In the midst of public debate over immigration reform, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights voted to examine the possible effects of illegal immigration on particularly vulnerable segments of the U.S. working population, specifically low-skill black workers. Since the april 4, 2008, briefing, the severe economic downturn has affected workers in general, and –if unemployment rates are any indication – has had an even more severe impact on low-skill workers. To help air important aspects of the debate, the commission invited experts who have published and spoken on this issue to weigh the relative effects of factors that influence black low-skill workers’ wages, job gains or losses and report conclusions to the Commission. The speakers discussed factors that included the economic costs to this particular group, fiscal costs to taxpayers of social services for low-skill workers, competing skill levels of affected workers, the economic gains of the U.S. economy as a whole from flexible,low-cost labor and what constitutes a fair comparison between legal and illegal workers and their job opportunities. The panelists addressed the following issues in response to Commissioners’questions: The consensus by panelists that there is a negative effect on wages of low-skill black workers and the range of negative effects; The importance of other factors contributing to low-skill black unemployment; Possible discrimination resulting from the use of ethnic networks; Benefits and costs to the U.S. economy from illegal immigration; Policy recommendations from panelists, including strict enforcement of existing immigration laws; Effect of capital flows, including those across and within national borders, that decrease the negative effects of immigration; Tradeoffs to employers between increasing their capital investment versus hiring more low-wage workers; The potential disruption to the economy and to low-wage workers and communities of abrupt economic changes resulting from enforcing immigration laws strictly; The sharp differences between the employment opportunities of low-skill black men and low-skill black women; The ethical and civil rights implications of using immigration to drive down low-skill wages. The Commission selected balanced panels that included Harry Holzer, professor of public policy at Georgetown University; Gordon H. Hanson, professor of economics at the University of California- San Diego; Julie Hotchkiss, research economist and policy advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta; Vernon Briggs, professor emeritus of labor economics at Cornell University; Gerald Jaynes, professor of economics and African American Studies at Yale University; Richard Nadler, president of Americas Majority Foundation; Carol Swain, professor of political science and law at Vanderbilt University; and Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, DC.

In the midst of public debate over immigration reform, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights voted to examine the possible effects of illegal immigration on particularly vulnerable segments of the U.S. working population, specifically low-skill black workers. Since the april 4, 2008, briefing, the severe economic downturn has affected workers in general, and –if unemployment rates are any indication – has had an even more severe impact on low-skill workers. To help air important aspects of the debate, the commission invited experts who have published and spoken on this issue to weigh the relative effects of factors that influence black low-skill workers’ wages, job gains or losses and report conclusions to the Commission. The speakers discussed factors that included the economic costs to this particular group, fiscal costs to taxpayers of social services for low-skill workers, competing skill levels of affected workers, the economic gains of the U.S. economy as a whole from flexible,low-cost labor and what constitutes a fair comparison between legal and illegal workers and their job opportunities. The panelists addressed the following issues in response to Commissioners’questions: The consensus by panelists that there is a negative effect on wages of low-skill black workers and the range of negative effects; The importance of other factors contributing to low-skill black unemployment; Possible discrimination resulting from the use of ethnic networks; Benefits and costs to the U.S. economy from illegal immigration; Policy recommendations from panelists, including strict enforcement of existing immigration laws; Effect of capital flows, including those across and within national borders, that decrease the negative effects of immigration; Tradeoffs to employers between increasing their capital investment versus hiring more low-wage workers; The potential disruption to the economy and to low-wage workers and communities of abrupt economic changes resulting from enforcing immigration laws strictly; The sharp differences between the employment opportunities of low-skill black men and low-skill black women; The ethical and civil rights implications of using immigration to drive down low-skill wages. The Commission selected balanced panels that included Harry Holzer, professor of public policy at Georgetown University; Gordon H. Hanson, professor of economics at the University of California- San Diego; Julie Hotchkiss, research economist and policy advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta; Vernon Briggs, professor emeritus of labor economics at Cornell University; Gerald Jaynes, professor of economics and African American Studies at Yale University; Richard Nadler, president of Americas Majority Foundation; Carol Swain, professor of political science and law at Vanderbilt University; and Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, DC.

The results of a discussion by panelists on the evidence for economic loss and job opportunity costs to black workers attributable to illegal immigration.

The new volume in the Urban Agenda series addresses the challenges shaping the development of human capital in metropolitan regions. The articles, products of the 2016 Urban Forum at the University of Illinois at Chicago, engage with the overarching idea that a dynamic metropolitan economy needs a diverse, trained, and available workforce that can adapt to the needs of commerce, industry, government, and the service sector. Authors explore provocative issues like the jobless recovery, migration and immigration, K-12 education preparedness, the urban-oriented gig economy, postsecondary workforce training, and the recruitment and professional development of millennials. Contributors: Xochitl Bada, John Bragelman, Laura Dresser, Rudy Faust, Beth Gutelius, Brad Harrington, Gregory V. Larnell, Twyla T. Blackmond Larnell, and Nik Theodore.

In both Europe and North America, populist movements have shattered existing party systems and thrown governments into turmoil. The embattled establishment claims that these populist insurgencies seek to overthrow liberal democracy. The truth is no less alarming but is more complex: Western democracies are being torn apart by a new class war. In this controversial and groundbreaking new analysis, Michael Lind, one of America’s leading thinkers, debunks the idea that the insurgencies are primarily the result of bigotry, traces how the breakdown of mid-century class compromises between business and labor led to the conflict, and reveals the real battle lines. On one side is the managerial overclass—the university-credentialed elite that clusters in high-income hubs and dominates government, the economy and the culture. On the other side is the working class of the low-density heartlands—mostly, but not exclusively, native and white. The two classes clash over immigration, trade, the environment, and social values, and the managerial class has had the upper hand. As a result of the half-century decline of the institutions that once empowered the working class, power has shifted to the institutions the overclass controls: corporations, executive and judicial branches, universities, and the media. The class war can resolve in one of three ways: • The triumph of the overclass, resulting in a high-tech caste system. • The empowerment of populist, resulting in no constructive reforms • A class compromise that provides the working class with real power Lind argues that Western democracies must incorporate working-class majorities of all races, ethnicities, and creeds into decision making in politics, the economy, and culture. Only this class compromise can avert a never-ending cycle of clashes between oligarchs and populists and save democracy.