The unemployment rate for illegal migrants in the United States reached almost 30 percent during the coronavirus crash, says a California advocacy report that urges a federal bailout for the cities and counties that choose to rely on illegal migrants.
“The unemployment rate for undocumented workers reached over 29% in the United States and more than 27% in California, the highest of any demographic group,” said the report by UCLA’s Latino Policy & Politics Initiative.
The report, titled, “Undocumented During Covid-19,” said:
If President Donald Trump and the Congress were to provide coronavirus checks to illegals as well as citizens, they would support 112,000 jobs in the U.S., 22,000 in California, and 2,000 in LA County … This relief would also result in almost $14 billion in value added to the national economy including $2.6 billion in California and $870 million in Los Angeles.
The paper did not say if American citizens would get the extra “112,000 jobs.”
The Democrat’s HEROES Act offers $1,200 checks to adults, including illegals. It provides $1 trillion for state and local governments, plus hazard pay for people — including illegal workers — in essential sectors, plus $175 billion in aid for rents, mortgages, and utilities.
Illegal migrants “suffer the highest rates of unemployment due to the collapse in demand for many construction and service sectors … we find that undocumented workers in the United States had the steepest rise in unemployment between February and May of 2020 compared to all demographic groups,” the UCLA report said.
The UCLA report continues:
Between February and April of 2020, undocumented workers lost almost 25% of their income, on average. This reduction in total wage bill is much higher than that experienced by other demographic groups including Latinos (-20.5%), Whites (-18.6%), Blacks (-17.9%) and Asians (-16.2%). Even though total wage bill for undocumented workers recovered faster than those for other groups between April and May, they remain being the ones with the biggest losses.
Nationwide, many advocacy groups are working with Democrats to pass the bailout for local economies that rely on illegal immigration. For example, NACLA.org reported September 1 how illegals used in New York City were hurt by the disease and crash:
The In Situ study, however, indicates that New York’s Latinx immigrants have experienced unemployment levels (69 percent) more than three times greater than the Latinx population in general. Fewer than one in 10 Latin American immigrant workers have managed to maintain their jobs and regular working hours. Nearly one quarter have seen their hours reduced. Since the vast minority of New York’s Latin American immigrant population is ineligible for temporary cash assistance and unemployment benefits, 56 percent of households report suffering a total loss of income.
The widespread loss of employment and income has had a dramatic impact on household finances. As a result of job losses, nearly 40 percent of Latin American immigrant families reported being unable to cover their basic monthly expenses. In addition, many migrant households lack significant savings. More than 40 percent of families reported having absolutely no savings and only five percent of households had sufficient funds to subsist for more than three months. For many families, lost earnings and limited savings translate into increasing reliance on credit cards and greater debt.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported September 15 that legal immigrants who earned citizenship had a poverty rate of nine percent in 2019, while non-citizen migrants — including many illegals — had a poverty rate of 16.3 percent, or roughly one-in-six.
The UCLA report recommended that the illegal immigrant population be provided “a path to citizenship.” NACLA.org added;
Several community-based organizations, including New York Communities for Change (NYCC) and Make the Road New York (MRNY), have mounted a campaign calling on New York to recognize and support undocumented workers and immigrant families who have not received aid. These advocacy efforts are part of a broader struggle to promote a more just and inclusive social policy agenda on behalf of a group that comprises an increasingly important share of the population, both in New York State, and in the United States, more generally.
But the resident population of at least eight million illegal workers helps to drive down wages for Americans, especially the marginalized Americans who cannot — or do not — work as hard as the migrants.
Corporate lobbyists reacted to rising wages throughout 2019 by repeatedly calling on Trump to import more foreign workers. His popular rejection of those pro-migration calls helped to nudge up Americans’ wages by more than two percent and boost household income by almost seven percent.
The inflow of illegal migrants also drives up housing prices, pushing many Americans into poverty. For example, the Census Bureau’s September 15 report showed that California’s high housing costs helped to raise California’s “Supplemental Poverty Measure” from 11.4 percent to 17.2 percent. The high housing prices force many migrants to live in very crowded conditions.
The inflow of cheap labor also reduces the pressure on employers to invest in wealth-creating, labor-saving machinery, such as harvesting machines. For example, President Donald Trump’s successful efforts to reduce the inflow of cheap labor have pressured food companies to invest in wage-boosting automation.