Sessions: Americans have been Sacrificed in Immigration Debate
In an op-ed published in The Hill on Wednesday, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) detailed the impacts the Gang of Eight's immigration bill, S.744, would have on legal immigration numbers and said the interests of all Americans are be pushed aside to satisfy the interests of business and ethnic groups. Sen. Sessions urged the House to completely disavow S.744 and move forward with a plan that would "refocus the immigration debate on the rights, needs, and concerns of U.S. citizens."
House GOP Leadership has said that the Senate-approved amnesty bill is dead on arrival, but Sen. Sessions pointed out that the Gang of Eight's leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer, is optimistic about the House approach. Sen. Sessions said the likely scenario is for the House to pass a series of immigration bills that can then be merged with the Schumer-Rubio-Obama amnesty bill.
But the bulk of Sen. Sessions op-ed focused on the detrimental effects S.744 would have on the labor force by creating dramatic increases in legal immigration levels.
Perhaps the least discussed but most important feature of the Gang of Eight’s immigration plan is its arrangement with certain business groups to provide them with multiple avenues to avoid hiring U.S. workers by bringing in record numbers of workers from abroad — many of whom will be granted permanent residency and thus eventual citizenship.
On top of the 30 million green cards, the Gang of Eight’s proposal also doubles the number of non-immigrant guest workers admitted each year from approximately 600,000 today to an average of 1.2 million annually over the next decade. In the first year of the bill, due to the inclusion of family members, the number will spike to 1.6 million, with only 7 percent doing agricultural work. The other 93 percent will be hired to fill jobs in virtually every sector, including construction work, nursing, teaching at public schools, driving trucks, heavy equipment operators, mining and manufacturing.
-- Sen. Jeff Sessions, "Need to help Americans find jobs, not replace them using immigration policy", The Hill
Sen. Sessions goes on to discuss the current situation that many Americans face, including high unemployment, declining wages, and an increased dependence on social welfare programs. He mentions how the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office admits that S.744 would make a bad situation even worse.
The Congressional Budget Office confirms the Senate bill would not only increase unemployment but would reduce wages for a dozen years. How can Congress justify moving any proposal that will cause such damage to struggling U.S. workers? ... It is clear from its analysis that the Senate’s proposed increase in guest workers will be a driving force in future illegal immigration, with millions overstaying their visas. Why should we expect any different?
-- Sen. Jeff Sessions, "Need to help Americans find jobs, not replace them using immigration policy", The Hill
To read Sen. Sessions op-ed in its entirety, see The Hill.