White House Council says US workers benefit from immigration

• A a newly-released report by the White House Council of Economic Advisers
  says that U.S. native workers benefit from all forms of
  immigration.  According to statesmen.com:

"Immigrants tend to complement (not substitute for) native workers,
raising natives’ productivity and income,” said the report.

Other findings include:
— Immigrants are a critical part of the U.S. workforce and
contribute to productivity growth and technological advancement.
Immigrants make up 15% of all workers and even larger shares of certain
occupations such as construction, food services and health care.
— About 40% of Ph.D. scientists working in the United States are foreign born.
— Many immigrants are entrepreneurs. The Kauffman Foundation’s index
of entrepreneurial activity is nearly 40% higher for immigrants than
for natives. The Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, Mo., studies and
finances entrepreneurship and innovation.
— Immigrants have lower crime rates than natives. Among men aged 18
to 40, immigrants are much less likely to be incarcerated than natives.

The report states that the word “immigrant” includes both legal and illegal foreign born people.

• A Kansas Appeals court has ruled that being in the country illegally is not a crime.
  A state judge had previously ruled that Nicholas Martinez was not
  eligible for probation after a drug sentence on the grounds that his
  presence in the US was unlawful.  However, the appeals court has ruled
  that:

"While an illegal alien is subject to deportation, that person's
ongoing presence in the United States in and of itself is not a crime,
unless that person had been previously deported and regained illegal
entry into this country."

• One of the biggest stories of the past week concerns the repercussions of Arizona's new legislation to force employers to verify the social security numbers of all workers within federal databases.  A coalition of civil rights organizations including MALDEF and the ACLU have filed a lawsuit challenging the 'Legal Arizona Workers Act,'  while many conservative bloggers are reporting that illegal immigrants have already begun to flee the state.

• On the other hand, in New Hampshire, the state legislature is considering a bill that would "prohibit state and local authorities from enforcing federal immigration laws".  However, it is precisely this lack of cohesive federal legislation on immigration that leads states to develop such contradictory laws. And then there is Republican presidential candidate Tom Tancredo, who has suggested that NH legislators should be not only removed from office but prosecuted for enacting such a bill.

• Another recent gem involves Tom Tancredo yet again, as he stated last week that it is “time the taxpayer gravy train left the New Orleans station,” and that “the mentality that people can wait around indefinitely for the federal
  taxpayer to solve all their worldly problems has got to come to an end.” Obvious objections aside, this is a perfect example of how conservatives use the language of individual responsibility,  the "up-by-the-bootstraps" narrative that tries to paint recipients of federal subsidies as "irresponsible," "lazy," and not deserving of help.  This often-illusory rugged individualism is just one way to frame the argument, however - Americans also ascribe to the core value of community, that we are responsible for each other as well as for ourselves, that our actions and our welfare are interconnected.  We must work to restore the balance between these two narratives so it will be clear to policy-makers that while we are indeed responsible for ourselves, a strong sense of community support is also critical in expanding opportunity for all.
• One month after obtaining a decision in the Seattle and Kentucky schools cases, the Project on Fair Representation has filed another complaint with the Department of Education against the University of Texas at Austin, which chose in 2005 to reintroduce affirmative in its admissions policies.  The non-profit legal defense fund works to "challenge racial and ethnic classifications and preferences in state and federal courts," in effect seeking normalize existing segregation and lack of access to education for communities of color.
• There has been a lot of conversation around the blogosphere about Louisiana's Jena 6, a group of young black students that is being prosecuted for attempted murder after getting in a fight with a white student who had allegedly been taunting the group by hanging nooses on a tree, the 'white tree' under which the group chose to sit.  While charges against the students have recently been reduced, one young man may still receive up to 15 years in prison.  This case seems to be the epitome of racial discrimination in our nation's justice system; colorofchange.org says that it reads like it's "straight from the era of Jim Crow." It's not surprising that it hasn't received much mainstream media coverage.
• Finally, with respect to health care access and gender equality, there is a recent piece in Feministe about New York's Amsterdam Memorial Hospital intending to shave off its women's health program upon a merge with a Catholic hospital.  State Health department officials and area residents are hoping that the local clinic New Dimensions will be able to take over the state-funded contraceptive program, though the clinic does not have the capacity to provide tubal ligations.  Given that the facility already serves close to 15,000 low-income clients, access to women's health services is likely to be greatly diminished in the region.  This is, however, greatly reflective of a larger pattern in reductions in health care for areas in need.  For more information on the way hospital closings and mergers are affecting local communities, see the resources section on our google map.