http://online.barrons.com/article/SB112 ... 43577.html

Will Congress Bail Out Gulf Coast Bondholders?
By Jim McTague
Barron's Magazine, September 19, 2005

[Second item]
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Wishful Thinking

President Bush seems to agree with Jesse Jackson on at least one thing: Residents of Louisiana and Mississippi should get the first shot at construction jobs as the area recovers from 'Latrina.' This is wishful thinking. In fact, one big beneficiary may be Mexico, because 24% of all U.S. construction workers are legal or illegal immigrants and most are from Mexico. Many of these immigrants send some of their pay home; the estimated cumulative total is more than $13 billion a year.

A 2004 study by Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, suggests that immigrants are steadily pushing native-born Americans out of the construction industry. The decline in native employment, he says, is most pronounced in states with the biggest influxes of immigrants, including some along the Gulf Coast.

Ironically, the storm will delay progress on several immigration-control bills until next year. Meanwhile, reconstruction efforts are proceeding, and President Bush has suspended the Davis Bacon Act, which sets a wage floor for federal projects in different U.S. regions. Critics claim this will invite contractors to hire illegal immigrants, who will work for much less than U.S. citizens.
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