Here is a recent article from USA Today confirming something we know well—Americans (and refugees) are lining up for jobs as illegal immigrants are busted.

When federal agents descended on six meatpacking plants owned by Swift & Co. in December 2006, they rounded up nearly 1,300 suspected illegal immigrants that made up about 10% of the labor force at the plants.

But the raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents did not cripple the company or the plants. In fact, they were back up and running at full staff within months by replacing those removed with a significant number of native-born Americans, according to a report by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS).*

That was the most extreme example of what has become an increasingly common result of the raids: “They were very beneficial to American workers,” according to Vanderbilt University professor Carol Swain.

“Whenever there’s an immigration raid, you find white, black and legal immigrant labor lining up to do those jobs that Americans will supposedly not do,” said Swain, who teaches law and political science.

We have reported many times on these pages that refugee resettlement agencies are setting up offices and providing labor to meatpacking companies throughout the US.

Exactly who is filling the jobs has varied, depending on the populations surrounding the plants:

Throughout the Great Plains, a new wave of legal immigrants is filling the void, according to Jill Cashen, spokeswoman for the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents 1.3 million people who work in the food-processing industry. Plants are refilling positions with newly arrived immigrants from places such as Sudan, Somalia and Southeast Asia.

*USA Today refers to a Center for Immigration Studies report but although it links other things in the article, never links the study.  I assume it is this one from August.

By the way, one of the earliest and clearest examples of rushing in to fill the gap left by raids on illegal aliens employed in meatpacking is this one where the Clinton Administration brought in Bosnian refugees to work in Iowa meatpacking plants.

Your tax dollars:

What did I tell you a few hours ago, the reason religious organizations don’t listen to logical arguments from people like Roy Beck about how excessive immigration hurts Americans is because they receive enormous amounts of federal money.   And, they have a political agenda—getting more voters for the Far Left.  Here is an AP story that illustrates my point beautifully:

DALLAS — Federal immigration officials on Thursday awarded a Dallas group and 12 other organizations around the country $1.2 million in grants to help legal residents become U.S. citizens.

Citizenship and Immigration Services awarded $100,000 to Catholic Charities Immigration and Legal Services. It wasn’t immediately clear how much money was awarded to the other groups, but the agency said they could apply for up to $100,000.

If good Christian and Jewish people want to help immigrants become citizens couldn’t they do it on a voluntary basis?   Silly me! Not much chance of that once they have gotten on the taxpayer funded gravy train there is no incentive to do what once was truly an act of charity—giving one’s time for free.

The agency said the money goes to increase the number of people served by programs that help green card holders improve their English skills, learn about U.S. history and government, and prepare for the naturalization process.

The funds can only be used to provide direct services to immigrants with legal status in the country.

Other recipients include the Association House of Chicago; Central American Resource Center in Los Angeles; Federation Employment and Guidance Service Inc. in New York; International Institute of St. Louis; and the International Rescue Committee Inc. in San Diego.

Grants also went to the Jewish Family and Children’s Services in San Francisco; Jewish Vocational Service of MetroWest Inc. in New Jersey; Lutheran Family Services in the Carolinas, based in North Carolina; OneAmerica in Seattle; Progreso Latino in Rhode Island; Saint Mark Roman Catholic Parish in Massachusetts; and Young Women’s Christian Association in Oklahoma.