{"id":16962,"date":"2018-04-27T13:36:32","date_gmt":"2018-04-27T17:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io\/?p=16962"},"modified":"2018-12-28T10:33:37","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T15:33:37","slug":"will-wont-throw-american-workers-bus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2018\/04\/27\/will-wont-throw-american-workers-bus\/","title":{"rendered":"Will She or Won\u2019t She Throw American Workers Under the Bus?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Will the Trump administration stand by its pledge to protect U.S. workers and remake immigration in the national interest, or won\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is set to announce her decision (yes, her<\/u> decision) about yet ANOTHER increase in low-skilled, H-2B visas.\u00a0 The annual cap of 66,000 visas, approved by Congress, has already been reached, and big business is screaming for cheaper, exploitable foreign workers.\u00a0 Last year, then-DHS Secretary John Kelly increased the cap by 15,000 visas, calling it a \u201cone-time increase.\u201d\u00a0 So, Secretary Nielsen, what will it be?\u00a0 Here are a few things people should be aware of regarding this little known-visa category.<\/p>\n

Here are the four top reasons why an H-2B increase is a really bad idea:<\/p>\n

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  1. These visas are for jobs that Americans won\u2019t do<\/strong>: \u00a0 H-2B visas are for low-skilled jobs that have always been filled by Americans and legal immigrant workers, including such jobs as housekeepers, landscapers and hotel workers.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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    1. The unemployment rate is so low that we need to import low-skilled workers<\/strong>: \u00a0 The national unemployment rate might be 4.1 percent, but according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the unemployment rate in the construction industry is much higher.\u00a0 For average construction workers it\u2019s 9.7 percent, 8.9 percent in building and grounds cleaning\/ maintenance, and 11.3 percent for farming, fishing, and forestry occupations.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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      1. All U.S. workers willing to do these jobs are already employed<\/strong>: \u00a0 Recent data from BLS shows that more than 50 percent of working age Americans without a high school degree are not in the labor force. The number of unemployed workers 25 and older, with a high school degree or less, totaled more than 2 million<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 in 2017.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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        1. H-2B workers are allowed to bring their spouses and minor children, too<\/strong>: Instead of bidding up wages by a few dollars an hour if they can\u2019t find a U.S. worker, this program allows employers to seek workers from abroad, thus cutting their wage costs overall. And when these workers plop their kids into the local school system \u2013 at an average cost well in excess of $ 10,000<\/a> per year – local taxpayers, not the business owner who imported the worker, get hit with the bill.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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          The bottom line<\/strong>:\u00a0 If employers can search for these \u201cmuch needed\u201d workers abroad, then they can search a little harder for them here.\u00a0 Or maybe bid up wages a skosh.\u00a0 Those workers are here, these are jobs that Americans are doing every day, and there are plenty of unemployed workers who want to work.<\/p>\n

          So, whose side will you come down on, Secretary Nielsen?