[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 113 (Thursday, July 29, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1466]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         NO ENFORCEMENT MEANS LOWER WAGES, HIGHER UNEMPLOYMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. LAMAR SMITH

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 29, 2010

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Madam Speaker, Arizona's pleadings in support of 
their immigration enforcement law include an important declaration by 
Harvard Economics Professor George Borjas.
  In his analysis of interstate wage trends from 1960 through 2006, 
Borjas found: ``that the presence of unauthorized aliens in the Arizona 
workforce reduced the earnings of low-skilled authorized workers in 
Arizona by 4.7 percent.
  Borjas says, ``The overall wage depression for all Arizona workers is 
approximately $1.4 billion.
  ``The evidence further indicates that the presence of unauthorized 
aliens in the Arizona workforce reduced the employment rate of 
Arizona's low-skilled authorized workers by 1.6 percent . . .''
  This reinforces what we already know: the Obama administration's 
failure to secure the border and enforce our immigration laws means 
citizens and legal immigrants face higher unemployment and lower wages.

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