BCT Editorial – 6/8/07

This page was last updated on June 9, 2007.

Job search; Editorial; Beaver County Times; June 8, 2007.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“In the midst of the furor over illegal immigrants in the United States, let’s not lose sight of the importance of foreign workers to the U.S. economy.

“Immigrants, legal and illegal, aren’t taking jobs away from Americans. Many foreigners are filling high-tech jobs that Americans aren’t skilled, knowledgeable or motivated enough to do. At the other end of the work ladder, many foreigners are filling low-pay, low-skill jobs that Americans won’t deign to do.”

[RWC] That’s BS. If a qualified American won’t do a job, it’s because the job doesn’t pay enough and/or because he has the taxpayer’s “safety net” to bail him out. In a free market, when people won’t take a given job, it’s because the offered wage is below the equilibrium.

“A situation involving perfectly legal foreign workers with temporary visas illustrates this.

“The Los Angeles Times reports companies that run the concessions at national parks are facing a shortage of workers this summer after many foreigners ran into visa problems because of a Labor Department glitch.

“Facing an explosion of applications for 10-month H-2B visas in recent years, the department decided to increase uniformity by consolidating six processing centers into two. In the shift, the agency fell weeks behind, thereby creating the shortage of summer workers.

“At Yosemite National Park, foreign workers make up more than 20 percent of the summer workforce and about half of the park’s housekeeping staff, the paper reported. At Yellowstone National Park, they make up one-third of a 2,600-worker summer crew. At the Grand Canyon, the ratio is one foreign worker for every three domestic ones.

“Company officials told the paper the reason they hire so many foreign workers, who must be proficient in English, is because ‘they cannot recruit American youths to fill the dirtiest jobs in the parks’ kitchens and hotels.’

“These foreign workers aren’t undercutting the wages and benefits of Americans. The Times reported they are protected by state and federal labor laws, and they typically earn the same pay and benefits as their U.S. counterparts.”

[RWC] Guys, which is it? Will Americans take the jobs or not? Above the editorial claimed Americans wouldn’t take the jobs, yet now it says the foreign workers are paid the same “as their U.S. counterparts” in the same jobs. Guys, if you’re going to mislead us, at least keep your story straight.

“This situation is being repeated across American, legally and illegally. That’s why the goal of U.S. immigration policy should be to make it as easy as possible for foreign workers to come and go fairly and legally.”

[RWC] Note how the editorial doesn’t define “fairly and legally.”

Note the focus on low-skilled employees. The editorial says nothing about trying to keep the highly trained and skilled foreign graduates of U.S. colleges or about trying to attract highly trained and skilled professionals from foreign countries.