According to a Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) report, raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are not only catching illegal immigrants, they are clearing the way for legal workers to take over the positions vacated by illegals.

A case in point was reported by USA Today on September 15. ICE cracked down on six meatpacking plants operated by Swift & Co. in December 2006, rounding up almost 1,300 illegal immigrants. This represented approximately 10 percent of the workers at the six plants.

How did Swift & Co. respond to such a sudden reduction in its labor force? With new-found ethics resulting from being caught with its hand in the illegal-immigrant cookie jar, the company turned to legal American workers and was back to full staff in a matter of months.

“Whenever there’s an immigration raid, you find white, black and legal immigrant labor lining up to do those jobs that Americans will supposedly not do,” said Carol Swain, a professor at Vanderbilt University. While the Swift & Co. case may be an extreme example, Swain has noted a growing trend for a positive side effect from immigration raids: “They were very beneficial to American workers.”

The CIS found that, depending on where in the country the job openings have occurred, the composition of the legal workers has varied. In the West, the openings at a Swift & Co. plant were filled mostly by white Americans and U.S.-born Hispanics.

In North Carolina, in a House of Raeford Farms plant that had a staff that was over 80-percent Hispanic, after ICE took action, the workforce became 70-percent African-American, the Charlotte Observer reported.

The Great Plains have seen a surge of legal immigrants stepping in to take vacated positions. Jill Cashen, spokeswoman for the United Food and Commercial Workers union representing 1.3 million laborers in the food-processing industry, stated that immigrants from Sudan, Somalia, and Southeast Asia are filling these openings.

Steven Camarota of CIS pointed out that, overall, native-born Americans are filling a majority of the jobs that have become available, putting to rest the myth that America needs illegal immigrants to do the work legal citizens refuse to do. In farming, fishing, and forestry jobs, native-born workers outnumber immigrants two-to-one, and in construction jobs, the ratio is 3-to-1, Camarota said.

The current state of the economy is undoubtedly a factor in people being willing to take jobs that wouldn’t be their first choice. T. Willard Fair, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Miami, believes that the recession is responsible for Americans being willing to do some hard labor: “We’ll take anything now. We’re willing to be exploited for a while.”

Fair may have a point, but this attitude is not fair to Americans. It seems a little too close to the pro-immigration mantra that most Americans are usually too lazy to do hard work. One need only point to the tens of thousands of Americans who are even now doing some of the dirtiest and hardest work imaginable: serving in the U.S. military forces that are stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Does anyone really believe that these patriotic men and women would not rather be back here in America working in a factory and coming home to their families at the end of a long, hard day instead of remaining in touch by long-distance communications? These brave individuals are being exploited like cheap labor to wage an undeclared war that has lasted longer than World War II, and there is still no end in sight.

America’s armed forces should be brought home as soon as possible. Once they are back home and rejoin the work force, there will be even less call for illegal immigrants.

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (13)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

MadMommy said:

American jobs for American workers! Hooray! Finally someone has realized that illegal immigrants are taking American jobs from American workers! Enforce the laws set forth in the 1986 amnesty and you'll see that all the jobs freed up from illegal workers being fired will amount to American families keeping their homes and feeding their families. Get a clue! We need the incentives to encourage law compliance not disobedience. We are encouraging illegal behavior by rewarding it with American taxpayer dollars and social service benefits. We need to enforce immigration laws and encourage deportation by attrition.

report abuse vote down vote up

September 21, 2009
Votes: +4

A Real American said:

Let The Raids Continue Obama should be ashamed that he has essentially stopped all meaningful immigration enforcement. He & Janet Napolitano have told ICE to stop the workplace raids, which we all know were highly effective as this article states. They also weakened 287g to only hardcore, violent criminals. Obama stopped the raids to placate the illegal lovin advocates. Big deal that they are supposedly doing audits of businesses now. That is a joke, as there have been no substantial penalties for the businesses that hire illegals. A fine and maybe probation will not deter greedy businesses. Throw their butts in jail and people will wake up real quick. Its up to the people to let our Senators and reps know we are against amnesty and demand that our government enforce all immigration laws and deport those caught. We did a great job voicing our displeasure about healthcare, so they must be our next rallying cry - NO AMNESTY !!

report abuse vote down vote up

September 21, 2009
Votes: +2

Lookin' for a job said:

