"During [a] half century of tight labor, wages increased, wealth disparities shrank, the middle class exploded, and Black average incomes skyrocketed. Everyone benefited."
Yesterday's Sun Journal ran "Immigration and America's racial reckoning," an eye-opening op-ed with a review of Roy Beck's latest book "Back of the Hiring Line."
There's no paywall on this one, so share it far and wide! Here's a sneak peak:
"With the surge in foreign workers, some employers tended to prefer immigrants who were willing to accept long hours and lower wages. Blacks were gypped in one industry after another where previously employed. They also missed out on entry level jobs in technology, losing the opportunity to develop those skills, networks and work experience that lead to upward mobility and generational wealth.
Blacks earn one in 10 computer science degrees nationwide, but account for only 2.6% of Silicon Valley tech workers. Seventy-one percent of tech workers in Silicon Valley today are foreign born. The employment/opportunity ladder that propelled many immigrants was denied to Blacks.
And the results of shrinking work availability on vulnerable populations are evident in the crime, welfare dependence and family dissolution of our inner cities."
Speaking of the back of the line, we are starting to see an increase in a U.S. version of "asylum shopping" due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Reuters reports:
"A growing number of Russians and Ukrainians are traveling to Mexico, buying throwaway cars and driving across the border into the United States to seek asylum, a trend that could accelerate...
'It's a way to jump the line.'"
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