Free Republic

This analysis tests the often-made argument that immigrants do only jobs Americans don't want. If the argument is correct, there should be occupations comprised entirely or almost entirely of immigrants (legal and illegal). But Census Bureau data collected from 2009 to 2011, which allows for detailed analysis of all 472 separate occupations, shows that there were only a handful of majority-immigrant occupations. Thus, there really are no jobs that Americans won't do. Further, we estimated the share of occupations that are comprised of illegal immigrants, and found that there are no occupations in which the majority of workers are illegally...

<p>COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- About 1,000 American-born children are forced into the sex trade in Ohio every year and about 800 immigrants are sexually exploited and pushed into sweatshop-type jobs, a new report on human trafficking in the state said Wednesday.</p>

U.S. unemployment may be a concern, but tech companies are telling Congress they need more skilled workers from overseas. With the Apr. 1 application deadline for H-1B specialty worker visas looming, tech giants like Microsoft (MSFT), Oracle (ORCL), and Google (GOOG) are stepping up efforts to raise the cap on the number of visa workers they can have access to each year. Microsoft's Bill Gates argued in Congress (BusinessWeek.com, 3/12/08) for the second straight year that there's a severe shortfall in U.S. science and engineering talent, and predicted that for the fifth straight year the cap for worker visas would...

Microsoft today praised a bill introduced in the U.S. Congress that would double the number of immigrant worker visas available each year under the H-1B program. The Innovation Employment Act, introduced by Representative Gabrielle Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, late Thursday, would increase the cap in H-1B visas from 65,000 a year to 130,000 a year. In addition, there would be no cap on H-1B applications for foreign graduate students attending U.S. colleges and studying science, technology and related fields. Currently, there's a 20,000-a-year cap on visas for graduate students in all fields. The legislation would increase the H-1B cap to...

The immigration debate in Congress is dead for now, but in all the heated discussion, many flaws in the legislation were never discussed. The immigration reform debate completely ignored one big magnet for illegal entry into the United States: minimum-wage laws. And as the minimum wage increases that were recently passed this year go into effect, this problem will get worse. Even employers willing to illegally pay subminimum wages are reluctant to hire U.S. citizens or legal residents, because even workers who’ve knowingly agreed to the low pay have a legal right to sue. And, by law, you can sue...

PHOENIX (Reuters) - For day laborers seeking work in a sun-baked parking lot on Thursday, defeat of U.S. President George W. Bush's plans for an immigration overhaul has set back their dreams of a normal life. The bill, which sought to give legal status to many of the 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States, failed to get enough support in a make-or-break vote in the U.S. Senate. Workers standing around in searing heat outside a building materials store in Phoenix said hopes of an aboveboard life in this country of immigrants had crashed following news of the...

A Republican senator from Kentucky says the so-called "comprehensive immigration reform" bill is completely unnecessary because there are already laws on the books the government has yet to enforce that will stop illegal aliens at the border. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) is reportedly unsure whether he will support the immigration bill that would grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens. McConnell tells Associated Press, "the bill on the merits is a mixed bag," and he won't decide how to vote on the measure until a series of amendments have been considered. But fellow Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning is...

The Senate's Republican leader says he is unsure whether he will vote for the immigration bill President Bush strongly supports, underscoring the measure's precarious status. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has long called for an immigration overhaul, saying the current situation is deeply flawed. And as the Senate minority leader, McConnell is central to shepherding legislation the president wants. But in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, McConnell said he would not decide how to vote on the measure until a long series of amendments are disposed of next week. "The bill on the merits is a mixed bag,"...

President Bush’s latest attempt to salvage the Immigration Bill has made it crystal clear that there is indeed a political class of those we elect, who blatantly ignore the wishes of the electorate. Despite the overwhelming outcry against the bill in its present form, the president and many members of Congress seem determined to pass a collection of glued-together agendas, which are far from being a comprehensive solution. The Senate responded to the outcry by voting to not end debate, which prompted Senator Harry Reid, the Majority Leader, to pull the bill from the floor for the time being. That...

SAN DIEGO – Seven people were hospitalized early Thursday morning after a car fleeing from the Border Patrol on a rural highway collided with a tree about 50 miles east of San Diego, the Border Patrol reported. The crash occurred about 4:15 a.m. on Old Highway 80 and Ribbonwood Road, about two miles west of Boulevard, according to Border Patrol spokesman Richard Smith. Agents had “initiated a pursuit” of a car heading eastbound on Old Highway 80 from Tierra del Sol that they suspected was carrying illegal immigrants near Campo, Smith said. The driver apparently lost control of the car...

