LA TImes Op/Eds on Immigration

The benefits of Unskilled Immigrants

GOOGLE, YAHOO and Sun Microsystems were all founded by immigrants — from Russia, Taiwan and India, respectively. There is near-universal agreement that skilled immigrants are an enormous boon to the American economy. But what about the millions of unskilled laborers who arrive in this country every year? Recent public discourse would have us believe that they poach American jobs, lower wages and sponge off welfare. Yet economic research suggests a different picture: Unskilled immigrants are good for the U.S., and the U.S. is good for them.  Click here for the full op/ed piece.

Mae Ngai on Today’s Vs. Yesterday’s Immigrants

How grandma got legal Illegal-immigration foes say today’s migrants are different from their own forebears. They don’t know U.S. history. By Mae M. Ngai, MAE M. NGAI is a history professor at the University of Chicago and author of “Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America.” May 16, 2006  Click here for the commentary.

KJ