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Thursday, July 22, 2004 1:50 PM
STEIN REPORT Thursday, July 22 2004 10:19:21 ET
FOREIGN LABOR: TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING?
The Christian Science Monitor notes that immigration is not just diversifying and changing America, it is also costing Americans in their taxes and in their jobs. The paper cites a recent Columbia University study that pegs the net cost of immigration at $52 billion a year. It also notes, “high levels of immigration, these economists posit, are depressing wages, exacerbating the income gap between rich and poor, and requiring government to support and educate the many newcomers who subsist at the bottom of the economic ladder.” Furthermore, “…many economists see as ‘voodoo economics’ the argument that US-born Americans won't take the unskilled jobs that immigrants typically occupy. With fewer immigrants, economists say, wages for the tough jobs in farms, factories, or elsewhere would rise and pay enough to attract US-born Americans. Or Americans might need to mow their own lawns or pay more for these services.”
(FAIR Comment: Our current estimate of the annual net cost of immigration is $66 billion. See also FAIR study on Immigration and Income Inequality.)
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