Report: As Immigration Grows, Working-Age Natives Leave Labor Market

WASHINGTON (March 2006) -- Advocates of legalizing illegal immigrants and increased legal immigration argue there are no Americans to fill jobs that require relatively little education. However, a new analysis of Census Bureau data shows that the number and percentage of native-born Americans with no more than a high school degree who are unemployed or have left the labor market altogether is large, and has increased considerably since 2000. Some of the states most impacted are California, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

The report, entitled, "Dropping Out: Immigrant Entry and Native Exit From the Labor Market 2000-2005," is embargoed until Wednesday, March 22, at 9:30 a.m. Advance copies are available to the media. The study will be available online at www.cis.org.

The Center will release the report at a panel discussion on Wednesday, March 22, at 9:30 a.m. in the Zenger Room of the National Press Club.

Speakers:

* Steven Camarota, the Center's Director of Research and author of 'Dropping Out: Immigrant Entry and Native Exit From the Labor Market 2000-2005'

* Jared Bernstein, Director of the Living Standards Program at the Economic Policy Institute

* Paul Harrington, Associate Director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University

The briefing is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Steven Camarota at (202) 466-8185 or sac@cis.org.