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Immigrant Competition Reduces Wages WASHINGTON (AP) ‑‑ Immigrant labor has depressed the wages of Americans in lower‑skilled jobs by as much as 12 percent, according to a study by a think tank that wants stricter controls on immigration. Native‑born Americans who labor in lower‑skilled jobs bear the greatest wage brunt from a federal immigration policy that focuses mainly on family reunification, giving less attention to prospective newcomers' skills or education, says the Center for Immigration Studies. The center, in an analysis of Census Bureau statistics, estimated Tuesday that wage losses for native‑born Americans in lower‑skilled jobs are at significantly higher levels than other researchers have concluded. In a study last year for the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, the National Research Council found that immigration benefits the overall economy and has little negative effect on wages for most native‑born Americans. That analysis, however, did say lower‑income workers are slightly more likely to be adversely affected by immigration, with wages depressed by perhaps 5 percent over 15 years. The Center for Immigration Studies estimates far higher impacts. A 1 percent immigrant increase in the composition of lower‑skilled occupations reduces wages for the native‑born by 0.8 percent, said study author Steven Camarota. Since that work force is 15 percent immigrant, the study concludes wages for U.S.‑born workers may be depressed by an average 12 percent. "A 12‑percent loss in wages for the poorest Americans strikes me as a cause for concern," Camarota said at a news conference Tuesday. Camarota's definition of lower‑skilled workers as those with a high school degree or less ‑‑ a pool that includes 25 million U.S.‑born workers ‑‑ drew criticism from an economist for the labor‑backed Economic Policy Institute, who noted that the categorization would encompass high‑paying jobs such as those in the auto industry. The analysis doesn't attempt to quantify the benefits produced by the foreign‑born work force ‑‑ now numbering nearly one out of every nine U.S. workers ‑‑ whether in the form of economic output, taxes paid or cheaper prices passed on to U.S. consumers as a result of lower wages. The Center for Immigration Studies says policy‑makers shouldn't ignore immigration's effects on wages at a time when more than more than 1 million people immigrate here legally and illegally annually and in an era of stagnant wages for lower‑income Americans. Study says immigration hurting working poor WASHINGTON, DC ‑‑ Immigrants working in low‑wage jobs could be dragging down pay for native‑born Americans by as much as 12 percent a year, according to a new study released Tuesday by an immigration think tank. "Immigration does reduce the earnings of the working poor," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington‑based think tank that issued the study. The center advocates limits on immigration. The new report builds on research by the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform. That commission determined that while immigration was a net benefit for the economy, one group is negatively affected by new immigrants _ low‑skilled, low‑paid workers without high‑school diplomas. But the commission estimated wage losses of no more than 5 percent. Whether immigrants take work away from native‑born Americans, whether these new residents do jobs Americans don't want to do and how wages are affected by immigrant competition is one of the most hotly debated and emotional immigration issues. The answer, said Steven Camarota, author of the study, is a combination of the government doing more for low‑wage workers by providing earned income tax credits and job training, better enforcing immigration laws and lowering the levels of low‑skilled immigrants coming into the country. Congress should adopt the recommendations of the reform commission, which suggested eliminating the visa preferences for siblings and adult children of U.S. citizens and the adult children of legal permanent residents, he said. Those measures, the report suggests, would reduce the number of immigrants from nearly 1 million to 300,000 to 400,000 a year. Both Camarota and Jared Bernstein, a labor economist with the union‑supported Economic Policy Institute, said the study's results indicate that this is an issue that must be taken seriously. "I think the study points out once again that immigration is no free lunch," said Bernstein, "It could be immigration is a net plus for the economy, yet certain groups of domestic workers, like the low skilled, may still be disproportionately hurt. " Bernstein questioned the level of wage depression Camarota cited and also criticized Camarota's use of the lack of a high school diploma as the indicator of someone with low skills. "Who do you think are making those cars up there in Michigan? " Bernstein said. This study suggests that the effect on roughly 25 million American‑born workers in low‑skilled jobs is broader and deeper than previously thought. And it pinpoints native‑born blacks and Hispanics as being particularly hard hit. Hispanics are 37 percent and blacks 67 percent more likely to be employed in the low‑wage occupations affected most by immigration. Camarota's study acknowledged that such issues as increases in technology and the increasing globalization of the economy probably have also played a role in declining wages for low‑skilled workers. But the government has no control over those factors, he said. "Congress cannot legislate a pause in the expansion of human knowledge or stop the Japanese from setting up factories in Malaysia," the study says." However, it can reduce the flow of low‑skilled immigrants into the United States. " Gary Martin; Express‑New Washington Bureau WASHINGTON ‑ Immigration has depressed wages in low‑skilled jobs by 12 percent, and Hispanics and blacks ‑ those most likely to hold those jobs ‑ are feeling the brunt of increased competition from immigrants, a report released Tuesday said. The study, "The Wages of Immigration: The effect on the Low‑Skilled Labor Market," was released by the Center for Immigration Studies and said one source of the problem is U.S. immigration policy that encourages family reunification. "Falling wages for low‑skilled workers undermine important social goals, such as reduced dependency on public services and increased self‑sufficiency among those at the bottom of the economic ladder," said Mark Krikorian, CIS executive director. The study was immediately attacked by immigration rights groups, which said its conclusions fly in the face of a robust economy and other recent reports that found minimal impact on wages from increased numbers of immigrants. "It's like saying the sun goes up because the rooster crows," said Frank Sharry, executive director for the National Immigration Forum. "They miss the essential fact that immigrants contribute to economic growth on all levels," Sharry said. The CIS study, though, was praised by Rep. Lamar Smith, R‑ San Antonio, who has advocated cuts in the number of legal immigrants allowed into the United States. He passed legislation to restrict illegal immigration further. "The CIS study affirms the work of several other respected organizations who say that current immigration policies have hurt unskilled workers," said Smith, chairman