logo Layer 3 Layer 2
Back to Home Page

 
May 10, 2007


WSJ: Worst Job Market for Teens

"If your teenager is looking for a job this summer, as mine is, brace yourself: The employment outlook for teens is among the gloomiest in decades," warns Work and Family columnist Sue Shellenbarger with the Wall Street Journal. "This summer's teen employment rate will match a 57-year low set in 2004 and 2005, predicts Andrew Sum, director for the Center for Labor Market Studies and Northeastern University, based on an analysis of federal data released last week. Just 36.5% of 16- to 19-year-olds will be working, down from 37.1% in 2006 and 45$ in 2000, he says, citing increased competition for part-time and temp jobs from older workers and immigrants."



 


Some Terrorists Are More Equal Than Others

"Three months before the 1976 midair explosion of a Cuban plane off the coast of Barbados, CIA covert operative Luis Posada Carriles cabled his U.S. minders from Venezuela to report that the plot was in motion and asked for Washington's 'assistance.' Recently declassified CIA communications confirm that a U.S. agent got back to Posada within a few days. Other internal communications obtained by the National Security Archive research project put Posada in regular contact with Washington handlers from the time of his arrival here just before the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion through the late 1990s, when he allegedly masterminded a series of Havana hotel bombings in an effort to crush Cuba's budding tourism business," the LA Times reports. "'After learning that Mr. Luis Posada Carriles, a known terrorist, was released from U.S. custody and allowed to reside in the U.S. as a free man, I have become very concerned about our ability to protect our nation,' U.S. Rep. Jose E. Serrano (D-N.Y.) wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Wednesday."

Read the full story



 


Behind the Scenes Amnesty Negotiations

"The debate about immigration reform is shifting dramatically, and with it the high-stakes negotiations between Democrats and Republicans that have been taking place for several weeks now in a backroom on Capitol Hill. The good news: The fight over legalization, or 'amnesty,' is all but over. Even conservative Republicans intensely skeptical about a foreign influx are coming to understand that we as a nation can't solve the problem of illegal immigration without doing something about the 12 million illegal immigrants already here, and together they and Democrats are crafting a measure that would allow many of those workers to earn citizenship over time," says amnesty cheerleader Tamar Jacoby. "The not-so-good news: There is very little agreement among lawmakers about the much larger, more important issue of how to structure the immigration system going forward. In fact, the Republicans in the backroom in Washington are considering a point system, but they want to apply it primarily to people waiting abroad for permanent visas. The problem with that idea? What can we determine about people waiting abroad beyond their skill and education level? Of course we need more doctors and computer scientists. But we also need farmhands and drywallers. And there's no real way to judge from afar how well either group will do here." [FAIR comment: There are a lot of back-room negotiations going on right now. However, nothing is written in stone - keep the calls to Congress coming.]

Update: The Wall Street Journal has a story today about the infighting between farm interests over AgJobs and backers of a broader amnesty. Particularly interesting is the industry's continued efforts to maintain indentured status for farm-workers as long as possible. "[P]roducers worry that the Senate legalization plan is so broad that farm workers will leave their fields for less arduous jobs in urban areas . . . "We have to make sure that when we get workers, they stay in agriculture. You can't apply all the rules to every industry," said Tom Nassif, president of the Western Growers Association.

Read the full story



 


AZ Gov. Vetoes Anti-Matricula Bill

"Vetoing another bill in which lawmakers targeted illegal immigration, Gov. Janet Napolitano rejected a measure that would have prohibited state agencies and local governments from accepting ID cards provided by the Mexican government to its citizens. The ID cards can be obtained at Mexican consulates throughout the state," KVOA-TV reported. "Phoenix is among more than 360 cities across the country that accept the credit card-sized Mexican ID cards for such purposes as getting water service, library cards or help from community health centers. The legislation would not have affected the use of the card for private transactions such as opening a bank account or buying a car."

Read the full story