A Foundation of Economic Strength

By Alexander K. McClure ~ March 29th, 2006 @ 7:26 pm

I have been bothered lately by the shrilling of many in the Republican Party about the immigration reforms backed by the President. I have asked a good friend, a medical doctor, Ed Torres, who grew up in the streets of the Bronx, and therefore knows both sides of the immigrant experience in America, to provide his unique perspective.

“Much has been said on this website about the need to clamp down on illegal immigration. President Bush favors a guest worker program, opposed by the likes of Pat Buchanan and Lou Dobbs, for a very good reason: illegal immigrants come to America for opportunity, and they come to America to work. Latinos have taken to the streets all across America because they want people to know that the working class is the base of our economy. Currently an estimated 7.5 million illegal immigrants are working in America today. They are doing such jobs as babysitting, janitorial duties, dishwashing duties, yard work, and construction. They do jobs that no American even wants to touch.

In addition to that, the demand for restaurant workers is increasing at twice the rate of the supply of labor. Without immigrants, the costs of running a restaurant would skyrocket. In America today, due to the Bush tax cuts and his economic policies, as well as his immigration policies, we are at the natural rate of unemployment. But we still need immigrants to keep down the cost of labor, and, in turn, to keep down the costs of goods and services. In addition to all this, people must remember that Latinos come to this country to work. It is no accident that the unemployment rate amongst Latinos is 5.5%. These are working Americans, and they are a foundational sterength of our economy.”