In late August, the CEOs of many New York City based companies including Pfizer, BlackRock, and Citigroup signed an open letter to President Biden urging him to expedite work permits for those who have entered the country illegally as a way of dealing with the crisis at the southern border. "We write to support the request made by New York Governor Hochul for federal funding for educational, housing, security, and health care services to offset the costs that local and state governments are incurring with limited federal aid," wrote the CEOs. "There is a compelling need for expedited processing of asylum applications and work permits for those who meet federal eligibility standards."
Well, what the CEOs of America's leading corporations want, they get. Yesterday, the Biden administration extended a program that would allow as many as 500,000 Venezuelan Nationals who arrived in the U.S. prior to July 31, 2023, to apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Employment Authorization Documents (EADs).
This is a clear abuse of TPS, which is meant for migrants who are unable to safely return home. The federal government may designate a country for TPS if there's an armed conflict or a natural disaster—think civil war or an earthquake. Is there a civil war or the threat of one going on in Venezuela? Are there any natural disasters present other than those being inflicted by the current regime on its people?
Of course not, and Biden's decision will certainly encourage many more migrants to begin to make the journey.
There is a misconception that TPS grants only the privilege of living and working in the U.S. for a finite amount of time. Truth be told, TPS beneficiaries may be eligible for Medicaid, Family Health Plus, or Child Health Plus. So, America's CEOs are getting an ever-expanding workforce desperate to work at any wage, and the cost of paying them less than what they can live on is getting passed onto tax paying citizens.
Due to their low levels of education and skills, most of these new migrants will seek jobs in construction, building cleaning and maintenance, food service and preparation, groundskeeping, retail sales, and food processing—jobs that are already being performed by citizens and legal immigrants. It is these American workers with a high school degree or less who have found themselves increasingly being pushed out of the labor force by new arrivals. The labor force participation rate has been gradually declining since the mid-1960s—which coincides with the passage of the Immigration Reform Act of 1965 (IRA65).
This is not surprising. Labor does not exist in a vacuum. It is subject to the same laws of supply and demand as any other market. As we witnessed during the response to the COVID-19 crisis when immigration levels dropped, pay for both U.S. wage earners and salaried workers increased. Good jobs that pay a living wage and provide benefits that lead to increased household wealth are in short supply for those without a college degree, and the prospects for more of them dim with each new flock of immigrants arriving at our southern border.
Well, at least those immigrants allowed TPS and paroled can't vote, right?
Wrong. Earlier this summer, "supporters of a year-old law aimed at expanding voting rights to nearly a million immigrants in New York City took their case to the Appellate Court in Brooklyn Friday, seeking to overturn a lower court ruling that barred the law from taking effect." The ability of New York City citizens to control their destiny now hangs by a thread.
If the City is successful in its appeal, these newly employment-authorized illegal aliens could vote in the next election.
None of this bodes well for anyone. But until the populace ejects the politicians who push the notion of sanctuary cities, conditions will continue to deteriorate.
The U.S. is facing rising inflation, a shrinking labor force and labor participation rates, crippling household and national debt, a crumbling infrastructure, and an out-of-control southern border. These problems are destroying our productive classes and the institutions we rely upon are unable to adapt or are embracing a bizarre range of social justice priorities.
Nothing bears greater witness to this than the impact of the migrant crisis on New York City. And instead of finding solutions, our leaders have committed to the problem.
Kevin Lynn is the founder of U.S. Tech Workers. Lynn writes about the role that the nonimmigrant employment visa system has on skilled white-collar workers. He is based in Pennsylvania. Contact him at klynn @ ifspp dot org.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
