Could Two Wrongs Make a Right?

May 26, 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of the Immigration Act of 1924 and there is a lesson to be learned in addressing today’s immigration challenges.

By dramatically reducing the total number of immigrants allowed into the United States, the 1924 Immigration Act made the American middle-class. By reducing immigration levels, wages for American workers became living wages. It was the ending of this Great Wave of Immigration that made the middle class possible.

Unfortunately, the 1924 Act also included discriminatory national-origin quotas that prevented people from most countries in the world - regardless of their merits - from coming to America and allowed immigration mainly from only European nations.

In accordance with other civil rights era advances, the 1965 Immigration Act corrected the discriminatory national origin quotas of the 1924 Act. Unfortunately and maybe inadvertently, through expanded chain migration policies and exempting some nations from any quotas, the 1965 Act sent legal immigration numbers to record levels.

Today America faces unprecedented illegal immigration far beyond the exceedingly high legal immigration that resulted from the 1965 Immigration Act and compounded by Congress in 1990.

NumbersUSA’s Director of HBCU Engagement, Andre Barnes explains how a combination of the 1924 Act and the 1965 Act would bring about sensible immigration for America today.

Senate Border Bill Dies… Again

As predicted last week, Senator Schumer once again brought the Senate border deal (formerly known as the Lankford deal) to the Senate floor for a vote on Thursday. This time, it was offered as a bill by Senator Murphy. The bill needed 60 votes to proceed but didn’t even get close to a majority as it went down 43-50.

As a reminder, the Senate bill contained terrible policy, codifying catch-and-release and increasing legal immigration. In addition to Jeremy’s blog, you can reference our short Fact Sheet on the bill here.

As always, don’t forget to check your Action Board for timely messages you can send to Congress, including responding to your Senators’ votes!

Arizona E-Verify (and Enforcement)

Arizona is again leading with a novel approach to immigration enforcement legislation, seeking to bypass Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs and placing a bill directly on the ballot for voters to consider later this year. They are now on the doorstep of accomplishing that goal, after the state Senate followed the House’s lead and passed House Concurrent Resolution 2060 on a party line vote (16-13). The measure would expand Arizona’s existing E-Verify requirement to subcontractors and independent contractors, as well as tighten access to public benefits programs to ensure they are not available to illegal aliens. HCR 2060 now goes back to the House for a final vote to reconcile the bill text. As the effort has been spearheaded by Speaker Toma from the beginning, it is a virtual lock to be on the ballot in November! (Check out the bill on our interactive state map!)

Ohio E-Verify

House Bill 327, which has been the subject of not one, not two, but five hearings in the House Commerce and Labor Committee over the past few months, passed out of committee with a strong bipartisan vote (11-2). HB 327 would require contractors and employers of 75+ to use E-Verify. Ohio is one of those states that currently has no E-Verify requirements at all, so this bill would be a first step in the right direction. (Check out the bill on our interactive state map!)

Rhode Island E-Verify

Senate Bill 2649 in Rhode Island requires all non-governmental employers of 3+ employees to use the E-Verify system. The lead sponsor of the bill is Sen. Leonidas Raptakis (D-33), and with three Republican original sponsors joining him in introducing the legislation, we are seeing another great bipartisan effort on E-Verify. Sen. Raptakis gives a great radio interview on the state of play for E-Verify in the state, if you have 11 minutes on your drive to work. (Check out the bill on our interactive state map!)

Fighting Mass Immigration with Old Prescriptions

We have a prescription for unemployment, sprawl, and inflation. We had a 45 year trial period to see that it worked. Tight labor laws and decreased immigration has time and time again shown to lead to economic empowerment for Americans.

Check out my interview about the 1924 Immigration Act to see how changes in policy are affecting us now.

One Hundred Years Ago…the beginning of the middle class.

Jeremy’s article on the website rounds up all of our videos, commentary, and media appearances regarding the 1924 Act. At the link, you can read Roy Beck’s oped, listen to his appearance on Parsing Immigration with Mark Krikorian, find new interviews from me, and - importantly - a new call to action.

Fulfilling an Obligation

No country is exempt from the obligation to protect life-sustaining biological diversity. Given immigration’s outsized role in U.S. population growth, there is no way to prevent habitat and biodiversity loss without addressing federal immigration policy. Confront habitat-destroying sprawl at its source: reduce immigration-driven population growth.

See more, plus a call to action here.

Gotaways Tops 670,000 in FY23

New data reveal that the number of illegal alien “Gotaways” hit a record high in FY23, at 670,674 – up from just over 600,000 in FY22. (See the third column in the graphic above).

The term “gotaways” began as slang but is now officially defined in the code as:

Got away
The term "got away" means an unlawful border crosser who-
(A) is directly or indirectly observed making an unlawful entry into the United States;
(B) is not apprehended; and
(C) is not a turn back.

Basically, an illegal border crosser who evades Border Patrol but is detected by another form of surveillance.

Yet another sign of the deteriorating situation along our southern border, skyrocketing Gotaway numbers also raise national security concerns.

Send this message to your Members of Congress telling them about the new numbers and asking them to take action.

NumbersUSA representatives are frequently featured in the media – on radio, TV, podcasts, and in print – providing commentary in support of sensible immigration policies. Check out a few recent highlights.

1. Yellowstonian - Rob Harding - May 15th - Can the ‘Californication’ of Idaho Be Slowed?
2. Vicki McKenna Show - Eric Ruark - May 15th - Malicious Intent
3. Alan Nathan Show - Eric Ruark - May 15th - Immigration and Housing
4. Conservative Commandos - Eric Ruark - May 15th - Immigration and Housing
5. David Webb Show - Andre Barnes - May 16th - Immigration and Black voters
6. Congressman Byron Donalds - Press Release - NumbersUSA mentioned - May 18th - DONALDS LEADS NATIONAL INITIATIVE TO INVESTIGATE IMPLEMENTATION AND EFFECTIVENESS OF ICE'S ATD PROGRAM
7. The Chat - Andre Barnes - May 22 - Legacy of the 1924 Immigration Act
8. Townhall - James Massa - May 23 - Schumer's Border Bill Redo Attempt Goes Up in Flames
9. Detroit News - Roy Beck - Congress should learn from the 1924 Immigration Act