Immigrants Gain Jobs, Natives Lose Them
All of the net gain in employment over the last 13 years has gone to immigrants, both legal and illegal, according to a new analysis of government data.
From the first quarter of 2000 to the first quarter of this year, the number of natives working fell by 1.3 million while the overall size of the working-age (16 to 65) native population increased by 16.4 million.
Over the same period, the number of legal and illegal immigrants working rose by 5.3 million, while the total number of working-age immigrants rose by 8.8 million, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) reports in an analysis based on the Current Population Survey, the nation's primary source of information on the labor market.
"One of the main justifications for the large increase in permanent immigration and guest workers in the Schumer-Rubio [immigration reform] bill is that the nation does not have enough workers," the CIS states. "But the data do not support this conclusion.
"A second argument for the bill is that immigration always creates jobs for natives. But the last 13 years make it clear that large-scale immigration can go hand in hand with weak job growth and persistently high rates of joblessness among the native-born."
The Current Population Survey defines "immigrants" as those who are not U.S. citizens at birth, and they include naturalized citizens, temporary workers, Lawful Permanent Residents, foreign students, and illegal immigrants.
The CIS analysis finds that the decline in employment rates for working-age natives has impacted Americans of nearly all ages — teenagers and those in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s. The decline has also affected natives of every race, gender, and education level.
Even before the recession, when the economy was expanding (2000 to 2007), 60 percent of the net increase in employment among those of working age went to immigrants, although they accounted for only 38 percent of the population growth among the working-age population.
The CIS concludes: "The dramatic decline in work among natives, and the enormous increase in the number not working, even before the recession, is strong evidence that labor is not in short supply in the United States."
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