Thread: For jobless Latinos, illegal immigration can be a sore point

For jobless Latinos, illegal immigration can be a sore point
By Matt O'Brien
Bay Area News Group
Posted: 10/29/2010 09:01:00 AM PDT
Updated: 10/30/2010 03:15:18 AM PDT


SAN LEANDRO -- Javier Gonzalez believes he would have a job today were it not for illegal immigration.

"I think that illegal immigrants do take jobs away from native workers, especially out here in the Bay Area," said the 43-year-old son of Mexican immigrants. "I'm unemployed, but I shouldn't have to be. I'm from the area. I was born here, and I can't get a job here."

For the jobless, especially those who work in the trades, the thought of competing against an illegal work force of undocumented immigrants can be a sore point. Labor market economists have long differed about whether such fears are grounded in reality.

But a study released Friday by the Pew Hispanic Center adds fuel to the fire, finding that as the economy slowly recovers, foreign-born workers are taking up jobs faster than their native-born counterparts. Immigrants, both legal and illegal, have gained 656,000 jobs since June 2009, the month that federal economists consider to be the end of the Great Recession. Native-born workers lost 1.2 million jobs in the same period of economic recovery, according to the report.

"There are some reasonable explanations," said Rakesh Kochhar, associate research director of the nonpartisan think tank. "I think the main one would be that the recession started earlier for foreign-born workers. They were hit hard earlier in the recession. Now, it seems they are bouncing back quicker."

The study does not distinguish between legal
and illegal immigrants because such data is not available, but unauthorized workers are undoubtedly a big part of the picture, Kochhar said.

Immigrants who come to the United States with limited job skills and educational backgrounds are typically the most vulnerable when there are volatile changes in the job market, he said. They also, however, tend to be more flexible in a bad economic environment, willing to move from one region or occupation to another.

"They are more sensitive to the business cycle," Kochhar said. "They get hit harder, but they bounce back sooner."

Because they are denied unemployment insurance, undocumented workers are also more desperate to take whatever job they can find, even if the work is sporadic and earns them a low wage. The study found that though immigrants found more jobs in the past year, they were not doing much better financially -- the median weekly earnings of immigrants has dropped 4.5 percent since summer 2009 while remaining relatively steady for U.S.-born workers.

Several variables affected the results, including the loss of thousands of temporary census jobs in the spring and summer. This disproportionately affected U.S.-born workers because illegal immigrants are disqualified from jobs in the federal government.

The stagnant construction industry accounted for more than half the 1.2 million jobs lost by native-born workers. It was also the sector that saw the starkest difference between foreign-born and U.S.-born workers, especially among those who identify themselves as Latino.

Latino immigrants gained 98,000 construction jobs from 2009 to 2010, but Latinos who were born in the United States lost 133,000 construction jobs in the same period, along with 92,000 jobs in transportation, warehousing, wholesale and retail trade.


http://www.insidebayarea.com/business/ci_16473678

Hopefully other unemployed Latinos feel the same way and will make their vote count. California is run by Service Employees Internation Union and they contribute so much money to the Democrats we pretty much get the same politicians over and over.

The media keeps saying how much power the Latino vote holds, I think a large percentage feel the way this man does, illegal immigration hurts them just like everyone else. Vote!

I'm holding the state of Nevada personally responsible for most of the immigration mess, you residents there must get Harry Reid out of office. He's already said he's bringing up the Dream Act after the elections. Vote him out now!

Hispanic Americans are waking up and realizing if they didn't already that they are NOT a voting block for the Democrats to use to sell out our country, bankrupt our nation and impoverish our citizens.

What's good for a white, black or hispanic American is good for all Americans and illegal immigration is bad for all of us.