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Are illegal aliens benefiting from the 2009 stimulus package?

On Monday, March 09, 2009, a local classical radio station in Dallas headlined its morning rush-hour report claiming that 300,000 illegal aliens would benefit from the current Senate stimulus bill being debated in Congress.  The source for this information was a report from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS).
 
The CIS report claims that 15 percent of construction workers are illegal aliens.  It also estimates that the Senate Stimulus bill under consideration would create 2 million new construction jobs.  “Thus, if no effort is made to bar illegal immigrants from these jobs, it is extremely likely that about 300,000 will go to illegal immigrants,” the report claims.  The report then criticizes the Senate bill for not requiring the use of the “E-Verify” system as its companion House bill has required.

The CIS report has been criticized by the Immigration Policy Center (IPC) as a “stimulus for fear.”  The IPC reports that CIS uses a formula from the Federal Highway Administration that states that for every $1 billion spent on federal highway construction, the result is “10,300 construction oriented jobs.”  IPC argues that CIS has misapplied this formula because it was designed specifically for federal highway construction and not for the many broad initiatives in the 2009 Economic Stimulus.  Additionally, IPC notes that this formula was generated prior to the economic downturn and that the current economic conditions have caused many illegal aliens to return home.  Moreover, the term “construction oriented jobs” is very broad and includes positions not historically held by illegal aliens e.g., managerial and supervisory white-collar positions.  IPC also argues that E-verify is not the “silver bullet” that it is portrayed to be and has many database errors.  You can read their report here: Stimulus for Fear (pdf)

A closer examination reveals that the CIS report chooses its words carefully: “if no effort is made to bar illegal immigrants from these jobs, it is extremely likely that about 300,000 will go to illegal immigrants.”  This is vastly different than reporting as a fact that the “stimulus will benefit 300,000 illegal aliens.”  The fact is no one knows how many undocumented aliens will be working on projects directly or indirectly associated with the 2009 stimulus package.

Until next time, consider the facts, examine your sources of information and remember to keep “separating the wheat from the chaff.”

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