NumbersUSA: Great Immigration Quotes at Convention

Roy Beck - NumbersUSA founder

 

 

Jul. 22nd, 2016

eekly Newsletter

This Issue: At this week's convention: Great quotes on immigration connection with lives of American workers Fri, Jul 22nd Although immigration has often been talked about at political conventions of the past, I don't think the economic effect on jobs and wages has ever been as prominent as in addresses this week in Cleveland. Following are some of the most direct references from the stage: In Donald Trump's acceptance speech last night, he criticized the numerical level of overall immigration: "Decades of record immigration have produced lower wages and higher unemployment for our citizens, especially for African-American and Latino workers. We are going to have an immigration system that works, but one that works for the American people." Trump cited a number of important statistics that we tend to use to raise questions about why our government every single year gives out a million lifetime work permits to foreign citizens when the joblessness among our own citizens leaves so many in bad shape. Here were statistics he highlighted: Nearly four in 10 African-American children are living in poverty. 58 percent of African-American youth are not employed. Two million more Latinos are in poverty today than eight years ago. The number of Americans who are out of the work force entirely has risen by 14 million. Household incomes are down more than $4,000 since the year 2000. Trump referred to Americans who have been left behind by our modern economic system as "forgotten" and without a voice, hammered by what he called bad trade deals. He decried "mass amnesty, mass immigration and mass lawlessness," and stated: "Americans want relief from uncontrolled immigration. Communities want relief." In remarks earlier in the evening Reince Priebus, the head of the Republican National Committee, seemed to signal a shift in the national party leadership from looking at these issues primarily from the standpoint of corporate donors and instead framing them in terms of what works best for individual Americans: "Donald Trump wants to bring jobs back from overseas and hold companies who want to send them abroad accountable. . . . He's finally going to stop illegal immigration and make sure our government puts American citizens first. . . . Working families are the lifeblood of our country, and we can't thrive as a nation unless they are thriving. A lot of them haven't seen a bigger paycheck in a long time." The nominee's son, Donald Trump Jr., earlier in the week said the country needs to tackle its real problems of "economic inequality and immobility" and laid blame on federal immigration policies: "(The U.S. now has) the worst immigration system in the world, one that imports immobility, one that drives down employment and wages for Hispanic Americans, for African Americans and for everyone, an immigration system that favors illegals over those trying to go through the process legally and, at times, even over law-abiding citizens. It was Bernie Sanders himself who warned that a large tide of new workers keeps wages low and poverty high." Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), probably the No. 1 champion of tight labor markets and rising wages in Congress, made more than one appearance on the big stage: "This election has also been about immigration. For 30 years, our good people have rightly pleaded for an end to the lawlessness, and for sound immigration policies that are fair and advance the national interest. To this legitimate plea, our elites have responded with disdain, dismissal, and scorn. "But is there anyone in America that does not understand that when we bring in more workers than we have jobs for that job prospects and wages will fall? Top economists and the Congressional Budget Office have told us that. Is it too much to ask that we slow down and protect our national security and jobs. "Let's consider the facts. We lawfully admit 1.1 million permanent residents annually, more than any other country. In addition, we have 700,000 foreign guest workers taking jobs. The majority of these are not seasonal or agricultural. There are about 350,000 people who succeed in crossing our borders illegally each year, and almost 500,000 more unlawfully overstay their visas. These are extreme numbers. "Understand this. From 2000 to 2014, while our existing population increased by millions, the number of jobs held by Americans actually declined. "Amazingly, all the net job growth during that period went to immigrants. Combine that with the reality of efficient businesses, robots, and slow growth. "The fact is, we don't have enough jobs for the people who are here. Doesn't this help to explain why our wages have fallen and why we have the lowest percentage of Americans actually holding a job in 40 years? Our duty as elected officials is to get our people jobs first. "It cannot be our policy to have workers from abroad take jobs while we provide support payments for unemployed Americans." NumbersUSA never endorses candidates. And we take positions only on policies having to do with immigration numbers. I have no comments on anything else about the Republican Convention this week. But I can say I am thrilled that the American worker got so much attention at center stage as somebody to take into consideration when setting immigration policy. That was a break-through. roy Beck Action Summer Recess is here! The next six weeks are your best chance to get some face-to-face time with your Senators and/or Representative. We encourage you to attend an event in your town and talk to lawmakers about H-2B increases, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, numerical immigration levels, and more. Suggested talking points can be found here. Several new specialty faxes have been added to your Action Board this week. If you have a GOP Member of Congress, we added new faxes responding to the GOP platform. Action Board Account Please make sure your Account information is up to date. You can update your mailing address, email address, phone number, and email subscriptions on your Account page. Click on this link to view your Account Settings. Feature Order Free Cards -- Bring Numbers Out of Hiding Would you like a half-dozen of our foldover immigration/population cards? Just email Fritz and let him know. These are really easy to carry in a wallet, purse, pockets, etc. so you have them handy to give them to others to visually show why immigration is of a magnitude that demands attention. They can also be really handy at townhall meetings! Over the years, our members have handed out more than 100,000 of these cards as a way to quickly and politely introduce people to government numbers they probably have never seen. They are the numbers that make so many Americans passionate about the mission of NumbersUSA to reduce total immigration to a level that serves the national interest. And if you want to see a video presentation of the information on the foldover card, click here.

Immigration Court Backlog Reaches Almost Half A Million Pending Cases Fri, Jul 22nd A recent Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) report shows that federal immigration courts' backlog of cases awaiting resolution has reached an all time high of 496,704. A third of those cases involve border surge minors (69,278) and family units (74,502) which have increased as a result of the Obama administration's catch-and-release policies.

ICE on Track for Lowest Number of Deportations Since 2006 Wed, Jul 20th A recent ICE enforcement report, released by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, shows that with 75% of FY16 over ICE is on track to complete only 230,000 deportations, the lowest number since 2006. The report showed a decline in all ICE enforcement activity meaning fewer aliens have been put on the deportation track in 2016.

Rep. Pascrell Introduces Legislation to Reform H-1B/L-1 Visa Programs Wed, Jul 20th Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.) introduced the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2016, that would attempt to close the loopholes that allow employers to use the visas to replace American workers. The bill was co-sponsored by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.).

Obama Admin. Petitions Supreme Court to Rehear Amnesty Case Tue, Jul 19th The Obama administration has asked the Supreme Court to rehear the DAPA case after a new Supreme Court Justice is confirmed in response of the 4-4 tie they announced last month. The tie affirmed the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that temporarily blocks implementation of President Obama's DAPA and extended DACA amnesties but leaves no permanent federal ruling on the case.

GOP Immigration Platform focuses on American Workers and Enforcement Mon, Jul 18th The immigration section of 2016 Republican Platform calls for a system that serves the national interest of the United States, focuses on protecting the American worker, opposes amnesty for illegal aliens, and promotes E-Verify, interior enforcement, and border security. The Party's platform, approved on Monday, states that immigration "must protect American working families and their wages, for citizens and legal immigrants alike, in a way that will improve the economy."

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