of the House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration. He identified those groups as the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, the National Academy of Sciences and The Rand Corp. "Immigration policies that admit 400,000 unskilled and uneducated immigrants every year to compete with America's lowest‑paid workers make no sense," Smith said. The CIS study defined low‑ skilled jobs as those that require no more than a high school education. "Reducing the flow of low‑skilled immigrants, legal and illegal, would ease the government‑induced competition at the bottom of the labor market and help the working poor and those coming off welfare to improve their lot," Krikorian said. Specifically, the report stated: Immigration has reduced wages for native workers in low‑ skilled jobs by 12 percent, or roughly $1,915 a year. For the 23 percent of Americans employed in low‑skilled jobs, about 25 million see a .8 percent drop in salary with an increase of 1 percent in immigrants in those occupations. Immigrants account for 15 percent of the workers in low‑ skilled jobs. The effect of immigration in national in scope, and not confined to cities and states with large immigrant populations. The negative impact of immigration falls disproportionately on minorities. African‑Americans and Hispanics are more likely to hold low‑skilled jobs and earn roughly 15 percent less than whites. A larger percentage of immigrant workers feels the negative impact of competition with fellow immigrants, since they are 60 percent more likely to be employed in low‑skilled jobs than native‑born workers. Study: Immigrants lower some wages WASHINGTON ‑‑ Competition from immigrants reduces the wages of native‑born workers in low‑skilled jobs by as much as 12 percent, a new study says. The author of the study, released Tuesday by the Center for Immigration Studies, said the federal government should protect U.S. workers by allowing fewer low‑skilled immigrants into the country. Immigrants have a "significant negative effect" on U.S. natives in low‑skilled occupations, said Steven Camarota, a resident scholar for the non‑profit group. The center suggested that the government reduce the number of legal and illegal immigrants who are qualified for low‑skilled jobs. Using Census Bureau statistics, the study's author looked at national trends in low‑skilled fields in which the average employee has no more than a high school degree ‑ a work force composed of about 25‑million U.S.‑born people. Immigrants have little effect on the wages of U.S.‑born workers in high‑skilled jobs, the report found. More than 14‑million immigrants hold jobs in this country. They are 60 percent more likely than U.S.‑born workers to be employed in low‑skilled occupations. The study concluded that there simply are too many immigrants for the country's work force to absorb. And the effects are not just seen in big cities that traditionally have been immigrant centers. As immigrants go to cities such as Miami and San Diego, Camarota said, U.S.‑born workers have trouble finding jobs there and often move to other cities or smaller towns. The think tank and other analysts were quick to point out that the effect of immigrants is not all negative, and that the study is not a wholesale indictment of immigration. "The study points out, once again, that immigration is no free lunch," said Jared Bernstein an economist with the Economic Policy Institute. "It has its costs and benefits." The study's results show a much greater effect on wages than earlier reports have found. Last year, the National Research Council found that the national economy benefits from immigrants, and that immigration has little effect on U.S.‑born workers. The study did say, however, that low‑income people are more likely to be affected by competition from immigrants, although to a lesser extent than the new study found. Study: Immigration Cuts Pay Immigration may be reducing the wages of the average native‑born American in a low‑skilled job by about 12 percent a year, an impact felt even more severely by blacks and Hispanics born in the United States, according to a report released yesterday. The study by the Center for Immigration Studies, a conservative research group based in Washington, D.C., also found that despite having possibly increased wages for higher‑skilled occupations, the net effect of immigration is negative. "It is making those on the top richer and those with the lowest income poorer," said the report's author, Steven Camarota, a resident scholar at the Center for Immigration Studies. Camarota's report is based on quantitative analysis of 1991 U.S. Census Bureau figures and takes into account such variables as age, sex, union membership, educational level, minority status and employment status. Using various statistical equations, the study takes a look at the effects of immigration by comparing individuals in the same industries on the basis of their wage rates during the same period. The research revealed that in low‑skilled jobs, or jobs where the average worker does not have more than a high school degree, the native‑born American may see a reduction in wages of $1,915 a year. The report goes on to argue that since blacks are 67 percent more likely to be employed in low‑skilled occupations and Hispanics 37 percent more likely, they are therefore harder hit by the impacts of immigration . Experts in New York City who have studied the local effects of immigration on the workforce were not in complete agreement with the latest findings. "We should look into the issue of labor enforcement, the employer's role in this," said Peter Kwong, the chair of the Asian American Studies program at Hunter College and the author of a recently published book on undocumented Chinese immigrants and U.S. labor. Kwong does not dispute that immigrants may have driven down the wages of some segments of the population. But he argues that it is because employers have opted to hire immigrants over the native‑born because it is cheaper. The findings are not new either, Kwong said. Throughout history, whenever the U.S. economy has not grown to keep pace with the tides of immigrants coming to the country, wages have been driven lower. A study released last year by the National Research Council in Washington, D.C. also found that native‑born Americans without high school educations have seen their wages fall because of competition from new immigrants. However, that report went on to say that immigration has benefited the U.S. economy overall. Muzaffar Chishti, director of Immigration Project for Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, disputes the relationship between lower wages and immigrants. "The fact is that low‑wage workers in this country have been suffering for a long time," said Chishti, whose union has about 80,000 members in the New York metropolitan area alone. According to Chishti, it is the various economic and labor problems such as layoffs and the failure of minimum wage hikes to keep up with inflation that have forced wages down. In addition, Chishti said, immigrants in places like New York City have helped boost the local economy while native‑born Americans fled for the suburbs. "Indeed if immigrants had not come to New York to fill in those jobs, the city would have suffered tremendously," he said.
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