by Robert Cherry
African-Americans lose out when immigration favors low-skill labor.
22 July 2015
African-Americans lose out when immigration favors low-skill labor.
22 July 2015
Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric and the San Francisco murder of Kathryn Steinle by an undocumented immigrant with a lengthy criminal history have revived the national debate over immigration policy. While pro-immigration forces have correctly condemned Trump for his
stereotyping of illegal Mexican immigrants, federal immigration authorities often release undocumented detainees with criminal records into American towns and cities while their deportation cases proceed. Between 2010 and 2014, 121 such illegal immigrants have been charged with murder. Better enforcement policies can limit these criminal acts. But often lost in the debate over immigration—legal and illegal—thus far has been the way the current system hurts low-wage, native-born Americans, especially in the black community.
Over the last 15 years, teen employment rates have collapsed, from 45 percent in 1999 to 27 percent in 2013. Among black Americans, the rate dropped from 27 percent to 17 percent. The availability of cheap immigrant labor—while not the only cause—has contributed to this trend. Fewer job opportunities for black youth mean fewer legal sources of income as well as the loss of valuable experiences and habits of work that paid employment provides.
The trend’s long-term effect on black men has been damaging. Based on the 2010 census, economists Derek Neal and Armin Rick estimated that 78 percent of 25–29 year-old white males were employed compared with 57 percent of black males. The figures are worse for less-educated black men. Only a quarter of black men without a high school diploma were employed, while almost one-third were incarcerated. More black men with a GED and no additional education were incarcerated than legally employed. These two less-educated groups comprise almost 25 percent of all black males in this age bracket. While I have argued elsewhere that a more important cause of this joblessness is the chaotic and often abusive homes in which many disadvantaged black youth live, black employment is also adversely affected by our current immigration policies, which allow vast numbers of low-skill newcomers to enter our economy.
Defenders of such policies cite studies that point to the overall positive impact of immigration on the U.S. economy; they downplay the evidence of its negative effect on less-educated, lower-earning native-born Americans.
-go to links-
stereotyping of illegal Mexican immigrants, federal immigration authorities often release undocumented detainees with criminal records into American towns and cities while their deportation cases proceed. Between 2010 and 2014, 121 such illegal immigrants have been charged with murder. Better enforcement policies can limit these criminal acts. But often lost in the debate over immigration—legal and illegal—thus far has been the way the current system hurts low-wage, native-born Americans, especially in the black community.
Over the last 15 years, teen employment rates have collapsed, from 45 percent in 1999 to 27 percent in 2013. Among black Americans, the rate dropped from 27 percent to 17 percent. The availability of cheap immigrant labor—while not the only cause—has contributed to this trend. Fewer job opportunities for black youth mean fewer legal sources of income as well as the loss of valuable experiences and habits of work that paid employment provides.
The trend’s long-term effect on black men has been damaging. Based on the 2010 census, economists Derek Neal and Armin Rick estimated that 78 percent of 25–29 year-old white males were employed compared with 57 percent of black males. The figures are worse for less-educated black men. Only a quarter of black men without a high school diploma were employed, while almost one-third were incarcerated. More black men with a GED and no additional education were incarcerated than legally employed. These two less-educated groups comprise almost 25 percent of all black males in this age bracket. While I have argued elsewhere that a more important cause of this joblessness is the chaotic and often abusive homes in which many disadvantaged black youth live, black employment is also adversely affected by our current immigration policies, which allow vast numbers of low-skill newcomers to enter our economy.
Defenders of such policies cite studies that point to the overall positive impact of immigration on the U.S. economy; they downplay the evidence of its negative effect on less-educated, lower-earning native-born Americans.
-go to links-
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