Immigration & Unemployment Revisited

Immigration Numbers Revisited

Legal Immigrant Temporary Workers and Families admitted to the US totaled 21 million from 2004 to 2012 averaging 2.34 million a year.   It increased from 1.5 million in 2004 to 3 million in 2012.  The 3 million in 2012 includes 700 thousand (NAFTA) company transferees and 700 thousand Canadians and Mexicans (TN) work permits.  Green Cards are issued at the 1 million a year rate, but actual work permits issued could go to up to 3 million a year.

3 million a year is a lot higher than the 1.5 million to 1.9 million number that appeared in print over the past few years.

It still looks reasonable to estimate that 1.8 million legal immigrants soak up jobs as they join the 1.8 million new grads to look for 1.8 million jobs created in any given year.

HIB visas for engineers has been relatively flat, averaging 469 thousand a year from 2004 through 2012.  Silicon Valley has failed to get this number to budge.  It’s only 15% of the total 3 million.

Agricultural H2A visas for agricultural workers also remained flat, averaging just 84 thousand per year from 2004 through 2012.  We were told the farmers need temporary immigrant workers, but It doesn’t look like this is a big deal.

F1 Student visas for 2012 totaled 1.6 million.  This has been going on for decades, but we only grant 469 thousand H1B visas a year, so do the remaining 1.1 million just graduate and go back to their home country ?

Non-immigrant visas are granted for foreign Investors (E1) has increased by 100 thousand for the past 3 years, averaging 400 thousand a year.

Source: Department of Homeland Security, www.dhs.gov/yearbook/immigration/statistics

Problems

Other countries have had our lousy unemployment number for decades, because they went to big government socialism.  In past decades, the US government set their immigration policy based on job availability.  After all, this was the country that was established on the wisdom of having the citizenry support itself.  This is apparently no longer the case.

Our “free trade” agreements have striped the US of manufacturing jobs. Our immigration policy has contributed to our high unemployment.

The environmental lobby has shut down our timber harvesting, mineral mining and they are working on shutting down oil and gas drilling and coal mining.

Our treaties and immigration policies have kicked US citizens under the bus.  The claim that immigrants “create jobs” may be true for investors, but not for the other 87%.  Those who go into business for themselves often only provide jobs for themselves and their relatives.   

Conclusions

Our US economy is being decimated on purpose by the federal government, using treaties, trade agreements and immigration policy.

Obama is giving us a “dress rehearsal” for Socialism.  Those of us who actually prefer a free economy are not amused.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader