Thread: California Group Seeks to Curb Flow of Legal Immigration

State & Local
California Group Seeks to Curb Flow of Legal Immigration Until Jobless Rate Falls

Published March 12, 2011
| FoxNews.com
A group in California is calling for a reduction in the number of legal immigrants allowed to work in the state until more Californians are working again.

Californians for Population Stabilization says the federal government continues to admit more than 1 million immigrants and temporary workers a year "to take American jobs despite the country's highest unemployment levels since
the Great Depression."

The group launched a TV campaign last month, with ads airing in San Francisco, San Luis Obispo and Bakersfield, where the group says the jobless rate exceeds 16 percent but has topped 18 percent within the last year.

In the ad, a man separates the first two letters from the word "illegal."

"Attention is turning to the millions of illegal workers in the state. It's about time," he says. "But what about these workers: legal foreign workers?"

Marilyn DeYoung, the group's board chairman, told Fox News Latino that she wants to lower the number of all foreign work visas, from those given to seasonal agricultural workers harvesting fruit to the H1B's given to highly-skilled workers, such as foreign engineers who come to work in Silicon Valley.

"Of course people who have a degree from Sri Lanka would like to come here because they get the experience and they get much better wages," she told Fox News Latino. "But the employer is paying half of what they would an American worker. And Mr. Sri Lanka doesn't come alone. He comes in and he brings his parents, his grandparents, his children. It's
chain migration, it's not just him."

In the press releases announcing the ads in the cities, DeYoung calls out Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the No. 3 Republican in House, saying it's time for him to "stand up" for California workers.

A spokesman for McCarthy did not respond to a request for comment.

California is forced to borrow $40 million a day from the federal government to pay unemployment benefits while the federal government continues to flood the state with legal immigrants and temporary workers, the group said, citing recent studies by the Pew Hispanic Center and Northeastern University that show new immigrants are landing jobs while Americans are losing them.

But the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles strongly disputed the group's message and said it only revealed the true intentions of the anti-illegal immigration movement.

"Many of these organizations have said their only problem was with illegal immigrants. What they're now showing in fact is they also have a problem with legal migration," said Angelica Salas, the coalition's director told FoxNews.com.

"For the state of California, it has a high level of immigration," she said. "It's really a matter of how do we fully integrate immigrants and support immigrants with their entrepreneurial spirit so they can contribute more for our community to thrive and our economy to thrive."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/03 ... ate-falls/

"For the state of California, it has a high level of immigration," she said. "It's really a matter of how do we fully integrate immigrants and support immigrants with their entrepreneurial spirit so they can contribute more for our community to thrive and our economy to thrive."

Most of these people don't integrate. Also, I found this statment quite interesting. "Support immigrants with their entrepreneurial spirit?" In other words, how much money are we going to give them so they can start another donut shop, dry cleaners, nail salon, or liquor store. Isn't that what she really means by that statment?

Californians For Population Stabilization ( CAPS )

Mar 9, 2011 ... Promotes policies and programs designed to stabilize the population at a level to preserve a good quality of life for all Californians.
www.capsweb.org/

About Us Overview
(Since 1986)
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Mission Statement

Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS) works to formulate and advance policies and programs designed to stabilize the population of California at a level which will preserve a good quality of life for all Californians.

About CAPS

CAPS is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1986 and working to preserve California's future through the stabilization of our state's human population. Since nearly all of California's runaway population growth comes from immigration, CAPS focuses largely on this issue: sponsoring public and media awareness campaigns, working with lawmakers to promote more responsible policies, maintaining a growing network of member-activists, and conducting vital research.

Let's Do Something About the "State of Immigration"

In recent years, California has become the "state of immigration." While there are many positive aspects to immigration, too much of a good thing can quickly become a detriment. And current numbers—which add millions to our national population each year, and hundreds of thousands to our state population—are simply unsustainable. Each newcomer adds to the growing strain on our environment, infrastructure, and quality of life.

The Problem: Too Many People

From impossible traffic jams, to record-breaking air pollution, to an exhausted health care system, many of the most serious problems facing California today have one root cause: too many people. An endless supply of newcomers places an ever-increasing demand on our state—and nation’s—finite resources.

California Sees Unprecedented Growth

Our state's population exceeded 38.6 million as of January 1, 2010. If current growth rates continue, we will reach 60 million by 2050, according to the California Department of Finance.

Already California's cities top national lists for air pollution; traffic; overdevelopment; water and energy crises; school and prison overcrowding; depleted hospitals; and more. Imagine our state with twice the current population!

Consider California's increasing growth rates since 1960. The population more than doubled in forty-plus years.


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CAPS was organized in 1986, when it split off from ZPG (Zero Population Growth) because that organization, like many other population groups, decided to focus on the politically safer issue of global overpopulation.