Illegal immigrants could get stimulus jobs according to think tanks
By admin at 10 March, 2009, 3:38 pm
Although a major part of the economic stimulus bill was designed to give jobs to Americans, two conservative think tanks say up to 15 percent of the construction jobs may end up going to illegal immigrants.
USA Today reports that the Heritage Foundation and the Center for Immigration Studies believe that failures to require the use of the E-Verify system in the hiring of employees for jobs created by the stimulus package could result in up to 300,000 construction jobs going to illegal immigrants.
The White House has said that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - otherwise known as the economic stimulus bill - could create up to 2 million jobs in and around the construction industry.
Critics of the groups say they are using faulty numbers and feel the groups are attempting to scare the public.
“Those are fear tactics. … ‘The immigrants are here to take your job,’” Cabrera told USA Today. “I think that we really should be focusing on economic progress for all.”
According to figures obtained from the Department of Homeland Security, the Boston Globe reported last week that the number of employers across the country using E-Verify had increased in 2008 with an added 1,000 companies using the service each week.
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