I can't stand globalist Michael Bloomberg...IMO He wants to give this country away....

Hearing shows immigration divisiveness

By MARC HELLER
TIMES WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2010

WASHINGTON β€” Democratic lawmakers took some responsibility Thursday for failing to advance immigration reform, but a hearing on the economic impact of immigrant workers reinforced the divisions that have stymied Congress.

On one side, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch touted the importance of non-native-born workers to the city's economy and chided Congress for inaction.

On the other, a researcher at the Center for Immigration Studies suggested immigration is bad for American workers and challenged the notion that immigrants take jobs that U.S. workers are unwilling to do β€” a common refrain from farmers in New York and other states.

"The economics couldn't be any clearer," Mr. Bloomberg told a House Judiciary subcommittee. He urged lawmakers to "move the debate away from emotion" and focus on immigration as an economic issue.

Since 1990, cities with the biggest increases in immigrant workers have posted the fastest economic growth, Mr. Bloomberg said. And New York City has weathered the recession better than the rest of the country because of immigrant workers, he said.

Immigrants who work here pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits and are more likely than native-born Americans to start their own businesses, Mr. Bloomberg said.

Mr. Bloomberg and Mr. Murdoch, who owns Fox Broadcasting Co. and the Wall Street Journal, are leading an effort called the Partnership for a New American Economy, focusing on fixing the immigration system through enforcement and immigration reform, including giving the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States a path to citizenship.

"It is nonsense to talk of expelling 12 million people," Mr. Murdoch said. "Not only is it impractical, it is cost prohibitive."

Citing a study estimating the cost of deportation at $57 billion annually for five years, Mr. Murdoch said, "There are better ways to spend our money."

But one panelist, Steven A. Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports reduced immigration, said a large work force of low-skilled immigrants depresses wages for other workers. And he questioned whether companies really fill jobs with immigrants because they cannot find other workers. Most maids and housekeepers, taxi drivers, construction workers and janitors are native born, he said, citing federal Department of Labor statistics.

"To keep flooding the labor market with unskilled immigrants just doesn't make sense," Mr. Camarota said.

Lawmakers on the subcommittee showed little sign of shifting position. Reps. Steve King, R-Iowa, and Lamar Smith, R-Texas, who advocate tighter immigration policies, maintained their emphasis on enforcement, while Democrats tried to counter the notion that they are soft on securing the borders.

"It's difficult to bark and not have teeth," said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas. She said she and Mr. Smith β€” top lawmakers on an immigration panel β€” should have done more on immigration policy, either when Republicans held the majority before 2007 or after Democrats gained control.

Mr. Bloomberg did not take issue with that assessment, saying that only a combination of enforcement, fair policies to let immigrants work here and a reduction in demand for undocumented workers will solve the immigration problem.

"The public is tired of Congress talking about things but not doing anything," Mr. Bloomberg said.

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