costs for contractors and home builders, who create jobs for plumbers, electricians and others, while lowering the prices for houses that benefit consumers.
Some native workers who compete directly with immigrants may suffer in certain, unskilled labor areas, but not as much as they do thanks to other factors, such as technological advances, globalization and minimum wage levels.
____________________________
Final thought regarding the impact of immigrants on our nation's workforce:
"There's this aversion to immigration, but people should be much more averse to computers. They are much more responsible for the bad effects."
Giovanni Peri
Professor of Economics
University of California at Davis
19 comments:
A vast majority of the American people are against amnasty for 12-20 million Mexicans. When you factor in family reunification you are talking about millions more. There is some reason the senate/President are trying to put this over on us that they are not telling. Could it be they have in mind a sort of American European Union? Do they want open borders where Canada, the U.S. and Mexico would be one big happy family? We must fight this!
Chris:
Wow! A Republican President, who is also the ex-governor of a border state, either (a) understands so little about immigration he's being duped, or (b) has a spooky "hidden agenda" to "put something over on the American people." You really need to get back on your meds. That's one of your most paranoid comments yet. Simpler explanation: he and others see the current system is (pardon my French) FUBAR and something has to be done, which may include legalizing many of the immigrants already here.
Chris, no plan is ever perfect in this world; but there are "forces" that cannot be turned back, as you might like.
If you consider the need this nation is developing for labor that coincides with the aging of the Boomers, you can easily see that a ready supply of willing and eager labor yearning for a better life is in fact a real plus.
We shouldn't be wringing our hands in fear of some terrible conspiracy. We should be advocating for reform that provides protection and justice to everyone involved. This is, after all, America!
As we do that, we also need to support the rights and needs of labor in terms of individual workers and as a movement. And, we need to pay attention to Mexico diplomatically and in terms of economic development and advancement as a partner, not an enemy or a threat. In my view, this is a matter of faith and justice.
I think people have legitimate concerns about our porous borders... I have some concerns as well.
Chris, I'd say the reason they are doing this is not humanitarian. Its both parties trying to woo and new voting block, which I think is disgusting.
We don't need to ignore the plight of the impoverished to our south, but we need to make sure we know who is coming in and who isn't... if for no other reason than to make sure terrorists or people with deadly communicable diseases don't come in. We do depend on the labor of people from Mexico and Central America, so we can't just cut off those workers and deport 12 million people.
The thing is, there is no good solution here. If you let the immigrants become legal, but make them pay a fine and/or let them know they aren't elligible for government services for a certain period of time, they will continue to fly under the radar. Like I said as well, even a massive fence will not secure the border. People will find a way to get in the country.
I don't know what to do. I understand both sides of the issue. All I know is that whomever I run into, legal or illegal, the way I treat them is not going to be dependent upon their status... its dependent upon how Jesus would treat them.
Undocumented immigrants do not qualify for entitlement programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security or any of the HHS or Dept of Agriculture "biggies."
We do educate the children--but why wouldn't we? That is all about social self-interest, etc. Because we are human, most of the time, we do allow anyone in need or crisis to go to our hospital ERs. In short, public benefits aren't much of a motivator for immigrants--it is work, work, work and the opportunity to advance that goes with it.
Call immigrants "materialistic" if you must judge, but never accuse them of being calculating about public benefits.
Immigration Facts Corrected
Illegal immigration is not immigration at all, it is an illegal or criminal act. Lumping legal immigrants into the same pot as law breakers is offensive and subvertive to truth and fact finding. Illegal immigration has a net effect of costing US taxpayers in direct and indirect costs over $200 billion annually, which has been documented (see Operation Safe America primer on the PUA Web site for more facts on "illegal immigration" at www.patriotunion.org.
Please respect your country and its laws and use accurate language rather than propaganda, which promotes the position of foreign governments, big business law breakers who exploit cheap illegal labor, and race-based organizations.
Jillian Rothchild
oh, so now the PUA website is the final, non-biased, objective word on the matter, is it? Come on!
Jullian, thanks for the post.
Help me here, how do you get to $200 billion annually--I assume you mean "net" after all the benefit these workers/consumers put back into the nation's life and economy. I don't have time to read a long report. Can you provide me an Executive Summary, blog style here??? In other words, show me the money.
I just heard Senator George Voinovich of Ohio interviewed by Sean Hannity. Heaven help us! He didn't know that the Senate killed the amendment to have illegals return home, he had not read the comprehensive immigration bill, he had no idea what it was going to cost because he had not done a cost analysis of the affect it would have on medicare and social security. He became very hostile even though Mr. Hannity was polite and respectful. He ended up almost hanging up if Sean had not ended the conversation. We must take a list of these senators, who refuse to listen, into the voting booth at the next general election.
Chris, immigrants cannot receive Medicare or Social Security. All the while, many are paying into those systems. The annual "donation" to Social Security by undocumented workers who will never be able to draw a dime in return is equal to 10% of the entire Social Security reserve fund, and again, this is every year.
Personal question: do you know any undocumented immigrants?
Juan Williams of NPR radio said of the amnesty bill, "It's just a nice thing to do." Let's look at a few other nice things our country has done.
