OCA Condemns Senators’ Ask to Suspend Immigrant Worker Visas

Washington, DC – OCA–Asian Pacific American Advocates condemns four GOP Senators’ letter to President Trump asking him to suspend “all new guest worker visas” for 60 days, and other visas for a year “or until unemployment has returned to normal levels.” Actions like these would significantly roll back progress made on immigration policy.

The visas that the Trump administration would like to suspend include H1-Bs, H2-Bs, and EB-5s. The current application processes for these categories are already brutally strict. Congress and the Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have caps on the number of visa recipients per year; reducing the number of visas issued to about 140,000. Fulfilling the Senators’ ask would mean eliminating this type of immigration entirely.

What the Senators ignore is that immigrant labor is crucial to rebuilding a COVID-impacted economy. The Administration’s rationale that migrant workers would hurt the economy and displace native-born workers is a myth based on xenophobia instead of evidence. Studies show that new immigrant laborers grow the economy by producing and consuming just like any other worker, and they tend to work in different positions than native-born workers. This is true of both “unskilled” and “skilled” workers. Further, immigration is essential to job creation: each immigrant creates 1.2 local jobs, a majority of which go to native workers. In a 2016 study, Asian American and Pacific Islander immigrants alone employed 3.5 million American workers.

“We are disappointed to see established Senators once again scapegoating immigrants in a time when everyone is vulnerable. Playing into xenophobic theories about immigrants ‘taking jobs’ will not jumpstart the economy, nor will it distract from congressional lethargy in passing a fourth stimulus bill,” comments Executive Director Rita Pin Ahrens. “In this time of national emergency, the people need inclusive and empathetic leadership instead of fear mongering. We call on the Administration to deny the Senators’ request and treat all workers with dignity.”

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OCA–Asian Pacific American Advocates is a national civil rights organization dedicated to improving the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs).