Congressmen Put Illegal Aliens/ Immigration Above Needs of Jobless American Mi Illegal Aliens and High Immigration Above Needs of Jobless

From: Roy Beck, President, NumbersUSA Date: Wednesday 2MAR2011 Noon EXPLOSIVE CONGRESSIONAL HEARING Open-Borders Congressmen Put Illegal Aliens and High Immigration Above Needs of Jobless American Minorities Argue Foreign Workers Don't Take Jobs From Americans Below are excerpts of our Jonathan Osborne's report from yesterday's congressional hearing on the effect of our immigration policies on Black and Hispanic Americans who are suffering incredibly high unemployment rates. You should bookmark www.NumbersUSA.com and come to it regularly for Jonathan's reports of these hearings. He is a former congressional staffer and is Chief Legislative Analyst for NumbersUSA. ACTION -- You can read all of this hearing report at: http://www.numbersusa.com/content/nusablog/jonosborne/march-1-2011/house-subcommitte-discusses-impact-immigration-minorities.html AND YOU CAN JOIN THE DISCUSSION THERE. ACTION -- Many of you will find on your customized Action Board faxes to send to the Open-Borders Representatives who serve on the House Judiciary Committee. (And most of you will also find other specialized faxes that have recently been placed there for you to send.) One outrageous assertion made continually yesterday was that it would be wrong to reduce the foreign labor competition for unemployed American minorities because the main reason they are unemployed is that there isn't enough federal money for job training programs. We've heard this for years. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas), for example, once told me in a congressional hearing that she didn't want her constituents having decent-pay service and construction jobs because she wanted them all to be computer programmers and to take other high-tech jobs. What the Open-Borders Representatives don't seem to understand is that there is unemployment at every skill level. I don't take a stand against training programs, but what is the point of training for jobs that the federal government will continually pour new foreign workers into? The other outrageous argument of the Open Borders people yesterday was that Judiciary leaders Gallegly (R-Calif.) and Smith (R-Texas) were holding the hearings to create a political war between Blacks and Hispanics. For one thing, the leaders invited both Black and Hispanic witnesses, each of which testified that lower immigration and more immigration enforcement would help their ethnic groups. Most studies indicate that the Americans who are harmed the most by illegal immigration and high legal immigration are Hispanic Americans. So, it is unconscionable to do as some of the Open Border Representatives did yesterday and accuse Black Americans calling for less immigrant-job competitors of waging war against Hispanic Americans. Because any immigration reductions that would help Black Americans would help Hispanic Americans (and probably help Hispanic Americans even more). EXCERPTS OF JONATHAN OSBORNE'S REPORT OF CONGRESSIONAL HEARING ON IMMIGRATION & AMERICAN MINORITY UNEMPLOYMENT The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement hosted a hearing Tuesday morning called Making Immigration Work for American Minorities. * * * The witnesses were Dr. Carol Swain of Vanderbilt University, Dr. Frank Morris with Progressives for Immigration Reform, and George Rodriguez with San Antonio Tea Party, all of whom testified for more enforcement. Also testifying was Wade Henderson, the President and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and a defender of illegal aliens. * * * Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) took the first big shot of the hearing with a snide remark aimed at Dr. Swain because of her criticism of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). Dr. Swain is an African American professor, and nothing upsets a CBC Member like Conyers more than an educated black woman siding with the Republicans, so much for freedom of thought (I wish I could have seen Conyers face on election night when Tim Scott and Allen West were elected). Conyers went on to say that the CBC is the conscience of the Congress. CBC Members use that line so much I'm beginning to think they actually believe they are a mainstream organization. Conyers then went on to tell Dr. Swain that: "I've been elected 23 times. I hope you won't hold that against the Congress or my constituents." Dr. Swain insisted that the CBC needs to do a better job of protecting the downtrodden. After questioning Dr. Swain, Conyers turned his attention to George Rodriguez who had said in his earlier statement that if our laws were enforced, many illegal aliens would go home on their own. Conyers said: "That's the most preposterous thing Ive heard all morning." Rodriguez (who supports vigourous enforcement against illegal immigration) said: "We as Hispanics are tired of being lumped together with illegal immigrants." It was a statement no one on the committee could contradict. When it was Zoe Lofgrens (D-Calif.) turn to speak, she immediately went on to plug comprehensive immigration reform (amnesty) by saying, "The polls show Americans overwhelmingly support comprehensive immigration reform." * * * Apparently, Sheila Jackson Lee wasn't paying close attention to the hearing or witness statements because when it was her turn to speak she immediately said: "This hearing is the dead on point reason for Comprehensive Immigration Reform." She then went on to defend the Obama Administration by saying that ICE raids have yielded a 45% increase in arrests. Like I mentioned in a previous blog, these numbers are skewed because the Administration sets the formula for compliance; a numerator without a denominator. Fireworks usually erupt when Ted Poe speaks and he made another good point today when he brought up the problem at the border. He said: "Only 15% of the border is airtight . . . 56% of the border is not controlled by the United States." Ted Poe went on to discuss the rule of law: "There is a philosophy in the United States that the rule of law doesnt apply to everyone. They seem to discriminate in applying the rule of law. Is that not our amnesty problem in a nutshell?" Mr. Rodriguez responded by saying that the rule of law needs to apply to everyone equally and that there are no loopholes in life, if you've done something wrong, you've done something wrong. Dr. Swain then said: "The breakdown of the rule of law undermines our constitutional system. If there is a law were uncomfortable with, there is a system to change it." * * * Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) focused on the culture problem: "Enforcing illegal immigration protects Hispanics . . . we're corrupting a Hispanic culture . . ." What I initially thought would be a slow and sparsely attended hearing became a highlight reel of immigration politics. The Committee is starting to come together and there is clear talent and opportunity to debate some true red meat immigration issues like chain migration and the Visa Lottery in future hearings. I just hope the committee leaders bring Dr. Swain back for an encore. I revel in her brilliance, and the way she gets under the skin of John Conyers and Maxine Waters equates true entertainment. (Here is part of Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith's opening statement.) "According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in January the unemployment rate for blacks was 16% and for Hispanics was 12%. These unemployment rates are well above the national average. "According to the Pew Hispanic Center, seven million people are working in the U.S. illegally. These jobs should go to legal workers, many of whom would be minorities. Virtually all credible studies show that competition from cheap foreign labor displaces American workers, including legal immigrants, or depresses their wages "But research is not the only proof. After illegal workers are arrested and detained during Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) worksite enforcement actions, many businesses replace them with American minorities. .. "Each time ICE arrests, detains or deports an illegal worker, it creates a job opportunity for an American worker. Each time the Department of Justice brings a criminal action against an employer who knowingly hired illegal workers, it sends a powerful message that their illegal employment will not be tolerated. Unfortunately, worksite enforcement has plummeted under the Obama Administration. Administrative arrests have fallen 77% from 2008 to 2010. Criminal arrests have fallen 60%. Criminal indictments have fallen 57% and criminal convictions have fallen 66%. With millions of Americans unemployed, it is hard to imagine a worse time to cut worksite enforcement efforts by more than half."