Miriam Jordan/WSJ: American workers "crowding out" Hispanic immigrants (most illegal aliens)

Miriam Jordan of the Wall Street Journal offers "U.S. Workers Crowding Out Immigrant Laborers" (link). The great majority of Americans prefer that, when a job is available, it goes to an American rather than a foreign citizen, whether legal immigrant or illegal alien. However, the brains of neither the profits-at-any-cost types nor many "liberals" aren't wired that way; both groups would gladly take things away from U.S. citizens in order to give them to illegal aliens. Both groups think Americans are too fat and happy; the WSJ types are thinking only of their profits; and, the "liberals" are also thinking of the glow that giving something to a member of the Oppressed will give them.

While the rest of the article contains several data points indicating rising unemployment among immigrants/illegal aliens - with some returning home - the "crowding out" bit occurs here:

For the first time in a decade, unskilled immigrants are competing with Americans for work. And evidence is emerging that tens of thousands of Hispanic immigrants are withdrawing from the labor market as U.S. workers crowd them out of potential jobs. At least some of the foreigners are returning home.

"We see competition from more nonimmigrant workers," says Abel Valenzuela, a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles who studies day laborers. "Employers are also paying less than in previous years," he says...

Sat, 12/20/2008 - 20:33 · · Importance: 4