(DailyChive.com) – Recent reports have intensified scrutiny of President Biden’s job creation record due to a significant shift in employment dynamics. The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) report reveals a remarkable surge in immigrant employment under Biden, with 2.9 million job-seeking migrants finding work. However, this positive trend accompanies a persistent deficit of 183,000 jobs held by Americans compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
Steven Camarota, author of the report “All Employment Growth Has Gone to Immigrants, Compared to 2019,” emphasizes the substantial increase in immigrant employment, exceeding levels seen before the Pandemic. Camarota highlights that the number of employed U.S.-born Americans has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels despite this growth.
Notably, the report does not claim discrimination against American job seekers. Instead, it raises concerns about a trend where immigrants have absorbed all job gains above 2019 levels while native-born Americans struggle to reclaim lost employment opportunities.
Demographic shifts compound the situation as an aging population and fewer young Americans entering the workforce contribute to a lower share of working Americans compared to 2019. This shift leads to a reliance on migrant labor to fill vacancies left by retiring Americans, particularly in industries with shortages of native-born workers.
However, critics have argued that Biden’s policies may unintentionally incentivize the hiring of illegal migrants over unemployed Americans. Despite approximately five million working-age American men being available for employment, many remain sidelined due to factors like geographic isolation, substance abuse, health issues, criminal backgrounds, and disengagement from the workforce.
Nonetheless, government policies, the report suggests, often overlook these sidelined Americans, with many not counted as unemployed because they have yet to look for jobs in the past month actively. This phenomenon contributes to a lower labor force participation rate among non-college-educated U.S.-born men, which remains below pre-pandemic levels.
Biden’s immigration policies have come under fire for making matters worse. The administration has welcomed over 6.2 million undocumented migrants across the southern border, providing employers with a readily available pool of potentially cheaper labor. This could bypass native-born Americans who remain unemployed or underemployed.
Furthermore, the report identifies a broader economic strategy that prioritizes low-wage, low-productivity jobs for migrants, particularly in coastal cities. This strategy, endorsed by the Democratic Party, benefits employers, government workers administering aid programs, and potentially itself, according to the report.
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