Now that 26 million Americans have lost their jobs in the past five weeks due to COVID-19, Pres. Trump Orders Some Immigration Temporarily Halted... ...Yet in our survey of last week, 97% of NumbersUSA members said U.S. should temporarily stop ALL immigration Dear John - What a week! Monday night President Trump surprised and delighted most Americans by tweeting this statement out: "In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!" President Donald Trump Then the real battle began inside the White House on what the Executive Order would actually say and which forms of immigration would be temporarily halted. Here's how the New York Times quoted Roy on Tuesday night: Roy H. Beck, the founder of NumbersUSA, a group that presses for deep cuts in legal immigration, said that such a message would be a potent political tool as Mr. Trump faces off against former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the election. "Absolutely it's powerful," Mr. Beck said. "If he comes out with an executive order that honors that tweet, he really is telling voters, I get it. When you have job loss, you can't have immigration. That is the populist message that I think was his strongest suit in 2016." The New York Times CNN, The Hill, and Politico all quoted Roy speaking in the same vein: "The president's comments reflect a sensitivity to a primary purpose of all immigration laws of every country, and that is to protect a nation's vulnerable workers," said Roy Beck, president of NumbersUSA, which supports restrictions. "With tens of millions of Americans who want to work full time not able to, most immigration makes no sense today, and to allow it to continue at its current level at this time would show a callous disregard for those enduring deep economic suffering." Politico President Trump made strong arguments for an immigration time-out. But too often he undercuts these arguments by caving in to the demands of big business and other lobbyists. The president is absolutely correct that reducing immigration will help jobless Americans. So why, then, did the final Executive Order allow guest-worker visas to continue? After all, 26 MILLION Americans have lost their jobs in just the past 5 weeks. Strong actions to help Americans get jobs are urgently needed. Yet as we know, many big business lobbyists enjoy open-door access to the White House. All of THEM wanted to exempt their kind of worker and permanent visas from the Executive Order. Of course, NumbersUSA and your fellow members swung into action instantly, trying to get the order to cover most immigration. Pres. Trump signed the Executive Order Wednesday evening. As we had feared, no temporary workers are covered in the order, nor are several categories of employment-based green cards. We face a familiar quandary: The president is promising to (at least for a little while) pause some immigration. That's big. And it's far better than recent presidents have done, or any of his challengers are likely to do. But his problem is that he sometimes contradicts or undercuts these arguments by giving in to elite business lobbyists. As you can see, we're getting our arguments heard, even in usually less-than-friendly media. But we need help to continue to counter the narrative of the special interests who don't have America's interests at heart. Even in these times, our NumbersUSA Action still needs your financial support to fight for America. We do need support, but only from those who can afford to give. If you can give without anxiety, and you want to support our mission, As Roy said in his email and blog post this morning, we are grateful the President has made clear that the U.S. government can and must curtail immigration in times of economic disaster, such as we face today. If you haven't read Roy's message, click the link and read it closely. Rosemary Jenks, our Director of Government Relations, told the Washington Times: "It is really disappointing that the administration is not also pausing guest workers, who represent a much larger number of foreign workers than employment-based green-card holders," said Rosemary Jenks, vice president at NumbersUSA, which advocates for stricter immigration limits. She said American technology workers will have to compete with temporary workers with H-1B visas, while those laid off from jobs in hospitality will see employers hiring H-2B workers. "Americans would have done those jobs, if they'd been given the chance," Ms. Jenks said. Rosemary Jenks So, we are encouraged and disappointed too. The President's Executive Order did not come out of nowhere. Many had encouraged a temporary halt in immigration for weeks. For example, Jeff Sessions, currently running for his old seat in the U.S. Senate from Alabama, said this on the Tucker Carlson show: "American families and workers must come first. It is morally wrong and economically disastrous to import more foreign workers when millions of Americans are out of work through no fault of their own." Jeff Sessions Last Thursday, I sent you and a huge number of NumbersUSA members a simple, one-question survey in my email. The question was: Considering actions the U.S. government could take regarding coronavirus or COVID-19, should the U.S. temporarily stop immigration from all other countries? The possible answers were "Yes," "No," or "Don't Know." Tens of thousands of you clicked your choice. Results? 97% of NumbersUSA survey-takers chose "Yes", meaning, "YES!!! THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD TEMPORARILY STOP IMMIGRATION FROM ALL OTHER COUNTRIES!" Reminder: Even in these times, our NumbersUSA Action still needs your financial support to fight for America. We do need support, but only from those who can afford to give. If you can give without anxiety, and you want to support our mission,
Keep the faith and don't ever give up! Jim Robb P. S. Want to send me your feedback? I'm glad to hear from you at [email protected]. P. P. S.: Remember, if you are ill, unemployed, or living on a small fixed income, please do not contribute. We only ask for help from those able to help. |
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