	Amnesty I am all for amnesty for illegal aliens. We need to be kind and generous to these people. We should declare a 90 day amnesty in which they will be allowed to get their sorry behinds out of the country before we throw them behind bars and confiscate everything they have.
	report abuse vote down vote up

September 21, 2009
Votes: +0

Delaware Bob said:

... Well this is good news! Tell this to obama and tell him to get the immigration laws ENFORCED! We need more raids. We need an end put to these sanctuary cities! We need an end put to the birthright citizrnship. We need an end put to illegal aliens getting FREE healthcare and paying for their illegal aliens children. We need an end to illegal aliens using our schools. Talk about needing reform and getting our laws enforced. When we get rid of all the illegal aliens, we get rid of all the problens that go with them. THAT IS A FACT!

report abuse vote down vote up

September 21, 2009
Votes: +1

Flu-Bird said:

	Wet backs please swim back Its time that all illegal aliens were all shipped back to where they came from and to enforce laws that ban the hiring of illegal aliens and to end this bilinguialism poppycock
	report abuse vote down vote up

September 22, 2009
Votes: +0

Captain Gabe said:

	Wait a second In the New American a few issues back, you were saying that these raids were part of a conspiracy with some meat packing company in Brazil. That hurting the US plants by taking 10% of their workers drove their purchase price down so the Brazilian firm could buy them up. Now you're saying it was all a good idea???
	report abuse vote down vote up

September 22, 2009
Votes: -1

Bonnie said:

	Captain Gabe I read The New American, cover to cover, every issue. Somehow I missed that article. I also did an online search of the index of articles using the terms "brazil", "brazilian", and "immigration raids". I received no relevant hits. Please let us know which issue and on what page of The New American this article appeared. I sure would like to read it.
	report abuse vote down vote up

September 22, 2009
Votes: +0

Brittanicus said:

Finding out the truth? NOT LIES! Nothing is a 100 percent perfect and that goes for the government application E-Verify? The answer for any irate hired worker is simple, that if the employer is not satisfied with the results of the immigration verification identity process? You take a copy of your 1-9 form to the Social security agency, to resolve the issue? YOU WILL OBVIOUSLY NOT APPEAR BEFORE AN AGENT OF THE GOVERNMENT, IF YOU HAVE NO AUTHENTIC PAPERS? This is not a complex approach to the problem, although the US Chamber of Commerce, ACLU and a multitude of detrimental businesses have tried to escalate this situation? They say categorically nothing about how to rectify the matter, owing to their main objective is to demonize the process any way they can? Even their adolescent attitude of filing some frivolous lawsuit with the courts fell through? E-Verification--MUST--become a permanent law, not just subject to an employer’s whim? The public who savor their jobs not being appropriated by foreign workers--AS HAPPENED IN EUROPE--should demand E-Verify in every industry, every business with heavy penalties for those who rebuke the law including mandatory jail sentences. EUROPE over several decades has also been overwhelmed by legal and illegal immigrants, thats why health care across the Atlantic has become compromised? E-Verify could be easily expanded for many other uses in the US, including admittance to health care, drivers licenses, government subsidies that would include education and home mortgages? My family wants a comprehensive package of health care reform pass, then to me it's obviously important to me as well?

report abuse vote down vote up

September 22, 2009
Votes: +0

Brittanicus said:

Telling the truth? But we must remain vigilant as the status quo has in their influence a group of stalwart politicians. They have secretly conspired to table E-Verify in the past and will no doubt try to eradicate it's accessibility in the future. Hundreds of pariah businesses are devoid of a conscious towards the American working man or woman. They have corrupted the lawmakers in Washington, with special interest money and extravagant favors. They have already indoctrinated some of our previously honest leaders with favors and in return we have seen the weakening of 287 G police training apprehension of illegal immigrants. Already President Obama has listened to Sen.Harry Reid D-NV, California's own Nancy Pelosi and Napolitano who have weakened other enforcement laws. NO! Innocent children of illegal immigrants who were transplanted by their parents here are not to blame. Our borders have remained like sieves, thanks to some of the lawmakers whom we voted for over the years. Legislators are ultimately culpable as they make the decisions, as by inheritance of each administration who resides in the White House? Money was wasted on building the single length border fence instead of Rep.Duncan Hunters planned two-tier barrier as in San Diego? ICE raids have been reduced and even the No-match-rescinded. More money is wasted overturning enforcement laws, instead of using the full force of these procedures in combating the illegal immigrant invasion. IF YOU HAVE SOME SOLID KNOWLEDGE OF ILLEGAL WORKERS, CONTACT ICE! ADDRESS YOUR POLITICIANS AT 202-224-3121 NO MORE COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM! IT IS NOT IN THE COUNTRIES INTEREST. USE AMENDMENTS TO RESOLVE PROBLEMS WITH THE 1986 IMMIGRATION LAWS ALREADY ENACTED. Learn facts not rhetoric or lies at NUMBERSUSA & JUDICIAL WATCH & CAPSWEB.