Call it by its right name. It's not the "immigration bill" or the "attempted immigration bill" or the "failed immigration bill" or the "immigration bill in need of amendment." The American government tried to pull a coup against its people. It failed. It did, however, succeed in giving me a feeling I'd completely forgotten. I was 5 years old. My mother gave her younger sister Margie enough money to take me, Margie, and her friend Harvey to a special kids' show which was five cartoons end to end; no feature film which 5-year-olds find boring. On the way to the...

It’s alive! The amnesty bill that so many Americans are opposed to is being resurrected in the U.S. Senate. Proponents of the measure including President Bush are working hard at finding a way forward, and the result could be the eventual passage of this deeply flawed legislation. Over the past few weeks, we’ve taken some incoming salvos from the measure’s proponents and have had our intentions, our patriotism and even our sanity questioned by those who curiously think it’s a good idea to reward people who break the law with the very objective of their crime and think its odd...

Now that the president has tried to revive the comatose Senate amnesty bill, at least as big a question as whether he can bring it back to life is why on earth he would want to? Sure, he wants a win because he hasn't had one lately. Sure, he wants a (gulp) legacy because it's that clock-ticking time in his second term. But why this particular attempted win, which his political base sees only as betrayal? Why this hoped-for legacy, which would eliminate him from any conservative pantheon? "It's a very emotional issue." That's what the president says by way...

OREGON - Temporary employees arrived Wednesday at a local food processing plant after an immigration raid Tuesday netted 167 illegal workers -- an operation that angered Portland’s Catholic Archdiocese and the mayor. The Archbishop of Portland John Vlazny issued a statement Wednesday concerning the raid. He called the raid "an affront to a nation whose tradition has always welcomed the stranger in search of the security and livelihood which he cannot find in the country of his origin." More: Read the Archbishop's statement KGW Sky 8 photo Federal agents raided offices of American Staffing Resources and a Fresh Del Monte...

RUSH: I was going to call in to the show on Friday and do some minor gloating and take a little credit here for the immigration bill being pulled, but right about the time I hit my third birdie on the front nine I said, "To hell with it, I'm going to keep playing golf." Besides, in all candor, it's not dead. It's still on life support. The president's going to meet with some people: Congress, GOP, probably Ted Kennedy, too, sometime tomorrow. It may even go up to the Capitol. The original meeting was supposed to be lunch at...

Mom dies keeping gang out of her bar Teresa Hastings wanted her bar to be a place where people felt comfortable -- a neighborhood watering hole, like the one on "Cheers." Hastings, 42, got to know her regular customers like family after buying the Half Time Sports Bar at Harry and Hillside in 2005, family members said. Tuesday night, however, gang members -- perhaps a dozen, witnesses told police -- tried to enter the bar. Lt. Jeff Easter said the group refused to show a bar employee their IDs and Hastings refused to let them in. An argument started between...

A broad immigration bill to legalize millions of people in the U.S. unlawfully failed a crucial test vote in the Senate Thursday, a stunning setback that could spell its defeat for the year. The vote was 45-50 against limiting debate on the bill, 15 short of the 60 that the bill's supporters needed to prevail. Most Republicans voted to block Democrats' efforts to bring the bill to a final vote. The legislation, which had been endorsed by President Bush, would tighten borders, institute a new system to prevent employers from hiring undocumented workers in addition to giving up to 12...

Despite his best case for the immigration compromise -- and he made a good one at the debate the other night -- the unalterable fact is that the issue is right now a major problem for the McCain campaign. To wit, one of the first tangible signs of the damage it's doing, as supplied by Romney's camp: Subject: RE: TIME TO CALL RADIO Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2007 22:15:22 -0400 From: David Nix To: 'Adam Temple' CC: Mike Gibbons Adam, Please consider this my resignation as Aiken County chair for McCain. I am too far from him on the Amnesty...

<p>As Congress wrangles over immigration, the debate is moot in major cities across the country.</p> <p>The reason: "Sanctuary" cities from Los Angeles to New York will never check a person's immigration status regardless of what Washington passes.</p> <p>Consider Houston. Its police department's Web site is crystal clear -- in Spanish and English.</p>

The issue of illegal immigration has been a red-hot topic in my hometown community of Newport Beach/Costa Mesa, Orange County, Southern California. Sincere and heart-felt arguments have been made on both sides of the issue. However, many of those who write letters to the local paper in support of illegal immigration make it sound like Costa Mesa is the only place in the nation whose people favor the enforcement of our immigration laws. They suggest that those elected officials supporting these laws are just a small local band guilty of meanness, bigotry, and racism. Nothing could be further from the...