History Paper

America, The oppressor

Jonathan Lobos

History 40

Professor Tellez

November 19, 2015

In our society today, "immigrants" is something most Americans have frowned upon since the creation of the declaration of independence, and possibly, before that. In this book by Aviva Chomsky, They take Our Jobs, here she explains many misconceptions/myths that Americans have about immigrants. A few myths she clears in this book is how "immigrants take American jobs", and immigrants drive down wages. But what her overall issue is that American political system has created benefits for their own people (white people) and have made it harder for people of color such as African Americans, Mexican Americans, etc., any many areas such as where they grow up and achieving social mobility.

Immigrants affecting the economy is a big topic in economical debates, presidential campaigns and just overall is a hot topic that you hear on the news. In the section, "Part One Immigrants and the Economy" she clarifies this issue. Here Chomsky states, "Immigrants are blamed for causing or exacerbating a wide variety of economic ills, from unemployment to low wages to the underfunding of government services. (pg.1)" The first myth that is explained by Chomsky is "Immigrants Take American Jobs". It is not that the poor immigrants take the jobs, but big industries hire the poor so they can save money on employment and not pay them as much. Another finding by Chomsky is that if the population is increasing then so are jobs because if there are more people in a community, this increases demand, which means more jobs are opening. So more immigrants crossing the border does not mean there will be less jobs, but more.

The second myth explained by Chomsky is that "Immigrants Compete with low-skilled workers and drive down wages." Big companies that are owned by the United States love the idea of low wages because they make a big profit and have to spend less money...