Congress: Middle class incomes drop as immigration surges

Wages of America’s middle class have dropped below 1970s levels as immigration has surged 325 percent, according to a new congressional report that questions claims that native Americans are economically helped by greater immigration.The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service report studied immigration and middle class income from 1945-2013 and found that as immigration slowed between 1945 and 1970, American incomes increased. But when immigration expanded, the incomes of the bottom 90 percent of Americans went flat and then dropped beginning in 2000.

There are no clean hands in Washington on this matter.  For Democrats, immigrants are new voters (never mind that non-citizens aren’t supposed to vote) and new members of the Free Sh*t Army that keeps them in office.  For Republicans, immigrants are cheap labor for business donors (never mind that most businesses aren’t particularly loyal with their political contributions).  With more people chasing roughly the same amount of jobs, it’s pretty much inevitable that the value of an hour’s work would take a hit.