PSRFeb15
Phyllis Schlafly Report February 2015
Sen. Sessions Advises About Immigration
No one in Congress better understands the challenges facing American workers than Senator Jeff Sessions. This Alabama senator knows that the debate over immigration comes down to three simple questions: Does America have a right to control its borders? Should our immigration laws serve the national interest? And, do Americans have the right to demand that our laws be enforced?
The answer to all these questions should be a firm “yes.” But you couldn’t tell that, based on what’s going on in Washington. Most so-called “immigration reform” plans cater to business interests and open-borders activists. Senator Sessions says that so-called reform bills are influenced by 1.5 billion dollars of lobbying money.
They double the influx of foreign workers, give amnesty to millions of illegal aliens, and destroy enforcement. Special interests love this phony so-called “reform,” but it would leave the American people high and dry.
For four decades, the United States has taken in immigrants in vast numbers, but more Americans are now on welfare, and good middle-class jobs have been exported to cheap-labor countries. The so-called immigration reforms promoted by the Chamber of Commerce would make these problems even worse.
Senator Sessions recently provided all members of Congress with an Immigration Handbook, which offers guiding principles for immigration policy. Above all, he wants an immigration system that serves the interests of American citizens.
To keep our country safe, we must secure the border and keep track of everyone in our country on a visa. To help our country prosper, we need to limit visas and stop employers from hiring illegals.
Taking Senator Sessions’ advice would stop the downward pressure on wages and enable Americans to find better-paying jobs. Senator Sessions knows what sensible immigration policy should look like. His new Handbook offers plenty of good advice for anyone who wants to make our immigration system work for Americans again.
Immigration Threatens National Security
Illegal immigration is a tremendous threat to our national security. The U.S. government has failed to control our borders and doesn’t keep track of foreigners who are in the U.S. on visas. Kenneth Palinkas, president of the Citizenship and Immigration Services union, reports that the 9/11 hijackers entered our country legally on visas. He estimates that five million immigrants are overstaying their visas and then remain in the United States.
There are plenty of ways for immigrants to legally enter our country, such as student visas, asylum, and visa waivers, but there is no system to make sure they leave when their visas expire. You won’t hear supporters of so-called “immigration reform” offering solutions to this problem. Instead, they want to just legalize foreigners who overstay their visas. That never passed Congress, but President Obama’s executive amnesty will do the same thing.
President Obama has never wanted to enforce our immigration laws. His immigration director admitted, “If you’re a run-of-the-mill immigrant here illegally, your odds of getting deported are close to zero.”
You might remember last summer’s surge of illegal immigrants from Central America. 99% of them are still here, and are being resettled throughout our country at U.S. taxpayer’s expense. The unlawful executive amnesty announced last November gives five million illegals work permits and government benefits instead of deportation orders. The president announced this giveaway after he had admitted on 22 separate occasions that he lacked the power to do that.
Senator Jeff Sessions tells this whole story in his new Immigration Handbook where he also provides solutions. Congress should defund Obama’s executive amnesty, pass enforcement bills such as E-Verify, crack down on overstays, and block government welfare benefits to illegals.
Many Congressmen won in last November’s election because of amnesty’s unpopularity. Now those Congressmen should show the American people that they are listening.
Immigrants Gain, Americans Lose
Working Americans are falling behind in today’s economy, and immigration is a big reason why. Business interests lobby Congress to accept more foreigners whom they usually call the “best and the brightest.” Senator Jeff Sessions’ new Immigration Handbook reveals the truth: the vast majority of the one million permanent immigrants who are admitted every year are unskilled workers.
The United States also lets in 700,000 guest workers, 500,000 foreign students, and 70,000 refugees. The basic economics of supply and demand dictate the consequences. When workers outnumber jobs, wages go down. Median weekly earnings are lower today than they were in the year 2000.
A flood of cheap labor has swept away the jobs that once supported Americans who had a high school education. Today, millions of U.S.-born Americans are unemployed. Immigrants have received all net employment gains since the year 2000.
Immigrants quickly take advantage of welfare handouts, and they are enabled by the Obama administration. Federal law forbids the admission of immigrants who are likely to become a “public charge.” However, the bureaucrats don’t enforce that law; they actually promote government benefits to immigrants. Nothing stops immigrants from coming to this country to live off welfare benefits provided by U.S. taxpayers.
Immigration is supposed to serve the national interest, but today’s policies entrench the welfare state. Millions of able-bodied Americans are out of work and drawing government benefits because they can’t find good jobs.
Many foreigners arrive in this country and, instead of paying into the system, proceed to take out benefits. As a result, our Treasury goes deeper into debt, and the cycle of dependency on government continues. Those are the consequences of the policies pursued by special interests. Congress should heed Senator Sessions’ advice and pass immigration policies to promote jobs for working Americans.
