http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/3740697.html

March 22, 2006, 5:36PM
Study: Immigrants have put pressure on employment rates

By DIRK VANDERHART
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — A glut of immigrants in the country's job market has contributed to shrinking employment rates among America's least-educated workers, the Center for Immigration Studies said in a study released today.

The center, which wants tighter restrictions on immigration, also found that jobless Americans with a high school degree or less are ceasing to look for work due to increased competition for jobs from legal and illegal immigrants.

"This kind of research points to the fact that it would make sense to make many illegal aliens go home as soon as possible," said Steve Camarota, author of the study, which was based on Census data from 2000 to 2005.

During that period, only 9 percent of the increase in adult jobs went to natives, the study reported. In Texas, the center said, the share of adult immigrant workers increased 3.2 percent, while the number of natives working decreased by 3.3 percent.

Among possible reasons cited by Camarota: A surplus of willing workers could drive down wages for certain jobs causing natives to quit, or perhaps immigrants are perceived as harder workers.

Jared Bernstein, a researcher and program director at the liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute, disagreed with many of the study's conclusions.

"The idea here is that immigrant competition is broadly hurting domestic workers, and I just don't think the evidence is really there," said Bernstein, noting that the overall job market was weak during the years in question. "Almost no one has been unscathed."

In addition, Bernstein said, the report didn't address the fact that many occupations that mainly employ natives weren't hiring as much as occupations that draw heavily from the immigrant population.

The study came as the U.S. Senate prepares to take up immigration legislation next week. The immigration debate has focused on whether the United States should approve a guest worker program. Opponents claim that illegal immigrants are taking jobs away from native-born Americans, while proponents, including President Bush, argued that there are certain jobs that Americans won't do.

"Any suggestion that immigrants and natives do fundamentally different kinds of work is just silly," Camarota said.