http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mp ... al/3339517

Sept. 5, 2005, 12:49AM



LABOR AND LAMENTATION
Does the United States need illegal immigrants? How can destitute Americans be put to work?
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

ILLEGAL immigration is again a hot-button American issue. Fear of terrorism, economic insecurity, concerns about "cultural dilution" and resentment over public extra spending for social services drive this growing anxiety and xenophobia. Whatever arguments might be made on these fronts, the case that illegal immigrants are stealing jobs from American workers is increasingly difficult to make.

In California, reports the Los Angeles Times, growers don't have enough workers to bring in summer harvests. They blame stricter enforcement by federal border agents and competition from construction, another industry heavily dependent on immigrant labor.

When the fruit is ripening on the vine, the farmers don't care if the labor comes from undocumented Mexican immigrants or unemployed Silicon Valley programers. The problem is that unemployed Americans generally don't seek out back-breaking agricultural work.

Union leaders and immigration foes blame low wages. They argue that if the supply of cross-border migrant workers were cut off, wages would rise and Americans would take those jobs. The California farmers say labor costs are 80 percent of their expenses and they can't afford to pay more. Neither can many Americans afford to pay more for food at the grocery store. American workers would have to replace 53 percent of the nation's agricultural work force if illegal immigrants were no longer available, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Similar labor shortages are apparent elsewhere in the country. Houston's growing economy employs hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, with new arrivals every day. Now thousands of unemployed evacuees from Louisiana need to find work. Some will return to New Orleans eventually and need only temporary or part-time work. Others will remain here and need permanent employment.

Drive-up labor exchanges such as those long used by immigrant day laborers can provide work for some evacuees, but the city should do more. Along with other social services set up at the Astrodome, a nonprofit employment agency should try to match job offers with evacuees.

The United States also feels shortfalls of trained professionals, particularly in science and engineering. In a Labor Day appeal, John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, decried the growing shortage of workers with training in science, engineering, math and high-level technical training. Illegal immigrants are not going to plug this labor gap. Lamentably, Americans, who are dropping out of high school at rates approaching 40 percent, aren't either. If U.S. manufacturers can't find the skilled labor they need at home, they will look for help overseas.

Border-watch groups such as the Minuteman Project and organizations such as the Washington-based Federation for American Immigration Reform are calling for the federal government to crack down on the estimated 7 million to 11 million people living and working illegally in the United States. Texas, along with California, New York, Florida and Illinois, has the highest concentrations. If even half were forced out of the labor pool, the economic impact would be widely felt.

Business says it needs foreign labor. Immigration reformers say the country needs to be able to control its borders. It is incumbent on Washington to take care of both needs by providing needed laborers a practical, legal channel into the work force.