The Immigration Policy Center Sweeps American Workers Under the Carpet

by Jack Martin

The Immigration Policy Center - a creation of the immigration lawyers association - is trying to convince policymakers and the public that illegal aliens do not compete for jobs with American workers. They assert that:

"The data demonstrates. . . that most foreign-born workers differ from most native-born workers in terms of what occupations they work in, where in the country they live, and how much education they have. What this means in practical terms is that most native-born workers are not directly competing for jobs with immigrant workers because they are in different labor markets."

The word "most" is used to sweep under the carpet the social injustice of allowing illegal alien workers to undercut wages and working conditions of America's most vulnerable workers. Sure, most American workers are not high school dropouts. Sure, most illegal immigrant workers do not have college degrees - and would have difficulty getting a professional job anyway. But that does not mean that there are not millions of Americans today looking for jobs - or full-time jobs, and especially jobs that offer some security, and it does not mean that there aren't millions of illegal aliens filling jobs that those unemployed and underemployed Americans are seeking.