report abuse vote down vote up

September 22, 2009
Votes: +0

Jay Zapata said:

Broad Generalizations?? For Sure!! I am a legal immigrant; I own a home, pay taxes, have never used any kind of government assistance; I studied hard and got an MBA degree; I also pay insurance out of pocket for my family, and my business copays for roughly twenty US born employees health insurance; In spite of this, I am still treated by some people as if I was an illegal; I have done everything by the book, but I am still consider the scum of society because I wear a Latino skin every day for work. I was mugged in NYC by some black guys while in vacation. Does that mean every African American is a criminal? A white guy from Chicago raped my wife's best friend while visiting friends up there; does that mean every white guy is a rapist??

report abuse vote down vote up

September 24, 2009
Votes: +2

Jay Zapata said:

Broad Generalizations 2nd part I ask this questions because in this discussion all I see are broad generalizations about the US Hispanic population; I know that about 90% of the illegal immigrants are of Hispanic origin but what about the rest; I have know German, Canadian, and Swedish illegal immigrants whom go unnoticed because they have the right eye and skin color; they do not take the dish washing jobs; instead, they hold jobs at IT departments, accounting firms, and so on; They might be smarter than some Latinos but are still here illegally; I wont even mention the difference in earnings between such processions; I am aware that some immigrants legal an illegal indeed abuse the system, but we cannot conclude that all of them do; I really think each human being should be judged by his values, character, and contribution to society and not just their skin color, heritage, or language. I believe in some ways Hitler would have been very proud of the way "some" Americans perceive,treat, and talk about some of their neighbors. Never forget, we all are just temporary visitors on this earth and should strive to leave it a better place, But not at the expense of shattered dreams, broken families, and destroyed lives. Treat others the way you'd like to be treated if you were on this shoes; one never knows the tables might just turn on you someday.

report abuse vote down vote up

September 24, 2009
Votes: +1

Bonnie said:

To Jay Zapata I'm on your side. I am native born. One set of my great-grandparents was not. Going back further, you find more who were not born here. But, like you, all came here legally. The point I am making here is this: You will find the vast majority of constitutionalists will fully support you. While The New American is a magazine which supports constitutional government and free enterprise and morality, this is an "open" web site. As such, there will be posts from all sorts who may share only a few (or even none) of the views of TNA. If I was still in the work force, I'd be proud to work for you. If I was a business owner and you were not, I hope you'd be as proud to work for me.

report abuse vote down vote up

September 24, 2009
Votes: +1

jerseycityjoan said:

Some Jobs Do Exploit Workers Thank you for this article. I find that I agree with most of your points. But I also agree with someone you disagreed with. I think it's incorrect to assume that Americans won't do certain jobs because they are lazy -- but Americans quite rightly try to avoid being grossly unpaid for very hard work. I consider that being smart, not lazy. So I believe that T. Willard Fair of the Urban League was accurate when he said “We’ll take anything now. We’re willing to be exploited for a while.” Many jobs involving hard physical labor never did pay enough. Now, because of illegal immigration and the downward pressure of blue collar wages, many good paying jobs in meat processing and construction work pay much less than they used to. To me, getting $9 or $10 an hour for meatpacking is such a low wage considering the dangers and unpleasantness of the job that it is exploitation. I have read many places that such work paid more in the 1980s. In a good economy with no illegal labor to compete with, I hope these hard working, underpaid workers finally get a decent day's pay for a hard day's work.

report abuse vote down vote up

September 26, 2009
Votes: +0