Matthew Richer sends me his Right Reason interview with Harvard immigration economist George Borjas (interview available here in PDF).

The interview offers little that is new or startling. But it does provide a succinct rebutal to those who continue to pretend that the policies pushed by the Senate and White House have something to do with the economc well-being of American citizens.

An excerpt:

Richer: We are repeatedly told that immigrants are coming in to do jobs that native-born Americans won't do.

Borjas: That's one of the biggest myths in the immigration debate. [...] If you go to southern California, virtually every gardener is of Mexican origin, and very often illegal. Does that mean that if you leave southern California, that there are no gardeners? No, there are plenty of American-born gardeners in Iowa, although the service might cost a bit more there, just as the immigrant-driven taxis might cost a bit less in New York City than in Iowa.
If the demand for the service is there, the service will get done. What immigration does is prevent the wage from going up to take care of the shortage of workers.