WashPost Kneels Before Pew's Findings on Immigration

Ken Shepherd
August 11th, 2006 1:01 PM
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A new study out by the liberal Pew Hispanic Center says immigration has no negative impact on Americans' job prospects.

Naturally, The Washington Post jumped on it. But while reporter Kim Hart included the study's detractors in her story, she suggested Pew was a gold standard of neutrality in policy research.

It's not.

Here's an excerpt of my article available at the MRC's BusinessandMedia.org.:

Hart added that Pew “has published respected polls and reports on the role of Hispanics in the United States.”

But Pew doesn’t merely study the Hispanic population in the U.S., it advocates policy, including more federal spending on immigrant children and a large guest worker program.

On NPR’s May 16 edition of “News and Notes,” PewHispanicCenter’s director Roberto Suro suggested boosting federal spending on immigrants. Lamenting that “we have an older population which has been in charge for a long time,” Suro suggested the government doesn’t spend enough tax money on young immigrants and children of immigrants.

“[I]n an area of budget tightening and fiscal issues, where we’re trying to save our money, I think accommodation needs to be made between the older and the younger population in order to understand that these people are America’s future,” Suro suggested, calling for “more resources” and “more services.”

On the August 16, 2005 “All Things Considered,” Suro dismissed a 200,000-a-year guest worker program as too small, complaining that “it would take a lot more enforcement” to make sure “the rest of the demand wasn’t met through illegal immigration.” He also referred to “well-functioning channels now between Mexico and the U.S. that carry people here.”

In fact, a look at the Web site for Pew Charitable Trusts reveals the organization has a strong liberal slant with public policy issues.

  • Pew Trusts help to finance the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY), a liberal anti-alcohol industry advocacy group.
  • Pew Trusts “advocate for universal, voluntary access” to pre-kindergarten, a campaign staple of Al Gore’s 2000 presidential run.
  • Pew Trusts are “working to create a policy environment that leads to the adoption of mandatory federal limits on emissions that contribute to global warming.”