Billionaire Koch Network: ‘Critical’ to Increase Legal Immigration While 30M Americans are Jobless
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The pro-mass immigration Koch brothers’ network of billionaire, donor class organizations is begging President Trump not to reduce foreign worker competition against the roughly 30 million Americans who remain unemployed.
In a letter to White House advisers Jared Kushner and Larry Kudlow, the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity (AFP) and LIBRE Initiative ask Trump not to halt or end the H-1B, J-1, L-1, H-2B, and OPT visa programs that force millions of Americans to compete for white-collar jobs against cheaper foreign workers.
Instead, AFP and LIBRE Initiative executives ask that Trump increase legal immigration.
The Koch groups write:
But to ensure a speedy economic recovery, we respectfully request that this administration refrain from suspending, restricting, or imposing additional barriers on non-immigrant visa programs, and the legal immigration system writ large. Instead, we ask you to please consider the critical role that non-immigrant visa programs have played, and will continue to play, in helping to bolster and maintain a vibrant, expanding economy that will benefit all Americans during and after this unprecedented public health crisis. [Emphasis added]…It is imperative that we not further isolate America and restrict legal channels for those seeking to contribute by learning, developing, or applying their unique talents here in America. We do not need to suspend, further restrict, or impose additional barriers to our legal immigration system — we need to build a better one. [Emphasis added]In the meantime, however, the focus should be on removing barriers that stand in the way of our recovery, including barriers to the legal immigration system, rather than doubling down on policies that undermine these efforts. Americans for Prosperity and The LIBRE Initiative stand ready to partner with your administration and lawmakers from both sides to continue to pursue policies that will ensure America recovers stronger than ever. [Emphasis added]
The full letter can be read here:
AFP Letter Nonimmigrant Visas by John Binder on Scribd
While the Koch groups request Trump not to reduce the current foreign worker inflow, the Kochs have vowed not to financially support the president in his 2020 re-election bid against Democrat nominee Joe Biden.
The donor class is making a last-ditch effort to stop Trump’s rumored expansion of his existing executive order on immigration that halted new employment-based green cards.
In a similar letter, Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donahue urged Trump not to halt foreign visa programs and claimed that businesses are suffering from labor shortages despite an oversaturated labor market with millions of Americans unemployed and wanting full-time jobs.
Conversely, a growing grassroots effort between American worker advocates, conservatives, and college student groups has emerged to ask Trump to reduce foreign worker competition against Americans.
In May, 30 college student groups signed a letter to Trump asking him to halt H-1B visas and the OPT program — whereby corporations are able to hire foreign graduates at a discount — as many of them face the worst jobs crisis since the Great Depression.
Every year, the U.S. admits about 1.2 million legal immigrants on green cards to permanently resettle in the country. In addition, another 1.4 million foreign workers are admitted every year to take American jobs. Often, Americans are fired and replaced by foreign visa workers. Many are forced to train their foreign replacements.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
Migrant Apprehensions at Border Jump 34 Percent from April to May
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The apprehension of migrants by Border Patrol agents jumped 34 percent from April to May. The sharp increase comes after a year’s worth of steady declines following a peak in May 2019.
Border Patrol agents apprehended 21,475 illegal immigrants in May after they crossed the U.S.-Mexico Border. This is an increase from the record low numbers reported for April — 16,039 — according to the May Southwest Border Migration Report published by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Friday afternoon.
The surge of migrants, particularly family units from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador peaked in May 2019 when Border Patrol agents apprehended 132,856. The apprehensions in May 2020 represent a decrease of 84 percent from the same month in 2019, the reports indicate.
Despite the Title 42 Coronavirus protection protocols put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that returns most apprehended migrants to Mexico after a medical screening and criminal background check, the apprehension of migrants illegally entering the U.S. from Mexico jumped in May. The largest increase came in the category of Single Adults which jumped by nearly 5,000.
Compared to May 2019, the apprehension of Family Unit Aliens fell from a high of 84,496 to 972 in May 2020 — a decrease of nearly 99 percent. The apprehension of Unaccompanied Alien Children also fell from a high in May 2019 (11,475) to this May’s 959 — a nearly 92 percent decrease.
The Rio Grande Valley Sector continues to have the largest number of crossings with 3,635 apprehensions. This is followed closely by the Laredo Sector (3,352), San Diego (3,297), and Tuscon (3,065). The Del Rio Sector had the largest number of Family Unit Alien apprehensions (216) and Tucson had the largest number of Unaccompanied Alien Children apprehensions (192).
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Face
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