Gohmert: US Added 2X as Many Immigrants as Jobs Since 2000
US Representative
TX 1st Congressional District
According to a Pew Research Center article, there are currently over 40 million immigrants residing in the US, a number which includes approximately 11 million illegal immigrants. Other estimates put the number of illegal immigrants as high as 30 million.
This morning, US Congressman Louie Gohmert (TX-01) released the following statement regarding new data from the Census Bureau that shows the United States added twice as many lawful immigrants as jobs since 2000—while the number of Americans not working increased dramatically:
It is truly astounding that the federal government has added two new immigrants for each additional job created in the United States since 2000. According to Census Bureau data, in the past 15 years there were only 9.3 million jobs created while 18 million new legal and illegal immigrants were introduced to this nation.
This new information is compounded by the fact that the President is implementing policies that would unilaterally declare illegal immigrants as “lawfully present” in the United States, making job hunting even more difficult for over 90 million Americans who are eligible to work but unemployed. It is apparent the Obama Administration is out of touch with the financial struggles of willing American hard-workers when it is putting immigrants illegally here ahead of them.
This administration’s policies have slowed the growth of employment within the United States and hurt struggling Americans by making employment more difficult to find as well as drastically depressing wages. Under the Obama Administration, this country has seen the lowest labor force participation levels since 1978. Roughly 92 million people in the Unites States are out of a job, including those who are eligible to work but have given up even trying to find a job. According to the report, native-born Americans made up 77 percent of the workforce in 2000, but less than 72 percent by the end of 2014.
Additionally, young Americans are being even more dramatically hurt by the Obama policies and amnesty actions. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, ‘today’s typical 18- to 34-year-old earns about $2,000 less per year (adjusted for inflation) than their counterpart in 1980.’ That is truly outrageous. Yet, those younger Americans are the very people who support the President more strongly.
The unlawful executive amnesty decree illegally created by President Obama will double immigration rates in the country. That will financially damage Americans legally here all the more. This President’s policies are crushing the economy and doing significant damage to hurting families who try to obey our laws.
It’s time for the President to start putting the needs of American workers harmed by his policies ahead of those who violate the law.
Congressman Gohmert is the Vice Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security and the Chairman of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.