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A new report by the Center for Immigration Studies outlines 20 actions the president could take immediately that could potentially reduce the number of temporary foreign workers by 1.2 million, or nearly 50 percent. This would provide employment opportunities for many of the 18.2 million native-born Americans and 4.3 million immigrants now out of work, and the millions more who have stopped looking for work.
The report is available at: https://cis.org/Report/Hire-American
These short-term actions include putting a hold on all employment visa programs (temporary and permanent) to assess employer needs and labor conditions; examining the operation of these programs to curb fraud and abuse; and preventing employers who have downsized or accepted pandemic relief from the government from sponsoring workers from abroad. These actions should be maintained until the country returns to full employment and full labor force participation for American workers, ensuring that the employers who have become dependent on these programs, or who have chosen a business model that depends on these programs, are able to adapt. To break employers of dependency on visa workers and to curb over-issuance of work permits, more durable regulatory reform is needed. The Center recommends seven critical actions, including rescinding a rule implemented by the Obama administration providing for the issuance of work permits to certain dependents of temporary work visa holders. There is no statutory basis for these work permits, and the replacement regulation has been sitting in limbo in the White House for more than a year. Meanwhile, in 2019, more than 45,000 work permits were approved, representing lost job opportunities for U.S. workers.
Jessica Vaughan, the Center’s director of policy studies, said, “Suspending the entry of new temporary workers is a no-brainer in the midst of a pandemic and unprecedented economic collapse. It’s equally important to slash the number of discretionary work permits, because these create unfair competition for American workers and encourage visitors and illegal entrants to remain here when they would otherwise go home.” Vaughan continued, “In addition, taxpayers should not have to provide relief to employers who have chosen guest workers over U.S. workers.”
Vaughan will discuss her recommendations on a livestream next week:
When: Tuesday, May 19 at 1 p.m. EDT
Stream: Scheduled streams will be live on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
Questions: Questions can be sent prior or during the event to [email protected] or on twitter to @CIS_org
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