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OUR NEW AD — Pushing Jobs/Immigration Numbers Too Hot For Mainstream Media (here are the sources)

author Published by Roy Beck

Take a look at the ad we are running with allies to force Congress to look at the 125,000 foreign workers they are bringing in each month to compete with jobless Americans.

The ad is full of numbers that the mainstream media continue to refuse to disclose to the public.

The bias that allow the media to censor these numbers is incredible when you see that they are all from government data.

Click on this ad so you can read all the text that is part of this full-page publication in the newspapers that are most read by people who work on Capitol Hill and in the Administration.

We had to buy an ad to get these numbers out. Sad but true.

Maybe the mainstream media won’t allow these numbers in public for fear that they would spark social unrest. I mean, how DO you explain to 15 million jobless Americans why their government continues to give out permanent and temporary work authorizations to 125,000 new foreign workers each month?

HERE ARE ALL THE NUMBERS IN THE AD — AND THE SOURCES FOR THEM

15 million jobless Americans

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Dec. 4, 2009 that 15.4 million people were in the U-3 category of unemployment, meaning that they were actively looking for a job but could not find even part-time work. Subtracting the estimated illegal aliens included in that number, that would mean around 15 million unemployed legal American residents (U.S.-born and foreign-born).

125,000 foreign workers added each month

Actually, there are far more than 125,000 green cards and temporary work permits given out each month. The 125,000 figure is the lowest, most conservative representation and excludes (a) renewal temporary permits to foreign workers already legally working in the U.S., (b) green cards to non-working-age immigrants, and (c) green cards to immigrants who already are in the U.S. working on temporary permits.

The 125,000 figure includes recipients of temporary work visas (but excluding any renewals), plus only working-age green card recipients who were not previously working in the U.S. on temporary visas.

The 125,000 a month figure comes from a 1.5 million a year figure calculated in this way:

The most recent government data shows a yearly number of about 1.9 million separate foreign citizens who were either getting a new temporary work permit (not a renewal) or who were working-age immigrants getting a permanent work permit through a green card.

We subtract 400,000 from the 1.9 million, leaving 1.5 million NEW recipients of one work permit or another. The subtraction is because, of around 1 million green card (permanent permit) recipients, about 400,000 were already legally working in the U.S. under temporary visas.

The data backing up the 1.5 million figure can be found in a chart prepared by the Center for Immigration Studies based on government data, with sources listed. (See Table 10 at http://cis.org/FirstQuarter2009Unemployment)

Those data show 947,340 new temporary workers came in 14 different temporary work visa categories. (From U.S. Department of State Visa Office)

The table also shows the government’s 12-month figure of 396,265 working-age green card recipients who had not previously been living in the U.S. The table also adds onto that the estimated 100,000 to 250,000 illegal aliens who were getting their first legal work permit.

Adding the green cards to illegal aliens to the 396,265 green card figure and to the 947,340 new temporary work permit figure works out to a range between 1,443,265 and 1,593,605 who were new foreign workers with the legal right to take a U.S. job.

That rounds off to about 1.5 million a year, or 125,000 a month, based on the most-recent government data. This calculation avoids double-counting anybody.

8 million illegal alien workers

On 2DEC09 at the Migration Policy Institute, Dr. Gordon H. Hanson of UC-SD and the National Bureau of Economic Research estimated 8.3 million illegal foreign workers in U.S. jobs.

900,000 new temporary worker visas

The U.S. Department of State’s most recent annual report shows work authorization granted to 947,340 new temporary workers came in 14 different temporary work visa categories. (From U.S. Department of State Visa Office at http://www.travel.state.gov/visafrvl/statistics/statistics_4391.html

1.1 million permanent foreign workers

From the Department of Homeland Security’s Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 2008.

As many as 3 out of 4 immigrants were potential job-seekers

Of the 1.1 million immigrants in 2008, around 75% were between the ages of 20 and 64 with full life-time eligibility to hold a U.S. job (Department of Homeland Security’s Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 2008).

What do all of these numbers add up to? The need for immediate action.

Here is what is needed immediately to put hundreds of thousands and even millions of jobless Americans back to work:

1. Worksite Enforcement: The Obama Administration needs to fully use the laws and tools already available to it in order to push many of the 8 million illegal alien workers out of their jobs and open them up for jobless Americans. And Congress needs to mandate E-Verify to screen out illegal aliens from all jobs.

2. Time Out For Temporary Worker Visas: Pres. Obama should order all of his Administration to stop giving out temporary work authorizations to foreign workers for any job that has a chance of being filled by an American.

3. Time Out On Most Permanent Foreign Workers. Congress needs to pass legislation that at least suspends (preferably ends) most green cards for working-age adults except for spouses, special-needs refugees and extraordinary-ability professionals.

This could be done in a month if the majority of people in Washington truly wanted to put unemployed Americans back to work.

ROY BECK is Founder & CEO of NumbersUSA

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