This Issue: House approves America COMPETES Act (and several amendments) to increase foreign worker competition

Fri, Feb. 4^th

The House of Representatives approved legislation this morning that includes significant increases in legal immigration. The America COMPETES Act, H.R. 4521, would increase the importation of foreign workers across all wage levels and would create a number of new green card categories above and beyond current and historically high numerical limits.

The bill passed mostly along party lines, 222-to-210. One Democrat -- Rep. Stephanie Murphy of Florida -- broke ranks and opposed the massive foreign worker increases. While one Republican -- Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois -- supported the legislation.

I'd like to offer a huge thanks to the tens of thousands of NumbersUSA members who took action over the past week, calling and sending messages to their U.S. Representative urging a NO vote on H.R. 4521.

While these efforts fell short of our ultimate goal of defeating the legislation, it was not a failed effort. We expect the Senate to make significant changes to the House-passed version. Should the Senate version pass, the two chambers will create a conference committee to work out the differences between the two bills.

Your overwhelming calls and messages to Congress made it clear that there's significant opposition to the immigration provisions contained in the House-passed version. That effort could increase the chances that either the Senate or the bicameral conference committee strips the immigration provisions from the legislation.

We'll send updates once we learn of Congress' next steps.

GOOD AMENDMENTS FAIL, BAD AMENDMENTS PASS

Four immigration amendments to H.R. 4521 received floor votes in the lead up to the final vote.

Unfortunately, the three of the four that would create even greater foreign worker competition were all approved. The one good amendment to strip one of the major visa programs from the underlying bill failed.

The Good Amendment:

Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) -- The Burgess amendment would have stripped out the creation of the W visa program. The W visa program would grant work permits to foreign investors for start-ups, to their family members, and to their "essential" workers. W visa holders who meet certain conditions could adjust to an unlimited supply of green cards after just one year.

The Bad Amendments:

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) -- The Connolly amendment would create 15,000 new visas exclusively for South Korean workers.
Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) -- The Foster amendment would allow "dual intent" for student nonimmigrant visas (F), which would double-down on the F-visa's use as a pipeline for foreign labor to compete with American graduates.
Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.) -- The Manning amendment would reduce the qualifications for the already unlimited STEM visa created in this legislation by opening it up to anyone with a Master's degree who wants to work in a critical industry.

We're posting actions to your Action Board, allowing you to respond to how your U.S. Representative voted. Please check your Board to take action!

CHRIS Chmielenski
NumbersUSA Deputy Director

New York Post Review Describes Book As "Roadmap" For Political Realignment

Click to read the excellent new review of NumbersUSA's BACK OF THE HIRING LINE book, which continues in the Top 50 in several of Amazon's book and audiobook categories. Share with others the link to the review: https://nypost.com. The reviewer gives a nice shoutout to NumbersUSA:

As it happens, "Back of the Hiring Line" is the title of a new book by Roy Beck, president of Numbers USA, the premier citizen-action group working to reduce immigration.

The Post reviewer highlights the book's argument that the 1924 immigration restriction law "became the single greatest engine of black progress in American history." And about the 1965 legislation that re-started mass immigration, the reviewer concludes "it's hard to argue" with the book's assessment that:

"No congressional action in the last 60 years has been more destructive to Black Americans' employment, income growth, and wealth accumulation than the (1965) Hart-Celler immigration act. . . ."

Despite the obvious interest that black Americans have in reducing immigration -- and polls show many are aware of it -- they have never spoken or acted collectively to try to bring that about. I think a big part of the reason is that there is no black political leader broadly accepted as legitimate by black voters who has taken up the cause (the Congressional Black Caucus having long ago been co-opted by the anti-borders crowd).

But realignment is in the air. The impressive economic gains enjoyed by black families during the brief pre-pandemic immigration slowdown under Donald Trump are another proof of concept of the beneficial effects of immigration restriction. Beck's book provides both the backstory and a roadmap for such a realignment.

See how to order the paperback, audiobook, and Kindle version of the book at: www.backofthehiringline.com

Biden's Migrant Airlift Cost Taxpayers At Least $340M in 9 Months

Wed, Feb. 2^nd

According to federal data reviewed by Breitbart News, President Joe Bidens transportation of illegal aliens into the U.S. interior cost taxpayers at least $340 million in just the first nine months of 2021.

2021 Immigration Review & 2022 Outlook for Workers

LISA IRVING

Wed, Feb. 2^nd

Biden's 2021 Immigration executive actions, record border crossings, his administration's focus on "root causes," low polling, and amnesty in Build Back Better legislation In Review.

Dallas Morning News: Plurality of Texas Latinos Oppose Biden's Border Policies

Wed, Feb. 2^nd

According to the Dallas Morning News, a plurality of Texas Latinos (49%) oppose the weak border policies of President Joe Biden. Conversely, just 38% of the state's Latinos supported the policies.

Readers Say Rampell's Latest Expansionist Missive Misses the Mark

CHRIS JOHNSON

Mon, Jan 31^st

Washington Post readers comprehensively disagree with columnist Catherine Rampell's article.

Immigration Provisions in the America COMPETES Act

Jan, Feb. 28^th

The House of Representatives could vote as soon as next week on the America COMPETES Act, H.R. 4521. While the legislation's main purpose is to generate investment in American innovation, it includes a number of troubling immigration provisions that would add thousands of new green cards each year on top of already historically high levels.