Standing Up for U.S. Workers is Good Politics
Amnesty is often on the agenda in Washington, but it’s certainly not on the list of what voters want. A poll of likely voters done last year by Kellyanne Conway’s firm showed sweeping majorities against amnesty and in favor of immigration policies that benefit Americans. 76 percent want immigrants who overstay their visas to be sent home. 77 percent want jobs to go to U.S. workers or legal immigrants already here, instead of bringing in new workers. 80 percent said businesses should help the millions of Americans searching for a job instead of campaigning for more immigration.
The pollster also asked about statements of principle to guide immigration policy. The most popular statements emphasized that American workers should come first, that their increasing employment should take precedence over increasing immigration, and that our immigration policy should benefit the whole nation. These views are widely popular, with support from all races, political viewpoints, and economic status.
Senator Sessions is trying to alert Congress to the opportunity found in these results of polling data. Standing up for American workers is not only right, but is overwhelmingly popular. As he says in his new Immigration Handbook, “This is our chance to stand up and fight for millions of loyal struggling citizens who have been neglected.”
Republicans have majorities in both Houses in large part because of the immigration issue. President Obama threatened to issue his illegal executive amnesty in the summer of 2014, but Senators up for reelection begged him to hold off. He did delay, but finally issued his reckless amnesty on November 20.
The newly elected Congress now has a chance to pass an immigration policy that serves the national interest of all Americans. If they do, the voters will reward them.
Silicon Valley Misleads on STEM
STEM is an acronym for “science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.” It is one of those buzzwords used by the elites instead of real thinking. STEM is often invoked as a magic word in the debate over immigration. Corporate CEOs plead with Congress that America will fall behind in science and technology unless we import more foreign high-tech workers.
The truth is that we already have more STEM workers than jobs, as Senator Jeff Sessions writes in his new Immigration Handbook. In fact, three out of four Americans who hold a STEM degree did not get a STEM job.
Silicon Valley loves high-tech workers from overseas because they can be hired cheaper than American workers. Tech firms lay off Americans and replace them with imported STEM workers in order to keep wages down. Wages in the tech industry have not gone up since 1998.
Corporations also mislead when they complain about the low number of allowable guest workers. They also complain about the H-1B visa program, which is capped at 85,000. However, there are so many exemptions that last year, 263,000 H-1B visas were approved. Corporations know that more visas for foreign STEM workers who work for lower wages than Americans will expand corporate profits.
It is not surprising that the complaints of CEOs are welcomed by President Obama, who is always happy to let another law go unenforced. But too many Congressmen have fallen for the Silicon Valley “STEM Hoax,” as Senator Sessions calls it. This Congress has even been trying to increase H-1B visas. If Congress wants to rebuild the middle class in America, they can start by rejecting immigration advice from Chamber of Commerce lobbyists.
Court Blocks Sheriff From Arresting Illegals
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was doing his job and enforcing Arizona laws against illegal aliens who used stolen identities to get a job, which is a felony. But in one of the first major rulings of 2015, a federal judge appointed by President George W. Bush blocked Sheriff Arpaio from continuing to enforce Arizona law against those illegals. Although confirmed by a Republican-controlled Senate in 2003, Judge David Campbell granted a preliminary injunction to the ACLU in order to stop Sheriff Arpaio’s law enforcement against illegal aliens.
Arizona is a flashpoint for illegal aliens because 97 percent of the illegal entry into the United States occurs along the U.S.-Mexico border, much of which is Arizona. Only about 20 percent of these illegals are caught while crossing the border.
While many other types of crime have been declining, crime associated with illegal immigration is sharply rising. The seizure of large quantities of drugs and the number of high-speed automobile chases have increased in areas of Arizona plagued by illegal aliens.
Sheriff Arpaio has been trying to clean up Arizona by simply enforcing Arizona law. But the federal district court has halted his efforts. The Court ruled that the law prohibiting illegals from using stolen identities was somehow “pre-empted” by a federal immigration law.
Sheriff Arpaio said that “the citizens of Maricopa County have been stripped of another protection to safeguard the integrity and identity of its citizens.” Sheriff Arpaio added that he doesn’t understand how federal law can pre-empt state law “when the federal government has proven it has no desire to protect its citizens in these areas.” USA Today reported that 50 percent of Americans disapprove of Obama’s plan to allow millions of illegal aliens to remain in this country.
The Cost of Accepting Illegal Children
Most of us have heard about the illegal entry into our country of busloads of what are usually referred to as unaccompanied minors. Most of them have been bused from Central and South America. It’s obvious that these kids didn’t just hitch a ride on a bus passing through their country. The whole process was well organized to dump on us a bunch of children, from babies to tough teenagers.
It’s time we discuss the high cost to American taxpayers of allowing Obama to bring in millions of illegal alien children. Because of an unfortunate Supreme Court decision years ago, we are compelled to allow these kids to enter our public schools, and the Washington, D.C. school system is straining under the tremendous cost of accepting these children.
