Illegal immigrants, native workers co-exist in Nevada

[NVMojo]

April 4, 2006

Are they or aren't they? The question of whether illegal immigrants are displacing U.S.-born citizens in the job market is at the crux of an ongoing congressional debate over immigrants' future status.

On one side of the issue is Jeff Passel, a Pew Hispanic Center demographer, who said he sees no evidence that unauthorized workers are contributing to overall unemployment among people born in the United States.

"Illegals tend to be drawn to areas of low unemployment, and if illegals were taking jobs away from natives, one would think native unemployment would be higher where illegals are than it is where they aren't," Passel said. "But the contrary is actually the case."

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Renee Ward, founder of placement Web site teens4hire.org, doesn't agree that immigrants are contributing significantly to teen joblessness. Ward said about three-quarters of teens are interested in office jobs and retail positions, two areas in which immigrants are unlikely to concentrate.

Camarota disagreed with the notion that immigrants are taking jobs that natives refuse. American Community Surveys from the U.S. Census show that 62.1 percent of all housekeeping workers are native-born, as are 75.1 percent of dishwashers and 78.4 percent of janitors, he said.

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http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Apr-04-Tue-2006/news/6648298.html