Rising Unemployment Stalls Obama's Push for Immigration Reform--Good
By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.
There are few silver linings in an economic recession. But here's one: The current recession may derail President Obama's pledge to reform immigration laws including a "path to legalization" for at least 12 million immigrants now living illegally in the United States.
Bloomberg has this take on the prospects for immigration reform:
The long campaign to overhaul U.S. immigration laws may be derailed for yet another year—this time by the deteriorating economy.
Lawmakers, lobbyists and advocates on both sides of the issue said the highest unemployment rate in more than 25 years would make it difficult for President Barack Obama to push legislation that would legalize millions of immigrants in the country illegally and create a new guest-worker program.
"The debate has changed," said Senator Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican who opposed immigration legislation when it was last considered in 2007. "I don't think it's going to be a pleasant discussion because the American people won't be happy about it."
I come to my opposition to massive legal and illegal immigration from an environmental perspective. We're never going to cut down on smog, overdevelopment, traffic jams, yes, even traffic jams (and oh, don't forget, global warming) without first getting population growth under control.
Funny that a new group pushing for increased immigration is made up of major U.S. corporations, according to the Bloomberg piece:
Englewood, Colorado-based Western Union and Bethesda, Maryland-based Marriott have joined a new advocacy group, ImmigrationWorks USA, to push for (immigration reform) legislation.
Of course corporations want more poverty-stricken people entering the country—even in the midst of a recession with millions of Americans out of work. Those in desperate economic circumstances are willing to take any pittance as wages. Look at what this new group, Immigration Works USA says on its website:
Unskilled Labor Shortage: The Facts
- The Department of Labor estimates that half of the jobs created in the next five years will require no more than a high school education.
- In 1960 half of all American men dropped out of high school to look for unskilled work. Today only 10% do.
- 50% of all the new jobs created in the last decade were filled by foreign-born workers.
- A recent Pew Study highlights the crisis:
- Annual need for unskilled foreign workers: 500,000.
- Visas issued annually to year-round unskilled workers: 5,000.
- Losing immigrant labor would be devastating for the U.S. economy—for American businesses and the Americans who work for them.
This claim is ridiculous on its face. Hire legal citizens, and pay them decent wages.
Check out our political cartoons.
- Read more by Bonnie Erbe.
- Read more from the Thomas Jefferson Street blog.
- Read more about immigration.
Tags: economy | immigration
Tools: 
Share
|
| Comments (19) | Print
Reader Comments
TOO MANY HISPANICS IN THIS COUNTRY IN MASS NUMBERS
WE DO NOT NEED AMNESTY FOR ILLEGALS WITH SO MANY MILLIONS OF AMERICANS OUT OF WORK. THIS WOULD BE A SLAP IN THE AMERICAN PEOPLES FACE WHO MOST ARE ALREADY STRUGLING TO FIND JOBS AND KEEP THEIR FAMILIES ABOVE WATER. THERE ARE ALREADY TOO MANY HISPANICS IN THIS COUNTRY. SUPPORTING AMNESTY WOULD BE POLITICAL SUICIDE FOR OBAMA. WHITES AS WELL AS BLACKS ARE AGAINST AMNESTY. ITS BAD ENOUGH THERE ARE ALREADY MILLIONS OF HISPANICS IN THIS COUNTRY, ITS GETTING SO THAT YOU CAN'T BREATH ANYMORE AS THEY ARE ALL OVER THE PLACE. WE ARE BEING BOMBARDED AND OVERCROWED WITH HISPANICS IN THIS COUNTRY. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. BY LETTING ON INTO THE COUNTRY, YOU MIGHT AS WELL BE LETTING 10 COME IN. THERE ARE TOO MANY DAMN HISPANICS IN THIS COUNTRY AND THE LAST THING WE NEED IS TO LET MILLIONS MORE IN. WHAT IDIOT ALLOWS ANOTHER PEOPLE TO COME IN AND OVERWHELM AND OUTNUMBER THE OCCUPANTS OF HIS OWN COUNTRY! THIS IS SHEER IDIOCY!!! FORECASTERS WARNED AMERICA YEARS AGO THAT IF THEY DIDN'T WAKE UP, THEY WOULD ONE DAY FIND OUT THAT "JEWS" WOULD OWN PRACTICALLY EVERYTHING IN THIS COUNTRY. DID AMERICA LISTEN NO!!!! ONCE AGAIN, FORCASTERS ARE SAYING THAT IF AMERICA DOESN'T WAKE UP AND ACT ON THE MILLIONS OF ILLEGALS (PARTICULARLY HISPANICS) IN THIS COUNTRY, AMERICANS WILL ONE DAY WAKE UP AND FIND THEIRSELVES OUTNUMBERED BY THE HISPANIC POPULATION IN THE MASSES. WAKE UP AMERICA!!! YOU ARE GOING TO FIND YOURSELVES COMPETING FOR JOBS IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY AGAINST AN OVERWHELMING NUMBER OF ILLEGALS AND IN PARTICULAR HISPANICS! IT THIS WHAT YOU REALLY WANT YOUR FUTURE TO BE LIKE????
people should understand that when it comes to immigration, there's no white or black; only grey
wow.... how cold. basically you're saying that it's best for the impoverished to die. How else is an ilegal alien going to make a difference when it comes to pollution? Pollution is global; what we do here affects australia so by saying you come to your position from an environmental stand point you're saying mexico needs to keep their poor and stop raining on us. In a country where things are so good, do you really want children to be raised where things are so bad? If you really want to control population, start by joining a lobby that petitions for vasectomies/tubal ligations on those who fail moral conduct tests. I think we should keep creeps from being parents, not those whose only crime is wanting a better life for their family. Do you blame the homeless for their misfortune. If they're squatting in an unoccupied place, are they more criminal that someone who steals? Get your priorities straight. Maybe this is God's means of the survival of the fittest. They're doing what they have to to survive. Maybe we as americans should stop being so proud and be happy for what we have.
worker visas
"Visas issued annually to year-round unskilled workers: 5,000."
This totally ignores that fact that most of our LEGAL immigration comes from FAMILY-BASED immigration (about 800,000 family green cards vs. 140,000 employment-based green cards) and that many of those who enter under family reunification are low skilled or unskilled and not well educated. In short, we get plenty of year-round unskilled workers, just not under visas specifically for such workers, and these LEGAL workers often compete directly with illegal aliens for jobs.
advertisement