The influx of 50,000 children across our southern border is burdening school budgets all over our nation. Most of the kids need specialized English language programs. The illegal kids are usually eligible to be on free or reduced-lunch programs, and of course medical care if needed.
These children didn’t make the trip north to the United States on their own. This was an organized invasion. The Border Patrol should have intercepted these kids and sent them back to their own parents in their own country. Many of these kids came from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador where the media have encouraged this phenomenon with news coverage that promotes crossing the border illegally. Although the U.S. media indicates it is young children coming in, CNS News reported that 80 percent of these kids now housed at Lackland Air Force base in Texas are male, 83 percent are over age 14, and some of them are tough and have a gang mentality.
Who Are Getting U.S. Jobs?
President Obama is bragging that U.S. employment numbers are on the rebound and the U.S. has just added 320,000 new jobs. But labor statistics show that foreign-born workers account for all net gains in U.S. employment in the last seven years. A report by the Center for Immigration Studies found that one and a half million fewer U.S.-born workers are employed than prior to the 2007 recession. On the other hand, 2 million foreign-born workers, both legal and illegal, got jobs during the same period.
President Obama’s plan is to allow more than 5 million new illegal aliens to get work permits. That will make it even more difficult for native-born Americans to get jobs despite a working-age population growth of 11 million. The influx of foreign workers includes many college graduates, thereby forcing many American graduates, who are burdened with big college debt, to take lower-wage jobs that do not require a college degree. They will be stuck with lower wages for many years.
Media coverage of the illegal alien worker issue has overwhelmingly focused on employer preference for foreigners who are willing to work for lower wages. These foreign workers to whom Obama gives work permits threaten wages for lower-skilled Americans, especially African Americans. In 2014, Obama offered work permits to 50,000 Central American and to 110,000 Haitian migrants.
Obama announced that he will increase the inflow of university guest workers for the same jobs hoped for by U.S. college graduates, even though we already have one million foreign university-trained guest workers working in a wide variety of jobs in universities, hospitals, finance firms, retail, and technology firms.
The impact of mass immigration on Americans’ jobs and wages should be a major issue in the 2016 election.
Fuzzy Math in Unemployment Statistics
Barack Obama is bragging that 252,000 new jobs were added in the U.S. economy in December. But the government unemployment figure is dishonest because it excludes from the count the million unemployed Americans who have given up looking for a job and are living on various types of welfare. You just don’t count as “unemployed” unless you are actively looking for a job.
The Obama Administration claims that unemployment has fallen to 5.6 percent. In fact, the more accurate unemployment rate is twice as high: it was 11.2 percent in December.
A shocking 31.9 percent of the unemployed, about 2.8 million, have been out of work for 27 or more weeks. Once someone is out of work for an extended period of time, it becomes nearly impossible to get a decent job. After eight months of being out of work, the likelihood of being called for an interview declines to less than 50 percent.
Republicans and Democrats in Congress are following the Chamber of Commerce game plan: bring in more cheap labor to keep wages low. Economics 101 still teaches that the law of supply and demand works, and a large supply of labor keeps wages low.
Obama facilitates this by illegally admitting illegal aliens, and some Congressmen of both parties are trying to expand immigrant visas at all levels (the well-educated by H-1B visas and the low-paid by calling them “guest workers”). A report from the Center for Immigration Studies in February stated that for every single job added since January 2000, the United States has added two new immigrants (either legal or illegal).
Results of Obama’s Executive Orders
The New York Times reported that Obama’s executive orders allow up to four million illegal aliens to “apply for a program that protects them from deportation and allows those with no criminal record to work legally in this country.” Obama’s order gives noncitizens the chance to obtain driver’s licenses and Social Security numbers. USCIS admitted to the House Judiciary Committee that illegal aliens who qualify for Obama’s program can apply for “advance parole status,” which is a key step in getting legal permanent status and an eventual path to citizenship.
When they get Social Security numbers, the newcomers become eligible to apply for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which is another generous handout of taxpayers’ money.
USCIS also announced that illegal immigrants who enroll in programs established by Obama’s executive orders may bring their families into this country.
The New York Times explained further: Obama’s executive orders allow up to four million illegal immigrants to “apply for a program that protects them from deportation and allows those with no criminal record to work legally in the country.” They also can obtain driver’s licenses and Social Security numbers, and Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted warned that these documents make it possible for illegal immigrants to register to vote.
House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) explained the significance of Obama’s orders to allow illegal immigrants to enroll in the deferred action program. “When an individual receives advance parole, upon return to the United States the individual can then be eligible to adjust to lawful permanent resident status . . . the precursor to U.S. citizenship.”
Senator Sessions called President Obama’s executive order on the deferred action program “an offense to the very idea of citizenship: a “sneaky” pathway to citizenship.
State elections officials testified that the driver’s licenses and Social Security numbers granted to the four million new illegal aliens are creating a major voting loophole. This will make it easier for them to improperly register and vote in elections. “It’s a guarantee it will happen,” said Kansas Secretary of State Kris W. Kobach.
