Immigrationists reassure us that immigrants (legal and illegal) only do the jobs that Americans refuse to do. This cliché, so oft repeated, rings bitterly in the ears of a growing number of Americans — and our young people are significant among them. Traditionally in the United States, teenagers in school have done low-skill and relatively low-paying jobs during summer vacations, while sometimes working part-time during the school year. Those not completing high school and those not college-bound have worked full-time.

Today, the picture is changing. During the past four years, the number of teenagers holding jobs declined by a total of 1.3 million. One reason, noted Andrew Sum, an economist at Northeastern University, is immigration. Nationally, 36 percent of teenagers are employed. In New York City, a leading destination of immigrants, only 22 percent have jobs.

Commenting on this situation, New York Times writer Jennifer Steinhauer observed, "The city's teenagers have always worked less than the rest of the nation's youth, in large part because of a general surplus in the city's overall labor force, and because New York teenagers are more likely to be in school. But the numbers of teenagers seeking jobs in the city have thinned at a far faster rate than in the rest of the country in the past 15 years, coinciding with a period of explosive growth in the immigrant population of the city."

This is a sad situation. As Steinhauer also noted, "Jobs that once gave teenagers their first taste of long days, clock-punching and the particular pleasures of interacting with the general public are now filled by older workers, a reality that could lead to a future work force with fewer skills and less practical work experience than any in a generation, labor experts say." For this reason — among many others — cheap immigrant labor isn't nearly so cheap as immigrationists claim. The costs go beyond dollars and cents.

Nevertheless, some claim that teenagers aren't working because they are pampered and lazy, and simply don't want to work. This is a pretty broad brush statement, but some employers do complain that teens today don't have the work ethic of past generations. Mass immigration itself, however, is one source of the problem. The obsessive praise of cheap immigrant labor has led some young Americans to believe that certain types of work are beneath them. And the depressed wages of these jobs — resulting from immigration — have made these jobs even more unattractive. Also unappealing is work on job sites where many of your co-workers won't speak your language, or perhaps won't like you.

In spite of these disincentives, many U.S. teenagers want work, and indeed many need work. Certainly is unfair and wrong to force them to compete with foreign-born adults, many of whom are here illegally. Libertarian fanatics will reply, of course, that our teens' loss is no problem because that's the verdict of "free enterprise." But the enterprise of cheap immigrant labor is anything but free when taxpayers have to pick up the social services tab for immigrant workers. Economics aside, we have every right to favor our young people — particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds — over newcomers who have little stake in our country.

If you, the reader, are middle-aged or older, think back on your first job. Maybe it was menial work, but consider the lessons it taught you and how those lessons may have helped you to succeed later on in life. Would you like for your children and grandchildren to have the opportunity to learn those same lessons? Can they develop a work ethic in early life if they can't find decent work? Also bear in mind that as adults they may face growing competition from immigrants, as many American adults, ranging from construction workers to computer programmers, already are.

If these issues concern you, ignore the "jobs Americans won't do" propaganda. Contact your Washington representatives and just say no to mass immigration, illegal alien amnesties and open-ended guest worker programs. Do it today. One day your kids and grandkids will bless you.