Immigration Reform Caucus
Congressman Brian Bilbray, Chairman
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May 14, 2007
washington, D.C. — Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith (R-TX) today urged a group of African-American civil rights leaders to help stop a Senate amnesty bill because it will drastically reduce job opportunities for African-American workers.
“Illegal immigrants take jobs from American citizens and lower their wages,” stated Ranking Member Smith. “As a prominent civil rights leader recently told Congress, the hardest hit are members of the African-American community.”
In a letter, Congressman Smith urged four leaders of the African-American community to join him in speaking out against the Senate’s proposed mass amnesty for illegal immigrants. The letter was sent to Dennis Courtland Hayes, Interim President of the NAACP, Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, Wade Henderson, President and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and Ron Woods, Executive Director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Smith’s letter comes after the House Immigration Subcommittee heard disturbing testimony about the harmful effect of mass immigration on the economic fate of African-Americans. Mr. T. Willard Fair, a prominent civil rights leader and the President and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Miami, testified that mass immigration contributes to low employment rates in the African-American community and is too often ignored.
As Mr. Fair put it, “…immigration isn’t the whole reason for the drop in employment of black men; it’s not even half the reason. But it is the largest single reason, and it’s something we can fix relatively easily.” Mr. Fair also called for businesses to once again recruit workers from African-American neighborhoods instead of foreign countries, fearing that unless mass immigration ends, African-Americans will continue to be “shut out of jobs.”
“Despite these compelling facts, the United States Senate stands on verge of approving a mass amnesty for illegal immigrants,” Smith warned. “If that becomes law, it will further devastate job opportunities for millions of hardworking African-Americans.”