LETTERS: NCT, April 5, 2009
By Readers of the North County Times
San Diego and SW Riverside County, California
Sunday, April 5, 2009 12:09 AM PDT

Economic victims of illegal immigrant labor

Bureau of Labor Statistics (February 2009): 2.6 million unemployed Hispanic Americans; an unemployment rate of 12 percent. That's approximately 1.7 million men and 900,000 women. ... BLS also shows the unemployment rate among U.S.-born Hispanic young adults with high school diplomas is 13.6 percent; 40.3 percent among U.S.-born Hispanic teens (age 16-17).

Other victims are 1.6 million unemployed, less-educated, young adult Americans having only a high school diploma who are looking for work but unable to find any kind of job. Of the young adults, a recent study shows that 291,000 of them are looking for a full-time job and have had to settle for part-time hours. Another 477,000 teens (16-17) are unemployed and actively seeking jobs (http://www.cis.org/December2008Unemployment).

Recent studies show that the poor, particularly people with only a high school diploma or less, have a net cost to the U.S. Treasury of $20,000 per year. The dropout rate for children of illegals, including those born in the U.S., is roughly 50 percent. The Census Bureau says within 40 years, at current rates of immigration, the U.S. population will increase by 140 million. America's current unfunded liabilities are nearly $60 trillion (http://www.heritage.org/research/immigr ... 52107a.cfm).

That's before the current financial chaos. Who's going to pay?

Brandon

Oceanside

LETTERS: NCT, April 5, 2009