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Immigration News Blog

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Union rallies around immigrant

Union rallies around immigrant
Of all the offenders that U.S. District Judge Anna Brown has sentenced, a carpenter and union organizer who illegally immigrated from Mexico more than 15 years ago drew one of the biggest crowds.

 

Smithfield pork plant loses hundreds of workers

Smithfield pork plant loses hundreds of workers
In StarTribune.com Business
RALEIGH, N.C. - Hundreds of workers at a Smithfield Packing Co. plant have quietly left their jobs or stopped showing up for work after a crackdown on illegal immigrants. Many have submitted resignation letters and collected pay for unused vacation; others identified by the company in November as having unverifiable employment documents quit without notice, spokesman Dennis Pittman said. In all, Pittman said, about 300 employees have left as of Monday.

 

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Filipino remittances hit $12.8bn

Filipino remittances hit $12.8bn
In Business
Filipinos working overseas sent a record $12.8bn (£6.5bn) home in 2006, their country's central bank has said.

 

Immigrant workers take on giant Tyson in bid for union

Immigrant workers take on giant Tyson in bid for union
HOLCOMB, KAN. - Each day 150 semitrailers loaded with cattle arrive at Tyson Food Inc.'s Holcomb plant for slaughter. Each day workers here butcher 5,700 head of cattle. And each day at least one meatpacker at the plant gets hurt on the job.

 

The net fiscal impact of illegal immigrants? New Jersey and Texas studies clash

The net fiscal impact of illegal immigrants? New Jersey and Texas studies clash
By Peter Rousmaniere
A study of New Jersey asserts that illegal immigrants cost taxpayers $2.1 Billion. A Texas study last year asserted that the burden on taxpayers was $1.2 Billion. New Jersey’s total population is 8.4 million and it estimates its illegal immigrant population at 372,000. Texas in contrast has 20.8 million people of which 1.4 million are estimated to be illegal immigrants. How can New Jersey have almost double the taxpayer burden with less than 40% of the population of illegal immigrants?

And consider this: the New Jersey study authors say it is irrelevant what the contribution of illegal workers make in payroll taxes (yes, many pay payroll taxes) and consumer taxes. Why? Because for every illegal worker there is a legal American sitting on a bench ready to take the job if vacated! This is like saying that the taxpayer burden of red headed left handed persons is so many millions, and it doesn’t matter how much they pay in various taxes. Nor do the authors address a more important question, a step up in complication: what illegal immigrants add to the gross state product. Talk about one-sided accounting!

Per the Pew Hispanic estimates (you will find them on the right column under “undocumented workers by state”) there are 256,000 illegal workers in New Jersey and 1.024 million in Texas (2005 figures).
Go here for the Texas study, which I posted on in December.

The New Jersey study estimates these burdens on taxpayers: schools, $1.85 billion; healthcare $200 million; incarceration, $50 million. The Texas study has these comparable figures: schools, $967 million; healthcare $58 million; incarceration, $130 million.

The Texas study estimates that illegal households pay $867 million in consumption taxes and, per their rental or owned residences, $582 million in property taxes. With other payments, total payments by illegal immigrants into the public fisc are estimated at $1.581 billion, or $424 million higher than the total $1.156 billion burden on taxpayers.

 

Skilled foreign workers – summary statistics

Skilled foreign workers – summary statistics
By Peter Rousmaniere
Now waves of immigrants are mostly not skilled workers. But foreign born workers have a huge share of some skilled job categories. Skilled workers are a small minority of U.S. legal immigrants. Of the 940,000 legal immigrants recorded in 2004, only 16% were skilled employment-based immigrants. This means that 150,000 of the almost one million new legal immigrants (permanent or temporary) came on a skilled based authorization. About 40% of these skilled immigrants had advanced degrees, or 5 or more years of experience after a baccalaureate degree.

 

Immigration crackdown at UPS plants nets 51 workers

Immigration crackdown at UPS plants nets 51 workers
Seattle Times, WA -
US immigration officials Wednesday arrested 51 immigrants at two UPS warehouses in Auburn where authorities believe they were illegally employed. ...

 

EU opens talks on legal immigration

EU opens talks on legal immigration
Expatica, Netherlands -
However, Luxembourg's minister for foreign affairs and immigration Nicolas Schmit said that the issues of legal migration from non-EU countries and the free ...

 

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

How long do Mexican migrants work in the U.S.? 6 – 11 years

How long do Mexican migrants work in the U.S.? 6 – 11 years
By Peter Rousmaniere
From the abstract of a recent study by the Austin TX based research firm of Econone:

In this paper we use data from the Mexican Migration Project (MMP) to estimate the number of years a Mexican born foreign worker could reasonably be expected to be employed or seeking employment in the U.S. labor market. We find, consistent with other studies of Mexican migrant workers, that the typical Mexican born worker who migrates to the U.S. to work does not spend their entire working life in the U.S. Our analysis shows the typical Mexican migrant can be expected to be active in the U.S. workforce between 6.1 and 11.1 years on average.

 

Essential Worker Immigration Coalition: Reform platform

Essential Worker Immigration Coalition: Reform platform
By Peter Rousmaniere
This lobbying group / business association is gearing up for immigration reform this year. It wants more immigrant workers, the more legal the better.

Here is its platform for reform:

Reform should be comprehensive: addressing both future economic needs for future workers and undocumented workers already in the United States.

Reform should strengthen national security by providing for the screening of foreign workers and creating a disincentive for illegal immigration.

Reform should strengthen the rule of law by establishing clear, sensible immigration laws that are efficiently and vigorously enforced.

Reform should create an immigration system that functions efficiently for employers, workers, and government agencies.

Reform should create a program that allows hard working, tax paying undocumented workers to earn legal status.

Reform should ensure that U.S. workers are not displaced by foreign workers.

Reform should ensure that all workers enjoy the same labor law protections.

 

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

A Migrating Problem

A Migrating Problem
Council on Foreign Relations, NY -
Last year's heated congressional debate on immigration reform ran up against the midterm election campaign, resulting in a law narrowly focused on security measures that did not address the larger reforms many believe to be necessary.

 

Congress and Immigration Reform

Congress and Immigration Reform
Council on Foreign Relations, NY -
The country's immigration system, assailed by all sides as inadequate, generated intense congressional debate in 2006. However, widely divergent approaches ...