The following article by Dan Balz was posted on the Washington Post website August 26, 2017:
President Trump pardoned former Maricopa County, Ariz., sheriff Joe Arpaio Aug. 25. Here’s what you need to know. (Patrick Martin/The Washington Post)
President Trump has set his presidency on an unambiguous course for which there could be no reversal. He has chosen to be a divider, not a uniter, no matter how many words to the contrary he reads off a teleprompter or from a prepared script. That’s one obvious message from Friday’s decision to issue a pardon for controversial former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio. Continue reading “Trump’s pardon of Arpaio fits a pattern: A divider, not a uniter”
The following article by Cynthia Tucker was posted on the National Memo website August 25, 2017:
During a rage-fueled rant in Phoenix a few days ago, President Donald Trump threatened a government shutdown if Congress doesn’t appropriate the billions he needs to construct a wall along the southern border. Though he now ignores his once-upon-a-time pledge that Mexico would pay for the wall, it’s no surprise that the president pulled out a signature red-meat theme.
His poll numbers are trending steadily downward, and a raucous xenophobia tends to energize his base. In a campaign-style rally, he whipped up the frenzy with escalating rhetoric: “If we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall,” he exclaimed, as supporters chanted, “Build the wall!”
Let’s ignore, for a moment, the virtually insurmountable logistical, legal, economic and political obstacles presented by such a project. Even if Trump were to build his promised barrier — and that’s quite unlikely — it would not solve the nation’s biggest immigration challenge: what to do about the undocumented people who are already here. Continue reading “Trump’s Wall Plan Ignores Immigration Realities”
[ST. PAUL, MN] – Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Chairman Ken Martin released the following statement on the fifth anniversary of the enactment of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). There are about 800,000 DREAMers in the U.S., including about 6,000 here in Minnesota.
“In Minnesota, we have seen firsthand how our communities are strengthened by welcoming immigrants and refugees. Five years ago today, DACA gave thousands of young immigrants in our state a fair chance at the American dream. These DREAMers, many who were brought here as children, were given the opportunity to come out of the shadows, contribute to their communities, and stand up proudly as the Americans they are.”
The following article by Steve Chapman was posted on the Creators website August 10, 2017:
Farm workers removing weeds in a field in Stratford, Calif., in 2014. Economists say highly educated immigrants are good for the economy, but so are less skilled workers. Credit Matt Black for The New York Times
Donald Trump is a businessman who has routinely hired foreign guest workers to staff his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, claiming it’s impossible to find Americans to do the work. But his administration now wants to shut out foreigners who fill comparable jobs, which he now insists Americans would be happy to take. Consistency is not a Trump obsession.
Nor is economics. Endorsing a Senate bill that would cut net legal immigration in half, he charged that the U.S. has “a very low-skilled immigration system” that “has not been fair to our people, to our citizens, to our workers.” White House aide Stephen Miller said it’s “common sense” that the hiring of lower-skilled foreigners takes jobs away from Americans and “drives down wages.”
Common sense said the Earth was flat. Superficial appearances can be grossly misleading. What is clear from experience is that low-skilled immigrants mostly take jobs that Americans don’t want and that the effect they have on the wages of native-born workers is between slim and none.
During the 1990s, the number of undocumented immigrants in this country more than doubled. The number of legal immigrants also climbed. But the economy added more than 23 million jobs, and the unemployment rate fell below 4 percent. The earnings of middle-wage workers rose. Continue reading “Shutting Out Foreign Workers Would Cost American Jobs”
The following article by Michelle Ye Hee Lee was posted on the Washington Post website August 10, 2017:
President Trump announced the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act on Aug. 2, which aims to cut immigration by half from the current level of more than 1 million green cards granted per year. (Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
“For decades, the United States was operated and has operated a very low-skill immigration system. … This policy has placed substantial pressure on American workers, taxpayers and community resources. Among those hit the hardest in recent years have been immigrants and, very importantly, minority workers competing for jobs against brand-new arrivals. And it has not been fair to our people, to our citizens, to our workers.” — President Trump, remarks on the RAISE Act, Aug. 2, 2017
The following article by Binyamin Appelbaum was posted on the New York Times website August 3, 2017:
Farm workers removing weeds in a field in Stratford, Calif., in 2014. Economists say highly educated immigrants are good for the economy, but so are less skilled workers. Credit Matt Black for The New York Times
WASHINGTON — When the federal government banned the use of farmworkers from Mexico in 1964, California’s tomato growers did not enlist Americans to harvest the fragile crop. They replaced the lost workers with tomato-picking machines.
The Trump administration on Wednesday embraced a proposal to sharply reduce legal immigration, which it said would preserve jobs and lead to higher wages — the same argument advanced by the Kennedy and Johnson administrations half a century ago.
But economists say the tomato story and a host of related evidence show that there is no clear connection between less immigration and more jobs for Americans. Rather, the prevailing view among economists is that immigration increases economic growth, improving the lives of the immigrants and the lives of the people who are already here. Continue reading “Fewer Immigrants Mean More Jobs? Not So, Economists Say”
The following article by Andrew Schwartz was posted on the Center for American Progress website August 4, 2017:
Credit: Jeramey Jannene.
On July 26, President Donald Trump announced that Foxconn Technology Group, the Taiwanese manufacturing giant, will establish an LCD screen production facility at an undetermined location in southeastern Wisconsin. Foxconn—best known for producing iPhones, Kindles, and other consumer electronics devices—claims that it will invest $10 billion in Wisconsin, as well as bring 3,000 to 13,000 new jobs.
The buildup to the president’s announcement, however, seems to have happened largely outside his purview, with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) taking the lead. Despite other suitors, including states such as Texas, Ohio, and Michigan, a courtship quickly developed with Wisconsin this spring as Gov. Walker enticed Foxconn to choose his state. Continue reading “Will Foxconn’s Manufacturing Promises in Wisconsin Prove to Be a Con?”
The following article by Michelle Ye Hee Lee was posted on the Washington Post website August 4, 2017:
“The RAISE Act prevents new migrants and new immigrants from collecting welfare … They’re not going to come in and just immediately go and collect welfare. That doesn’t happen under the RAISE Act. They can’t do that.” —President Trump, news conference, Aug. 2, 2017
“We also believe that those seeking to immigrate into our country should be able to support themselves financially and should not be able to use welfare for themselves or the household for a period of at least five years.” —Trump, speech in Youngstown, Ohio, July 25, 2017
As a part of the administration’s efforts to restrict legal and illegal immigration, President Trump endorsed a sweeping Senate bill that would slash legal immigration levels by half over a decade. The Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act would create a points system for employment-based green cards, so that people applying for visas would need to meet certain requirements. Continue reading “President Trump’s claim about immigrants ‘immediately’ collecting ‘welfare’”
NOTE: Remember, our president’s properties use a substantial number of this type of worker. Seems like this person is only capable of understanding issues that personally impact him, his businesses and his pocketbook. If we may quote him, “sad!”.
The following article by Tracy Jan was posted on the Washington Post website July 17, 2017:
The Department of Homeland Security on Monday announced a one-time increase of 15,000 additional visas for low-wage seasonal workers for the remainder of this fiscal year, a seeming about-face from President Trump’s “Hire American” rhetoric, following heavy lobbying from fisheries, hospitality and other industries that rely on temporary foreign workers.
