Immigration Policy Center needs help understand stimulus jobs going to illegal aliens (Walter Ewing)

Posted Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 4:03 pm

Over a month ago I discussed the Heritage Foundation article about how around 300,000 illegal aliens could get stimulus jobs. I raised a few issues, but in general they're right. Now, due to a recent USA Today article, the issue is finally in the news. Thus it is that Walter Ewing of the Immigration Policy Center has to rush to defend illegal aliens taking stimulus jobs from U.S. citizens in the blog post "CIS' Dubious Data Deflects Rational Immigration Debate" (immigrationimpact.com/2009/03/09/cis-data-immigration-myth-stimulus-bill). That references the claims from the Center for Immigration Studies, which are similar to those from Heritage.

However, Ewing's fingers got ahead of his brain:

CIS relies upon estimates from the 2005 Current Population Survey suggesting that approximately 15% of the construction workforce was undocumented in that year—before the U.S. economy and the construction industry took a nosedive and were hit by mass layoffs. As the Pew Hispanic Center notes in a recent report, Latino immigrants have been particularly hard hit by the current recession. As a result, it is doubtful that 15% of today’s decimated construction workforce consists of undocumented immigrants, most of whom are Latino. Yet CIS takes 15% of 2 million to come up with its estimate of 300,000 new construction jobs being filled by undocumented immigrants.

Just because some of that 15% might be unemployed doesn't mean they vanished into thin air. Most of them are still around and would be available to take stimulus jobs. In other words, they're part of the "potential workforce", even if some of them aren't part of the actual workforce. Certainly, some of them might have returned home, but that's not what Ewing is saying.

Better supporters of illegal immigration please.

Tags: 
stimulus plan
immigration policy center
walter ewing

Comments

Fred Dawes (not verified)

Tue, 03/10/2009 - 00:22

Stimulus jobs going to illegal alines, well yes? We all know that billions and billions OF DOLLARS are going to drug dealers of mexico, so what the problem if your job disappears into the third world? why do you want to go on living inside your own country? are you a racists?..listen people! most of the jobs are made to go to our enemies! most of the money will disappear inside some foreign bank and a great deal of money will become obama money in a some what round about way and many of obama friends will make billions and you will be shit on by our enemies as the USA Disappears into the third world shit. the best thing you people can do is suicide in fact obama best friend said that 40 years ago. by the way the sledge hammer is about to hit you soon. John see you at the coffee shop. buy guns.

Anonymous (not verified)

Tue, 03/10/2009 - 02:00

Simply amazing. Fred that is! The only thing more disturbing then our tax dollars going to illegal beaners is the sight of a comment from our resident kook. Just like the flu, except you never go away.

petty bourgeois (not verified)

Tue, 03/10/2009 - 15:54

I agree. No matter how many times we ask him to leave, he continues to impose his nonsense on us all. He has no decency or manners for someone his age, who should leave when he is asked to by so many people here.

Steve (not verified)

Wed, 03/11/2009 - 05:13

Dr. Camarota from the CIS said that the number of stimulus jobs going to illegals could be higher than 300,000 because many of the projects are in states with large illegal populations such as Cali.

Fred Dawes (not verified)

Wed, 03/11/2009 - 05:18

Never will petty but keep up the fight long live freedom! petty you hate freedom don't you? so stay on topic! and say something you only hit it once out of ten times.

petty bourgeois (not verified)

Wed, 03/11/2009 - 19:17

I agree with most people here: you are a kook fred. An angry, bitter, racist kook fringe character whose voice is marginalized by your own insanity. You won't stop commenting here because you are rude and you have no respect for anyone but your own misguided, racist and uneducated self. Didn't your mother teach you any manners?