Here are the House Republicans Who Want to Flood the Country with Cheap Labor While Americans Struggle

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Jun 1, 2020

John Binder of Breitbart News reported that 37 House Republicans have teamed up with nine Republican Senators in pushing the White House to bring in foreign workers to America while nearly 40 million Americans are unemployed

Republican elected officials such as Kansas congressman Roger Marshall, New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik, and New York congressman Peter King asked businesses to continue to be allowed to bring in low-skilled foreigners through the H-2B visa program in a time when millions of Americans are unemployed.

Marshall is currently running in the Senate primary in Kansas against staunch immigration patriot Kris Kobach.

Binder noted that “Every year, U.S. companies are allowed to import 66,000 low-skilled H-2B foreign workers to take blue-collar, non-agricultural jobs. For some time, the H-2B visa program has been used by businesses to bring in cheaper, foreign workers and has contributed to blue-collar Americans having their wages undercut.”

It is curious how businesses continue talking about facing labor shortages, yet millions of Americans remain unemployed.

The Republican elected officials who signed on to the letter include:

  • Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD)
  • Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI)
  • Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA)
  • Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH)
  • Rep. David Joyce (R-OH)
  • Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH)
  • Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA)
  • Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI)
  • Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO)
  • Rep. Don Young (R-AK)
  • Rep. Robert Latta (R-OH)
  • Rep. David Rouzer (R-NC)
  • Rep. Steve Stivers (R-OH)
  • Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD)
  • Rep. Ralph Abraham (R-LA)
  • Rep. Paul Mitchell (R-MI)
  • Rep. Peter King (R-NY)
  • Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC)
  • Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL)
  • Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK)
  • Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY)
  • Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA)
  • Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI)
  • Rep. Mike Conaway (R-MD)
  • Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA)
  • Rep. Roger Marshall (R-KS)
  • Rep. Rob Woodall (R-GA)
  • Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA)
  • Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA)
  • Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-OH)
  • Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT)
  • Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK)
  • Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI)
  • Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY)
  • Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI)
  • Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI)
  • Rep. John Rutherford (R-FL)
  • Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA)

The Republicans stated:

On behalf of the thousands of small and seasonal businesses in our Districts that are struggling in this unprecedented and uncertain economic climate, we respectfully urge you to refrain from imposing any further restriction on the H-2B nonimmigrant seasonal guest worker program as part of any forthcoming executive action relating to immigration and/or economic recovery.

The letter added:

This is evident as, despite active recruitment by seasonal employers, very few US workers are seeking and accepting seasonal temporary jobs. Therefore, it is important that the H-2B program continue to be available to our seasonal employers as a failsafe in the event that we see a rapid drop in unemployment and a return to the extremely tight labor markets of just a few months ago. Such flexibility to meet business needs is critical to rapid, solid and fulsome economic recovery.

As such, we urge you to maintain the continued, uninterrupted operation of the H-2B program with the continued requirement that all employers only have access to it based upon their proven and certified need within the statutory cap.

The entire letter can be read here:

Similarly, earlier this week, nine Republican Senators sent Trump a letter urging the administration to allow businesses to import more foreign workers.

Specifically, the Senators said businesses must be able to exempt themselves from some labor regulations on the books provided that they claim they cannot find qualified Americans to these jobs. The following Republican Senators who signed the letter include:

  • Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
  • Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
  • Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID)
  • Sen. James Risch (R-ID)
  • Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD)
  • Sen. Todd Young (R-IN)
  • Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
  • Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK)
  • Sen. James Lankford (R-OK)

Binder highlighted one of the most unsavory aspects the H-2B visa program:

The H-2B visa program has been widely used by businesses to drag down the wages of American workers in landscaping, conservation work, the meatpacking industry, the construction industry, and fishing jobs, a 2019 study from the Center for Immigration Studies finds.

When the wages of H-2B foreign workers were compared to the national wage average for each blue-collar industry, approximately 21 out of 25 of the industries provided lower wages to foreign workers than Americans.

Binder added:

In the construction industry, wage suppression is significant, with H-2B foreign workers being offered more than 20 percent less than their American counterparts. In the fishing industry, foreign workers were offered more than 30 percent less for their jobs than Americans in the field. In the meatpacking industry, foreign workers got 23 percent less pay than Americans.

Annually, the U.S. allows 1.2 million legal immigrants with green cards to permanently settle down in America. On top of that, an additional 1.4 million foreign workers are admitted every year to displace American workers.

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