NumbersUSA Convention TV Ad Asks Why Admit More Immigrant Workers When Recent College Grads Can't Find Jobs

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Aug 28, 2012, 03:18 ET

U.S. Government Will Admit One Million Immigrant Workers Again Next Year Despite More Than One Million Recent College Graduates Being Unemployed Or Underemployed

TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Tonight, NumbersUSA will launch a national TV ad in cable network news coverage of the Republican National Convention and of next week's Democratic National Convention. The TV ad calls attention to the high unemployment rate of America's recent college graduates and asks why our government will admit another million immigrant workers next year despite the low percentage of recent college grads finding a job in their field or at all. The TV ad will air on several networks including MSNBC, CNN and FOX News Channel.

About 1.5 million or 53.6% of American bachelor's degree holders under the age of twenty-five were jobless or underemployed last year according to a recent Associated Press report. At the same time, the U.S. government has continued to admit more than one million legal immigrants a year to take jobs in places like Tampa, Florida and Charlotte, North Carolina.

"Both political parties have had a tin ear to the plight of America's kids -- and their parents -- who have gone to the effort and expense to gain a college education but encountered an economy unable to use them," commented Roy Beck, President of NumbersUSA, a non-partisan grassroots organization with more than 1.3 million participants. "The job picture is even worse for young Americans with only a high school degree. The last thing our graduates need right now is more job competition."

Beck said he is pleased that some politicians this year have pledged to increase immigration enforcement to reduce the number of illegal immigrants taking U.S. jobs sought by unemployed Americans. But the greater job threat to most Americans is the government's program that automatically gives out around one million permanent work permits to new immigrants each year, he said.

"Few politicians understand how jobless and underemployed young Americans must feel to see Washington refuse to reduce immigration numbers during this time of high unemployment," Beck said. "And it shows how out of touch many of our political leaders are with average American families that they don't realize the insult to young Americans when they hear talk of some kind of desperate need for actually increasing the number of immigrant workers each year.

The "College Kid" TV ad was designed with younger audiences in mind. It was shot with a stutter camera and features a recent college grad belting out light, humorous rap lyrics about his jobless predicament while watching the government admit a million immigrant workers each year. Included in the many visual sequences is a shot of the jobless graduate with his less than hip parents at their home, emphasizing the strain put on both generations as record numbers of college graduates move back with "mom and dad."

NumbersUSA, one of the largest member-based issue advocacy groups in America, is non-profit and non-partisan. It has been running ads since the beginning of the recession tying immigration policies to jobs issues. To learn more or to view the TV commercial, please visit www.NumbersUSA.org.

SOURCE NumbersUSA