Apparently David Frum believes that native-born Americans should get jobs over immigrants--regardless of whether those immigrants are also citizens. In his piece in the Atlantic, Does Immigration Harm Working Americans?, Frum makes the classic conservative, fear-mongering, nativist ploy against immigrants: they are stealing jobs from low-income and working class Americans.
As politically correct and "objective" as he may attempt to be, this does not change the fact that Frum was playing into--and attempting to foment--the fears many low-income Americans have of immigrants. In today's economy, "jobs are created, yes—but native-born Americans are not hired for them," according to Frum. In other words, the reason the economy feels so bad to many Americans is because of immigrants (and definitely not the Republican Party's refusal to stimulate the economy!).
The core of Frum's argument is based on a conservative study which found that all new jobs created in the US are going to immigrants, both legal and undocumented:
Even now, almost seven years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, 1.5 million fewer native-born Americans are working than in November 2007, the peak of the prior economic cycle. Balancing the 1.5 million fewer native-born Americans at work, there are 2 million more immigrants—legal and illegal—working in the United States today than in November 2007. All the net new jobs created since November 2007 have gone to immigrants. Meanwhile, millions of native-born Americans, especially men, have abandoned the job market altogether. The percentage of men aged 25 to 54 who are working or looking for work has dropped to the lowest point in recorded history.
Regardless of how reliable his source was, with this quote Frum reveals who he really cares about: native-born American men (not once did he mention how women are faring in the job market). He implies that native-born men are inherently entitled to jobs over immigrants, even if those immigrants are here legally. There is no acknowledgement of the fact that many immigrants he points to as costing Americans their jobs are actually American citizens themselves. Frum himself being an immigrant from Canada shows that he is either a hypocrite, or he is just against giving jobs to "certain" (read: Mexican) immigrants. And this is coming from someone who is often viewed as an example of a "smart" or "nuanced" conservative.
Today, undocumented immigration from Mexico has reached net zero or even reversed, and was already falling in 2007 (the year Frum mentions above). Further, the number of undocumented immigrants in the US remained stable from 2009-2012, and has likely decreased since then. And about 75 percent of immigrants are here legally. Based on this information, it seems unlikely that most of the new jobs Frum cites have gone to undocumented workers.
Frum's inclusion of legal immigrants in his central argument reveals his belief that the rights of those who were born in the US are more important than those of immigrants. I believe that all people, including undocumented immigrants, should be extended the same human rights. Many conservatives, such as David Frum, disagree. Whatever one's views on this, it is supremely divisive to polarize job seekers based solely on whether they were born in the US when most immigrants are here legally. Why should a native-born citizen be given a job over a foreign born citizen or legal resident? Wouldn't giving this preferential treatment be a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment?
Another central issue with Frum's argument is the way he believes immigration should function in the US economy. According to him, the only reason to allow immigration would be to produce a situation like this:
Immigrant labor enables middle-class Americans to buy a roasted chicken and pre-washed salad at the supermarket or to check a box and have their holiday presents arrive at their door already gift-wrapped. Upper-income Americans live easier and more efficient lives thanks to millions of low-paid immigrant workers they never see and whose names they never know.
Frum consistently assumes that immigrants would (or should) only work in the worst jobs that no one else wants. That way, his precious native-born men could follow their bliss without having to mow the lawn or take care of their kids. He never explains why native-born Americans should always be the ones with the chance to move up the economic ladder. And in one of the oddest elements of the piece, in the course of making his case against immigration, Frum throws in an Albert Einstein quote to legitimize his argument. Maybe he forgot that Einstein was an immigrant, who, if it were up to Frum, would most likely have been barred from entering the US and killed by the Nazis.
Frum goes so far as to argue that there is an "exit of native-born men from the workforce—at least arguably because of immigration." In this vein, he also blames the rise in unemployed men applying for disability benefits on immigrant workers. This argument is bizarre and illogical. As any introductory level psychology student knows, correlation does not equal causation. Following his logic, the problems working class Americans are seeing today in the economy are not because the US has transitioned into a post-industrial, service economy in an age of globalization. It is not that good industrial jobs have gone overseas and have been replaced by McDonalds and the like. Naturally, the blame can be placed on those immigrants! Even those who are citizens as well!
"We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim," observed Elie Wiesel, an immigrant who knew much about oppression. Frum might claim that the purpose of his article is not to make a value judgment, but rather simply to debunk the claim that immigration is good for all American workers. But this would be dishonest. There is no such thing as neutrality, and his attempt to avoid outright xenophobia and racism rings false. Even if Frum did not explicitly say that he sees immigrants as stealing jobs, there is no denying that his article is meant to, and will, function as fodder for those wishing to stir up nativist fears amongst the American populace.