GOP Elected Officials Send Letter Calling for President Trump To Stop Visas While 33 Million Americans are Unemployed
Jose Nino
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A group of Republican senators and congressmen are requesting that President Donald Trump expand his recent executive order to halt visas for foreign workers as over 33 million Americans are out of work.
Breitbart News reported that Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Representatives Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Lance Gooden (R-TX), Mo Brooks (R-AL), and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) sent Trump a letter urging him to keep unemployed Americans from having to compete with foreign workers during a time when shutdowns in response to the Wuhan virus pandemic have thrown millions out of work
In April, Trump issued an executive order which slowed visa processing for foreigners looking for work and extended family green cards. When taking these groups’ numbers into consideration, they only represent less than ten percent of total legal immigration on a yearly basis.
John Binder of Breitbart highlighted some of the elected officials’ demands:
- Suspend admissions of all foreign visa workers for at least 60 days
- Suspend visas to foreign workers for at least a year or until national unemployment levels return to normal
- Suspend the EB-5 visa program that provides green cards to wealthy foreign investors, primarily from China
The senators wrote:
That suspension should, at a minimum, include H-2B visas (nonagricultural seasonal workers), H-1B visas (specialty occupation workers), and the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program (extension of foreign student visas after graduation). We also urge you to suspend the EB-5 immigrant visa program, effective immediately.
There are millions of high school and college students who, if not for the coronavirus pandemic, would be walking across a graduation stage in front of their families and friends over the next few weeks. Instead of celebrating their hard work, most will be receiving their diplomas in the mail while worrying about whether they will be able to find a job in this market. For many high school graduates and college students, they will spend the next few weeks at home making tough decisions about delaying or foregoing college this fall due to their limited family resources. There is no reason why these young people, especially, should not have access to seasonal, nonagricultural work such as summer resort employment or landscaping before those positions are given to imported foreign labor under the H-2B program.
Additionally, the congressmen are pressing Trump to “suspend the issuance of guest worker visas until unemployment returns to normal levels” in addition to implementing a permanent suspension of the EB-5 visa program.
“With the unemployment rate at levels unseen since the Great Depression, our government should not be importing the competition of American workers,” the elected officials stated.
“We urge you to further use your legal authority and suspend substantially all temporary guest worker programs,” the federal representatives wrote. “Such action would provide the greatest possible protection for American workers and further exemplify your commitment to the economic prosperity of our great nation.”
Recent surveys indicate that there is massive support for halting legal immigration. According to a recent Washington Post/University of Maryland poll, about 65 percent of all Americans said they support suspending all legal immigration during the Wuhan virus pandemic.
The U.S. generally admits approximately 1.2 million legal immigrants on an annual basis, who can permanently reside in the country. Additionally, foreign nationals receive another 1 million work visas. Binder notes that “These visa programs — like the H-1B visa, the J-1 visa, the EB-5 visa, and the F-1 student visa — hugely benefit China.”
Binder notes some other unsettling facts:
Even as more than 33 million Americans have filed for unemployment in recent weeks, the Department of Homeland Security, State Department, and Agriculture Department have waived visa requirements for H-2A visa farmworkers and H-2B visa nonagricultural workers to help fast-track their entry into the U.S.
In addition to the socio-economic aspects of mass migration, there are several alarming aspects of mass migration.
Recent voting trends and overall views on public policy issues show that immigrants tend to favor gun control and hate speech laws.
Should such mass migration trends continue, the right to bear arms and free speech could be in jeopardy.
Trump should take this letter seriously and go above and beyond by implementing further restrictions.
America desperately needs to put an end to the post-1965 mass migration status quo.
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