Immigrants Did Not Take Your Job

"Mark Krikorian, executive director of the anti-immigrant Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) and author of the book The New Case Against Immigration: Both Illegal and Legal, criticized a remark I made to Washington Times reporter Stephen Dinan about a new CIS memo.  The memo, which can be found here, claims that immigrants are taking most of the jobs created since President Obama took office.  I told the Washington Times that the memo “makes a mountain out of a molehill” because it ignores key economic explanations that have nothing to do with demonizing immigrants.  Steven Camarota, one of the authors of the memo, even agreed that one factor I mentioned could explain his findings.  In response, Mr. Krikorian wrote that I should, “Tell that to the 23 million Americans who are unemployed, forced to settle for part-time work, or gave up looking for work altogether.”  My response is that the CIS memo is so flawed it should not be taken seriously. ... [Much, much more...]" - Alex Nowrasteh, Nov. 2, 2012.

- Alex Nowrasteh is the immigration policy analyst at the Cato Institute's Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity.  Previously he was the immigration policy analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.  His work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Houston Chronicle, Boston Globe, San Jose Mercury, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Huffington Post, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, and elsewhere.  He has appeared on Fox News and numerous television and radio stations across the United States.  He received his B.A. in Economics from George Mason University and MSc in Economic History from the London School of Economics.