Question:
The state unemployment-compensation bureaucracy here in North
Carolina now openly says it - that the more illegal aliens an industry
gets working in it, the smaller wage increases in that industry are -
and, in many cases, those are industries LOTS of native-born Americans
work in here in North Carolina.
The head of a welfare-to-work program's Greensboro-area division
says that illegals in her area are doing jobs the native-born Americans
she's trying to find work for could be doing.
Does ANYONE seriously still think that illegal immigration is a
"victimless crime?" Does ANYONE still believe Bush's bull that illegal
aliens just work in "jobs no American will take?"
Answer:
Early one morning recently, Michael Donnell was standing outside a
temporary employment agency on South Elm-Eugene Street, waiting for it
to open so he could get work for the day.
It's been almost a year since the Greensboro resident held a permanent
job, and he blames low-paid immigrant workers as part of the reason.
"Cheaper pay for them, less work for us," he said.
But James Chambers, another Greensboro resident waiting outside the
agency, said other things blocked him and many unemployed residents
from full-time work.
In his case, Chambers said, the obstacle was the lack of a car.
Those two beliefs reflect the differences of opinion as to how much
impact illegal immigration is having on the Piedmont Triad labor
market, where foreigners who are in this country unlawfully work mainly
in low-paid, low-skill jobs.
There is some evidence that illegal immigrants could be depressing
wages in industries that rely heavily on their labor: construction,
restaurants and building maintenance.
But employment agencies and others who work with job seekers cite
little evidence that large numbers of illegal immigrants are taking
desirable jobs in other industries.
"It's hard to say it's a problem caused by illegal immigrants," said
Vanessa Smith, program manager for Guilford County Work First, of her
agency's work with roughly 1,300 jobless welfare recipients.
There's no question illegal immigrants are receiving jobs that Work
First clients could be doing, said Smith, whose agency helps welfare
recipients find jobs to get them off public assistance.
But U.S.-born clients fail to land a job most often because of a glitch
in their background, such as a felony conviction or their refusal to
work long hours at relatively low pay, Smith said.
Displaced workers from the region's diminishing manufacturing base are
bigger rivals for the better types of jobs than illegal immigrants,
Smith said. That's because many of the former mill workers have good
work histories coveted by employers, she said.
Statistical and academic studies also have reached conflicting
conclusions about illegal immigration's impact on employment nationally
and across North Carolina.
