Newsletter: Who is Congress rooting for?

Congress has three months left to deliver on border security, E-Verify and lower numbers.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics issued its latest report this morning. More than 17 million people are either unemployed, working part-time for economic reasons, or want a job but haven’t actively looked in recent weeks. That’s more than the entire population of Pennsylvania.

As the late Barbara Jordan said, immigration policy should make it easier for them to find full employment, not harder.

Immigration policy is about Americans’ economic security. We need to recalibrate the legal system so that the first option for the next American job is an American worker.

BREAKING: Rep. Keith Self of Texas cosponsored the Americans First Immigration Act (H.R. 8586) this week. Thank you! 

Congress Leaves Little Time Left

This week, the Senate fell short of advancing a bill that included the SAVE Act’s voter ID requirements. The provisions were attached to a broader bill addressing stock trading, but Politico reported that most Senators opposing the bill also opposed the voter ID requirements.

Thank you to the tens of thousands of Americans who engaged with our request for phone calls. We’re going to need that kind of citizen pressure again during the lame-duck session after the midterms.

The final weeks of a Congress can be a dangerous time for our priorities. Some lawmakers preparing to leave office may feel less accountable to their constituents.

Time is running out for this Congress to:

• Permanently Secure the Border
• Sustain Smart Interior Enforcement with E-Verify
• Recalibrate Legal Immigration to Serve American Workers

We update Congress’s grades every week. The next three months will determine whether this Congress delivers on the priorities we sent its members to Washington to achieve.

Share Their Grades

This Week In Immigration History

Sept. 29, 1994 — Barbara Jordan, Chair of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform testifies before a U.S. House panel:

“As long as U.S. businesses benefit from the hiring of unauthorized workers, control of unlawful immigration will be impossible.”

She also reminded lawmakers that knowingly hiring unauthorized workers is illegal.

At the time, an estimated 4 million unauthorized workers were in the United States. Congress ignored her warnings. Now there are more than 8 million working illegally.

Oct. 3, 1965 – President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Hart-Celler Act into law and restarts mass immigration.

Johnson declared the “days of unlimited immigration are past,” but the bill he signed started the largest wave of mass immigration America has ever seen. That wave continues to this day.

Post-1965 immigrants and their descendants have added roughly 70 million people, increasing demand for housing, jobs, water, transportation and other infrastructure. Our research finds an area larger than Florida has been converted from open space, natural habitat, and farmland, largely to accommodate that population growth.

In Other News

Housing: Rents are becoming more affordable in areas where immigration laws are enforced. (FOX)

Unaccompanied Minors: 8,500 unaccompanied children have been encountered at the southern border over the past 12 months after more than 500,000 were released into the country during the Biden administration. (Anna Giaritelli) Loopholes that encourage the smuggling of minors are still on the books. Bills by Rep. Roy (H.R. 9773) and Sen. Lee (S. 5371) would close the loopholes.

Visa Overstays: The Office of Inspector General found that under guidance from the Biden administration, ICE “took few enforcement actions” against visa overstays. Roughly 97% were deemed “Non-Priority.”

NumbersUSA In The News

“Worst of the worst” doesn’t work. I told Newsweek that the Inspector General’s report illustrates the consequences of an enforcement strategy focused narrowly on the “worst of the worst,” without addressing illegal hiring and worker fairness. Any serious overstay strategy must include mandatory E-Verify.

Enforcement = economic security. I joined Jeff Crouere on Real America’s Voice to discuss our California sprawl study, worksite enforcement and Rep. Salazar’s push to increase foreign-worker numbers.

Quality of life. NumbersUSA takes no position on data centers, but the debate over changing communities is familiar. The Epoch Times referenced our research on sprawl and the pressures population growth can place on housing, traffic, schools and water.

Immigration and Californication. On the David Webb Show, I discussed our California study and the state’s population changes, including the shift toward more people moving out to other states than moving in.

When Congress Prioritized Americans. There was a time when majorities in dozens of Congresses understood that unrestricted immigration was a disaster. Roy Beck joined the Bill Martinez Show to discuss. (1:55:18-2:07:51)

What Congress Needs to Do in the Lame Duck. Angel Russell of One America News Network spoke with me about the Americans First Immigration Act, E-Verify, and fixing the border forever.

Quote of the Week

“My view is the H-1B program is completely broken, and I’d be very supportive of just eliminating it.” – Vice President Vance