FAIR: Trump Puts American Workers First by Halting Foreign Guest Worker Admissions

 

“Today’s Proclamation suspending the admission of foreign guest workers is welcome news for the tens of millions of Americans who have lost jobs as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Among the recently unemployed are workers of all skill levels who are ready, willing, and able to fill jobs as our economy recovers. President Trump is using his suspension authority in precisely the manner envisioned by the congressional framers of our immigration law, who envisioned such an economic crisis.

 

“President Trump has repeatedly promised that he would put American workers first, and to his credit, he did just that. For the most part, the president withstood intense pressure from powerful business interests that continue to demand more cheap foreign labor, even as they have laid-off an unprecedented number of American workers over the past three months. We fully expect that the agencies charged with carrying out this Proclamation in furtherance of the president’s intent to aid struggling American workers will resist pressure from corporate lobbyists to abuse their discretionary authority.

 

“Recent polls, including those commissioned by FAIR, show strong public support for the president’s action. Voters understand that continued high levels of immigration and guest worker admissions are an impediment to American workers recovering along with the economy.

 

“Perhaps most importantly, this pause provides an opportunity to structure long-term reforms to massively abused guest worker programs. Nothing drives home the magnitude of the abuse than the vociferous lobbying on the part of business interests for unfettered access to guest workers in the midst of the greatest unemployment crisis in living memory. Those abuses, which undermine American labor and send our technology to countries whose interests are inimical to ours, must end permanently.”
 

Contact: Matthew Tragesser, 202-328-7004 or mtragesser@fairus.org