Denver Post Shocks Readers; Publishes Story About Latinos Displacing American Workers

In a departure from form, the Denver Post published a story confirming that Latinos have been the greatest beneficiaries from the modest increase in jobs growth during the last three months. [Latinos Benefiting Most from U.S. Jobs Growth, By Don Lee, Denver Post, February 12, 2012]

I write that the Post story is a “departure from form” because in the fifteen years I’ve been reviewing mainstream media content for immigration advocacy, the Denver daily ranks toward the top right next to national newspapers like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. As an example of Post bias, read a summary of the infamous case involving illegal alien Jesus Apodaca and then-U.S. Representative Tom Tancredo here.

While the casual observer may think that a straight forward accounting of who is getting which job is nothing to get excited about, my experience indicates otherwise. What I found—and continue to find—is that information that might cast immigration in a bad light is not, to borrow from the New York Times, “fit to print.”

Here’s what the Post reported this week:

1. Latinos are scoring bigger job gains than most other demographic groups.
2. While they make up only 15 percent of the country's workforce, Latinos have racked up half the employment gains posted since the economy began adding jobs in early 2010, Labor Department data showed.
3. So far, Latinos are the only demographic group whose employment numbers have returned to pre-recession levels.[my emphasis added]
4. The improving labor market for Latinos, a key voting bloc, could boost President Barack Obama's political fortunes in the fall.
5. There are other reasons, experts say, why Latinos are faring better. For one thing, they might be more willing to take low-wage, temporary jobs. And they tend to be more mobile, willing to move from one county to another to get a job. [emphasis added]

The common denominator among these variables is that they all indicate American job displacement. For years, the pro-immigration lobby has insisted that legal and/or illegal immigrants either don’t take jobs from Americans or do work that Americans are unwilling to perform.

What’s happened, however, is that even though nearly 15 million Americans are unemployed or underemployed, Hispanics have come out of the jobs recession in better shape than many native-born who still cannot find a job.

In the meantime, Lamar Smith’s Legal Workforce Act that would make E-Verify mandatory for all employers shamefully languishes on Capitol Hill where the Republican House leadership refuses to bring it to the floor for a full vote.