1) The war on poverty--It was so nice. We have spent over 6 trillion dollars with no end in sight. It destroyed the family structure and didn't end poverty.
2.It was so nice not to destroy the prestine nature of our country for filthy oil. The results our heads are filled with nice thoughts and our independence is threatned with not nice dictators. We are totally dependent on foreign oil.
3. It didn't sound nice to oppose abortion. It was so nice to give a woman the right to choose. It has cost us 40 million needed workers since 1973. Forty million contributors snuffed out because we were nice.
As for immigration, why can't we just be nice to people, just get along. Why can't we just sit around and let the country be destroyed. At least we will be nice in the process and we will like ourselves. But our children and grandchildren will hate our guts.
I may know an illegal but I don't ask.
So you just assume that the person cleaning your hotel room is illegal?
I want to know the opposite "costs". How much is it going to cost us to take 12 million illegal Mexicans back to Mexico? 200 billion? How much to build a fence? 200 billion? How much will it cost our economy to replace several million low-wage jobs that our country does not even have the labor force to replace? 200 billion? How much free money will the government have to replace in Medicare and Social Security that will disappear once we kick out all the "Mexicans". 200 billion?
I'm amazed at how much racism there is on this blog. I really thought we were past those days, but apparently we're not. It's amazing how much "racism" gets (poorly) masked as debates about freedom, safety, and financial concerns.
Many of the comments from this blog over the last week or two have been utterly disgusting...
Make no mistake about it, racism is very, very alive in the U. S. Possibly the comments that reveal this serve a purpose to remind of us just how far we still have to go.
Race has nothing to do with it and if you notice I didn't mention it at all. One should not assume.
Just keep telling yourself that...
It's a lot easier to deceive yourself than realize the truth.
Chris,
you're comments are definitely borderline, at least!
Your first comment in this post clearly states you have some "problem" with people different from you, even if you aren't willing to call it racism.
An American European Union? You don't want open borders, you don't want people flowing freely, as in the EU.
It's clear you're bigoted against anyone who's not your white, protestant American. You want everyone to go back to/stay where they came from.
"One big happy family." Your sarcasm and utter disdain for a culture made up of people from different backgrounds is clear. YOU don't want to be around people who are not like you.
If that's not racism, I don't know what else to call it.
Anonymous,
If you could craft an immigration bill, what would it look like?
People forget that illegal immigration and terrorism are tied together.
I read a great plan for permanently ending ILLEGAL immigration and for securing our borders while greatly reducing the threat of terrrosim on US soil. It's called "BTAI" and it would remove an estimated 92% of illegal aliens from US soil within 16 months humanely and cost effectively through both a "carrot and stick approach."
It also temp. funds and expands border area Sheriff's dept. so they can lock the borders down within 180 days (Sheriff's report said they could secure the border within 90 days because they don't have the issues of set-up like the Border Patrol). After 5 years the Border Patrol would assume full control again when they are ramped up.
You can learn about BTAI at the PUA Web site: www.patriotunion.org/reform.htm
I read the articles and plan details there and I found them facinating---they make a lot of sense---I don't ever want to hear again "What do we do with the 12 million illegal aliens already here"---they answered that question big time!
I could give you the nutshell but it's easier if you just check it out and then come back to discuss.
Hey Chris,
Anonymous is uninformed at best. I lived in Mexico for years and you will never meet a more racist culture. You must remember, foreign Latino cultures never went though the learning process our culture did with Civil Rights. When I hear the crap that illegal Latinos think they're fight is equal to the fight that the Blacks had for Civil Rights (Blacks who are in their own country, by the way), I want to puke because of the disrespect that such a notion lays on our Blacks---those people suffered hell on earth (not just swimming across a sewer river).
The illegal aliens are "illegal" and have no rights (deserve nothing) and do not belong here, whereas the Blacks built this country, largely, and they are integral to American culture and life.
Illegal alien Latino are nothing but interlopers who have abandoned their terrible country and are bitter and have no respect for our culture---they shift their debates and arguments to suit them and not to describe reality or shine the light on themselves and their own cultures.
Ever walk into a border area Mc Donalds or Burger King and see who's working there---all illegal aliens---no Whites, no Blacks, no Asians, no Native Americans---they hire their own, as is typical in their home countries---descrimination and racism are the standards in foreign Latino cultures.
Did you know that I dislike all "head hunter tribes"? That's called culture clash---not racism---I don't care what color their skin is, if they eat people I hate them! Anonymous and other illegal aliens need to learn the difference between culture clash and racism (as do some liberals).
If illegal aliens don't like the treatment, then they should stay out of our country and quit breaking our laws and trying to horn in and tell people like Chris (and next me) we're intolerent---if anything, we're too damn tolerate and that's why we have such a mess on this issue!
MS-13 Latino gangs are now trying to intimidate Radio hosts and anti-illegal alien issue speakers and others from speaking out on this subject because they're so ugly and racist---if it keeps up, watch out, Americans won't stand for being physically intimindated---if the police won't act, Americans have a bad habit history of taking things into their own hands---I don't want to be around when the guns get pointed at Latinos because even the good law abiding US Hispanics were intimidated and refused to stand up and kick out the illegal aliens and gang members and set themselves apart from such criminals!
Post a Comment