This Issue: Spending bill continues policies that adversely affect American workers

Fri, Mar. 11^th

The Senate easily passed a $1.5 trillion spending bill last night to maintain government funding for the rest of the fiscal year. This followed House passage of the legislation the night before.

Congressional Leaders released text of the bill at 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning with a vote scheduled later that morning. Although, it took the House most of the day to make the necessary tweaks to get the bill passed, both Chambers worked lightning fast over the past two days to minimize mass resistance to many of the bill's provisions.

Despite both Parties claiming that the spending bill contained no "policy riders" it's simply not true when it comes to immigration. Congress used the must-pass legislation to increase temporary work visas, reauthorize the EB-5 investor visa program, and terminate a program that trained American workers displaced by the H-1B training program.

Here are more details on the immigration provisions:

Authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to roughly double the number of H-2B visas issued in FY2022. The H-2B visa program is used by employers to fill temporary and/or seasonal, non-agricultural low-skilled jobs with cheap foreign workers.
Reauthorizes the EB-5 investor visa program that allows foreign nationals, including those with ties to governments hostile to the U.S., to buy a U.S. green card and citizenship. This program has been riddled with fraud in the past. The reauthorization does attempt to fix some of the past issues.
Rescinded $72 million from a fund that is required by law to help American workers receive job training. The account was funded with H-1B fees.
Maintains funding for border fence construction and for ICE to maintain 34,000 detention beds. While the appropriations for enforcement were made, it doesn't necessarily mean that the Biden Administration will use the funds or fill the detention beds.

Now that the government is funded through the end of September, Congress can turn its attention back to policy, which will likely include the America COMPETES Act that was passed by the House last month.

You may remember that the House version includes massive increases to legal immigration that would have negative impacts on American workers across all wage levels.

We expect the Senate to make wholesale changes to the House version -- whether that means scrapping the immigration provisions is unknown. If you haven't already sent the actions posted on your Action Board, urging Senators to keep immigration increases out of the America COMPETES Act, please do so today.

It's uncertain when the Senate will take up this legislation, or other legislation that may impact immigration, but we'll keep you updated when we learn more.

CHRIS Chmielenski
NumbersUSA Deputy Director

Washington Times: Rosemary commented on the Biden Administration's ability to block visas for Russian nationals after the country's invasion of Ukraine.

Immigration experts said there is no question Mr. Biden has the power to block or revoke visas for Russian nationals, but targeting specific groups such as oligarchs and government officials is more likely.

Indeed, the State Department has taken that course of action by slapping visa sanctions on countries that refuse to cooperate in deportation cases.

"These are very easy targets," said Rosemary Jenks, vice president at NumbersUSA. "If it puts pressure on Putin, great. If it doesn't, you can restart the program when this is all over."

Breitbart: Breitbart highlighted Roy's blog on Rasmussen's recent polling that found strong opposition to Chain Migration among Black voters.

"Black voters strongly oppose the Democrats' policy of chain migration that is helping to cut Americans' wages and raise their rents, according to data provided by Rasmussen Reports.

The 2021 data comes from Rasmussen's monthly surveys on Americans' attitudes towards migration.

You can read Roy's full analysis on the polling here.

Philadelphia Tribune (which describes itself as "the nation's oldest continuously published newspaper reflecting the African-American experience): T. Willard Fair, CEO of the Urban League of Greater Miami, wrote:

"I have also tried to convince our Black leaders that our immigration policy needs to be primarily focused on the well-being of those of us already here -- those of us they supposedly represent and whose vote they rely on to stay in office. . . .

"Consider the years 1940 to 1980 -- a period of comparatively lower immigration that generally led to tight labor markets. As immigration policy expert Roy Beck points out in his new book "Back of the Hiring Line," Black men saw their real incomes increase four-fold during those decades. Black men's earnings actually rose faster than white men's. . . .

"So ask yourselves, why are so many Black politicians in D.C. intent on increasing immigration yet so adamantly opposed to even having a debate about reducing it?"

Immigration Provisions in New Omnibus Funding Bill

Wed, Mar. 9^th

This morning, congressional leaders announced a new spending bill fraught with immigration policies in line with what we've seen through the first year of Biden's presidency. The bill, comprised of 2,741 pages, is expected to be voted on in the house within hours of its release.

Major Uptick in Russian and Ukrainians Crossing the Southern Border for Asylum

Tue, Mar. 8^th

According to a recent report by Reuters, the number of Russians and Ukrainians traveling to Mexico, buying cars, and driving across the southern border into the United States to seek asylum is growing as the conflict in Eastern Europe shows no signs of slowing down.

Biden avoids Ponzi demography in SOTU; his policies do not

jeremy beck

Tue, Mar. 8^th

Although President Biden didn't deploy the Ponzi-scheme rhetoric of the Washington Post in his State of the Union address, his immigration-expansion policies would push America further into overshoot.

Wages Are Not to Blame for Inflation

Lisa Irving

Mon, Mar. 7^th

Wages were stagnant in February from the previous month as inflation hit a 40-year high and is worsening. Meanwhile, some legislators see inflation as an opportunity to increase immigration to keep wages low.

What do you mean by 'EVERYONE,' Mr. President? EVERY category of Black voters soundly rejects your chain migration.

Roy Beck

Sun, Mar. 6^th

According to Pres. Biden in last week's State of the Union address, "EVERYONE from labor unions to religious leaders to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce" supports his "immigration reform." Apparently, African American voters aren't part of his "everyone."