Here is an opinion piece that appeared in the Washington Times earlier in the week stating the obvious about high immigration numbers. American blacks are the first to lose jobs when immigration is out of control.
Like just about everyone else, it seems, the CBC (Congressional Black Caucus) has its own list of grievances with the man in the White House. Chief among the concerns of black lawmakers is the president’s failure to address a black unemployment rate that far exceeds that of the general population. Sixteen percent of black workers are unemployed, and among black teens, a staggering 44.9 percent are out of work.
There is ample blame to be laid at the White House door, but the 43 members of the CBC who represent largely black constituencies also bear a large share of the responsibility. While some 8 million existing U.S. jobs are estimated to be held by illegal aliens, the CBC, like Mr. Obama, has consistently opposed tough enforcement of laws against employing illegal aliens. Many of the jobs filled by illegal aliens could be filled by black Americans, especially the huge cohort of black youth who are neither in school nor part of the labor force.
Rather than press the president to fulfill his responsibilities to American workers and resume meaningful enforcement against companies that employ illegal aliens, removing those workers from the country, the CBC marches in lockstep with the interests that promote illegal immigration. Since taking office last year, Mr. Obama has all but halted immigration enforcement in the workplace – a policy that enjoys the support of the CBC.
[…..]
As leaders of the black community, members of the CBC are in a unique position to frame the immigration issue in terms of social justice and ensuring opportunity to all Americans. Latinos and other immigrants are not entirely to blame for unemployment that disproportionately afflicts black Americans. Rather, it is immigration policies that ignore the profound impact of millions of people entering our country – legally and illegally – that are a huge part of the problem.
CBC and African refugees
In fact, according to Heidi Boas in her important 2007 paper entitled,“The New Face of America’s Refugees: African Refugee Resettlement to the United States,” she places much of the responsibility for how we switched from a European/Asian centered refugee program to one with a large African refugee component on the Congressional Black Caucus.
….several of the individuals interviewed for this paper identified the Congressional Black Caucus as one of the most influential groups advocating over the past decade for increased African refugee resettlement to the United States.
Every time I see a story about how American Blacks and Somalis are clashing in black neighborhoods in American cities I’m reminded of the Congressional Black Caucus’s folly.