Sometimes the other side has bad luck, too. The Pew Hispanic Center’s latest piece of tendentious pro-immigration propaganda Growth in the Foreign-Born Workforce and Employment of the Native Born was published on August 10. But with the MSM obsessively focused on events on some barren hillsides half way round the world - rather than the fate of America - attention paid, though extensive, was limited in scope.

This must have disappointed Messsrs. Kochbar, Suro, Fry, Tafoya and Benavides, who wrote the report, because the spin they put on the introduction certainly generated the headlines intended:

Immigrants not hurting US worker – Associated Press August 11 2006

Study Finds Immigrants Don’t Hurt US Jobs – Washington Post August 10 2006

Exploding a myth – Orlando Sentinel –August 12 2006

In fact, as an interesting new blog Old Atlantic Lighthouse points out here and here, not only are these headlines quite untrue, but the actual main report does not claim this. Only considering employment rates amongst native-born compared to immigrant work force growth in the different states, it suggests states with rapid immigrant workforce expansion are slightly more likely to have higher employment rates amongst the native born, but with plenty of exceptions. States with slower immigrant growth are somewhat more likely to have lower native-born employment rates, also with substantial exceptions.

Since the study did not consider the impact on wages, it is essentially useless for assessing the effect of mass immigration on the American worker.

The Orlando Sentinel explicitly misrepresents this:

One of the recurring accusations made in the debate over immigration reform is that immigrants depress wages and take jobs away from Americans:

But a new, credible study argues otherwise.

Complain to The Orlando Sentinel

Employment rates are tricky things. As Steve Sailer recently pointed out, immigrants with no US ties or roots are highly likely to head for the most prosperous and dynamic regions. At a glance, this might well account for much of the effect Pew notes. Furthermore, there is the question of drop-outs from the labor force, an option the native-born have to some degree when discouraged.

Another aspect the report neglects is the differential impact of different groups, such as America’s blacks.

The real question, however, is why the Pew Hispanic Center, with all its resources, chose to launch such a poorly designed and meaningless study. The nebulousness of the data is well known, as they themselves note on P 46, citing George Borjas. That is why the debate has moved on to wages.

Alas, it looks like the prospect of those headlines was too tempting!

Complain to Pew.