Newsletter: Who Should Immigration Policy Serve?

November 13, 2026

The starting point for immigration policy shouldn’t be “What can we do for people in the country illegally?” It should be “How can we manage immigration to better serve Americans?”

Action Board

I could fill a page with quotes from President Trump, Secretary Mullin, and other administration officials this week about possible immigration deals—and another with clarifications of those comments. But two responses are worth flagging:

“Well done, Mr. President! What you described on 60 Minutes is what the Dignity Act is all about.” – Rep. Maria Salazar

“We can begin by moving in the House, and ultimately in the Senate, the Dream and Promise Act in order to restore protection for DACA recipients and TPS recipients…” – Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the presumptive next Speaker of the House

As my colleague Joe Jenkins alerted you this week, the amnesty bill Jeffries is promoting needs just one more signature on a discharge petition to force a vote in the House. Rep. Salazar’s Dignity Act could also be in play.

Adding millions of permanent foreign workers would be a gross misreading of an election in which economic concerns were paramount. We, the people, have to stop these bills.

Leadership Elections

This week, Congressional Republicans elected their leaders for the incoming 120th Congress. Send them a note of congratulations, along with their grade cards, at the links below.

HOUSE

Minority Leader Jim Jordan (Career A-): In 2023, Jordan spearheaded House passage of H.R. 2, the most sweeping immigration enforcement measure since 1996. It would have closed the loopholes behind the border crisis and mandated E-Verify nationwide. As the current chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jordan advanced a similar bill in 2026, the Permanent Trump Secure Border Act (H.R. 9773). We urge Speaker Johnson to bring H.R. 9773 to the floor before the clock runs out.

Whip Tom Emmer (Career B)

Conference Chair Lisa McClain (Career B)

NRCC Chair Brian Jack (Career A+)

Conference Secretary Mark Alford (Career B)

Conference Vice Chair Blake Moore (Career B)

Republican Policy Committee Chair Jay Obernolte (Career B)

SENATE

Minority Leader John Thune (Career C+): As Majority Leader, Thune ushered the Laken Riley Act through the upper chamber, acknowledging that it was only a small step toward resolving the border crisis but promising it would be the “first of many.” The Senate has yet to vote on legislation permanently closing any of the border loopholes since that promise.

Whip John Barrasso (Career C+)

Conference Chair Tom Cotton (Career A-)

Policy Chair Shelley Moore Capito (Career B)

Democrats elect their House leaders next week and Senate leaders in early December.

In Other News

Rep. Delia Ramirez (IL03), sponsor of a bill to abolish the Department of Homeland Security, is seeking the chair of the Homeland Security Oversight Subcommittee.
Rep. Henry Cuellar (TX28), a leading candidate to chair the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee next year, rejected calls to defund ICE.
Sen. Bernie Moreno (OH) cosponsored Sen. Lee’s bill to prevent border surges (S. 5371), making him a perfect 6/6 in our Great Solutions category.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez (FL28) cosponsored the Dignity Act (adds 17 million permanent foreign workers).
The Supreme Court will rule by June on the legality of one of President Trump’s key programs to keep the border secure long enough for Congress to permanently prevent another Bidenesque crisis.

Rep. Bacon Boasts His Bad Grade

Outgoing Congressman Don Bacon (NE02) responded to his NumbersUSA grade card this week, saying “I believe in legal immigration and decency. I’ll take the D-.”

To be clear, our grade cards don’t measure whether someone believes in legal immigration. They measure how lawmakers’ actions increase or decrease immigration numbers. The key immigration question is: “How many?”

For most of his career, Rep. Bacon leaned toward a more moderate immigration policy that would tighten labor markets and empower workers. He earned mostly B grades for supporting policies to discourage illegal immigration. His most important vote came in 2023 when he supported H.R. 2, a bill that would have permanently closed the loopholes behind the border crisis.

But Bacon’s grade took a nosedive this Congress when he supported multiple bills that would expand industry’s ability to fill American jobs with foreign workers.

He has supported both the American Dream and Promise Act and the Dignity Act mentioned above. The Dignity Act alone would add an estimated 17 million permanent foreign workers.

Meanwhile, nearly 18 million people are unemployed, underemployed, or want a job but have stopped looking. Immigration policy should make it easier for them to find work, not harder. Rep. Bacon’s record in this Congress reflects support for policies that allow employers to use immigration to hold down wages and put jobs further out of reach for American workers.

Updated Grades for Every Member Here

Election Analysis, Cont.

Hispanic voters, like voters overall, ranked immigration a distant third as the most important issue (15%) in the election. Of those who did, most voted Republican (61%).

Nearly three out of four voters said immigration enforcement was a crucial or major factor in their vote. A narrow majority of them voted for Republicans (51%). Among Hispanic voters in that group, 60% voted for Democrats.
57 percent of all voters said President Trump’s immigration enforcement had “gone too far,” while 44 percent said it either hadn’t gone far enough or was about right.

In his post-election 60 Minutes interview, President Trump said he would get an A+ for border security but that his deportation policy “might be too tough.” The right question about enforcement isn’t whether it’s too tough. It’s what works—and what can be maintained in a reliable, predictable way.

Border security is popular. But Congress hasn’t codified it into law. In the interior, the Trump administration hasn’t used all the tools in its toolbox, relying too heavily on street arrests early in the administration. And neither the White House nor Congress has made a serious effort to crack down on illegal hiring.

ICYMI

Migrant caravans and cartels are responding to signals from Washington that the border may open again.
Rep. Ramirez’s bill to abolish DHS is worse than it sounds. And she isn’t the only supporter eyeing a committee post in the next Congress.
Roy Beck’s road trip took him to the birthplace of Rutherford B. Hayes, and a re-examination of how mass immigration helped force the abolitionist president’s hand on ending military protections for Black civil rights in the former Confederacy.
Leon Kolankiewicz and Phil Cafaro summarize our Paving Paradise California study: “75 years ago, Los Angelenos could not have imagined how many hours their descendants would waste in traffic.”

NumbersUSA In The News

The Associated Press looked at what comes next for immigration and pointed to the countdown timer on our website, which marks the days left in this Congress with a warning to “make border security permanent.” The AP also quoted my message to lawmakers:

“If this Congress in the lame duck does not secure the border with lasting legislation, then this Congress will have failed to meet the moment.”

More than 250 outlets picked up the story, including the New York Post, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, U.S. News, and NBC stations across the country. Telemundo ran a Spanish-language version on more than 20 of its station websites.

I also told the Daily Caller that using the remaining days of this Congress to push the largest guestworker expansion bill in Washington would send “a terrible message to an already demoralized electorate” – Republicans campaigned on prioritizing American workers over illegal immigration.

Quotes of the Week

“We ran on affordability. We won on affordability. And now it’s our job to govern on affordability.” – Hakeem Jeffries

“We’ve heard that the Democrats have won…maybe they could help us cross the border and get better jobs.” – Misael Vázquez, part of a migrant caravan heading toward the border

“Democrats will be under enormous pressure from the Left to move immigration policy back toward Biden-era openness. But doing so would clearly overreach their ‘not Trump’ assignment from voters.” – Ruy Teixeira, center-left political analyst, Commonplace

“Without a party willing to temper these excesses and build a durable program around E-Verify and real penalties for employers who hire illegal workers, the immigration agenda never evolved beyond Trumpism.” – Alicia Nieves, Compact

“Both sides agree, at least rhetorically, on securing the border. They disagree on what to do about one obvious consequence: fewer easily exploitable workers flooding the low end of the labor market.” – Oren Cass, American Compass, in the New York Times, on a split within the conservative movement.