January 25, 2009


Stop giving jobs to noncitizens


To the Editor:

Upon reading your Thursday report, "N.J. jobless rate spikes in December," which includes the bad news that the New Jersey jobless rate has hit a 15-year high, I thought our leaders should consider the following facts in order to create jobs for millions of unemployed Americans.

The Department of Homeland Security's most recent year data shows the United States issued 744,531 permanent green cards to working-age adults and 912,735 new work authorization documents to temporary foreign workers, which is an annual rate of 1,657,266 new foreign workers added to our struggling economy.

That does not include the 7 million jobs (according to the PEW Hispanic Center) held by illegal aliens.

At this rate, each month this year DHS will issue an average of 138,000 new work permits and green cards to working-age adults.

With 11 million Americans unemployed and no end in sight, this makes no sense.

In order to provide relief to some of the 11 million jobless Americans, wouldn't it make sense to reduce the importation of foreign workers, enforce our immigration laws through passage of E-Verify and the SAVE Act, which would ensure that all workers are legal and would uphold our employment laws; refrain from granting amnesty, because passage of amnesty would permanently remove 7 million jobs from American workers; and refuse to grant other rewards that only encourage additional illegal immigration?

KATHLEEN M. PACIFICO

Mount Arlington

www.dailyrecord.com