New CIS Study Finds That Recent Jobs Created in Texas Went to New Immigrants

New research by Dr. Steve Camarota at the Center for Immigration Studies finds that 81% of the jobs created in Texas between the years 2007 and 2011 went to newly-arrived immigrants. Conclusions were based on an analysis of data from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey.

The new research also finds that:

In terms of numbers, between the second quarter of 2007, right
before the recession began, and the second quarter of 2011, total
employment in Texas increased by 279,000. Of this, 225,000 jobs went to
immigrants (legal and illegal) who arrived in the United States in 2007
or later.
Of newly arrived immigrants who took a job in Texas, 93 percent were
not U.S. citizens. Thus government data show that more than
three-fourths of net job growth in Texas were taken by newly arrived
non-citizens (legal and illegal).
The large share of job growth that went to immigrants is surprising
because the native-born accounted for 69 percent of the growth in Texas’
working-age population (16 to 65). Thus, even though natives made up
most of the growth in potential workers, most of the job growth went to
immigrants.
The share of working-age natives holding a job in Texas declined
significantly, from 71 percent in 2007 to 67 percent in 2011. This
decline is very similar to the decline for natives in the United States
as a whole and is an indication that the situation for native-born
workers in Texas is very similar to the overall situation in the country
despite the state’s job growth.
Of newly arrived immigrants who took jobs in Texas since 2007, we
estimate that 50 percent (113,000) were illegal immigrants. Thus, about
40 percent of all the job growth in Texas since 2007 went to newly
arrived illegal immigrants and 40 percent went to newly arrived legal
immigrants.
Immigrants took jobs across the educational distribution. More than
one out three (97,000) of newly arrived immigrants who took a job had at
least some college.
These numbers raise the question of whether it makes sense to
continue the current high level of legal immigration and also whether to
continue to tolerate illegal immigration.

The full report can be found at the Center for Immigration Studies’ website.