Blacks and Illegal Immigration, Part One: What Undocumented Workers are Costing Us
Jackie Jones

While the Republican presidential candidates have made immigration reform one of the major issues in the campaign and have even linked it to national security, it has gotten a much lower profile among Democrats.

This time last year, immigration had become a flashpoint issue that reached beyond Capitol Hill, especially among black Americans. Illegal immigration was being debated on black radio, in barber shops and during community meetings. The question on everyone’s lips was whether illegal immigrants were taking jobs from black Americans.

By late fall and early winter, however, the issue had diminished. Dramatically.

According to a survey of likely black presidential primary voters conducted by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, less than one percent of those surveyed identified immigration as the most important national problem.

“As a factor for the election, the answer is no,â€