New Report Draws Direct Link Between Immigration and Unemployment for American Workers

by Ira Mehlman

While unemployment in the United States remains stubbornly high (officially 9.4%, but actually closer to 17% when discouraged workers and people relegated to part-time work are factored in), the picture for immigrants is much brighter. According to a forthcoming report from the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, some 1.1 million legal and illegal immigrants entered the U.S. labor force between 2008 and 2010. Over the same period, employment for American workers declined by 6.26 million jobs.

In an interview with Reuters, the author of the study, Andrew Sum, makes it clear that the hiring boom for new immigrants - about 35% of whom are in the country illegally - has come directly at the expense of American workers. "Employers have chosen to use new immigrants over native-born workers and have continued to displace large numbers of blue-collar workers and young adults without college degrees," states Sum.

The study finds that employers favor immigrant workers - particularly illegal aliens - because they work for lower wages, do not demand health care and other benefits, and because businesses can avoid paying payroll taxes.

The majority of immigrant workers who entered the U.S. labor force between 2008 and 2010 took jobs that could be done by unemployed American workers. These include jobs in construction, hotels and food services, retail trade, sanitation and cleaning.

The report amounts to a devastating indictment of America's political leadership that has allowed millions of American workers and their families to suffer by maintaining immigration policies that prevent them from gaining access to jobs in their own country.