Perry Campaign Press Release - Debunking False Attacks Regarding Texas Jobs

America's unsecured border is a huge problem and the states are left with the resulting challenges, especially big states like California, Texas and Florida. In light of the federal government's failure to secure the border, Gov. Perry has championed border security, authorizing $400 million from Texas to fight border crime, and called for penalties against employers who hire illegal immigrants and an end to sanctuary city policies.

A central conclusion of a recent study falsely claims that "40 percent of all the job growth in Texas since 2007 went to newly arrived illegal immigrants." [1]

This finding is false. The numbers don't add up.

Since Jan. 2007, Texas has created 384,700 net new jobs, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. [2]

Forty percent of 384,700 jobs is 153,880 jobs.

The Department of Homeland Security data cited in the false study estimates that 60,000 illegal immigrants have arrived in Texas since 2007. [3]

So if Texas created 384,700 jobs since 2007 and 40 percent of that is 153,880 - the false study claims that 60,000 illegal immigrants arrived in Texas since 2007 - then the study's conclusion must be false and numerically impossible.

Sources:

[1] Center for Immigration Studies, Sept. 2011, Page 1,

http://www.cis.org/articles/2011/immigrant-job-growth-texas.pdf

[2] Texas Jobs Statistics from US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics/Total Nonfarm Seasonally Adjusted Change from Jan. 2007 — Aug. 2011 (Jan. 2007: 10,230,300 to Aug. 2011: 10,615,000)

[3] Department of Homeland Security, Feb. 2011, Page 4,

http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/ois_ill_pe_20...