Great news! Trump Cuts Legal Immigrants By Half And He’s Not Done Yet
A recent Forbes article states that:
By next year, Donald Trump will have reduced legal immigration by 49% since becoming president....
Table 1: Legal Immigration Projections
|
Persons Obtaining Lawful Permanent Residence |
FY 2016 (Actual) |
FY 2021 (Projected) |
Decline 2016 to 2021 |
| Asylees | 37,209 | 25,000 | -12,209 (-67%) |
| Diversity | 49,865 | 0 | -49,865 (-100%) |
| Employment-Based Preferences | 137,893 | 220,000 | +82,107 (+60%) |
| Family-Sponsored Preferences* | 238,087 | 19,000 | -219,087 (-92%) |
| Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizens | 566,706 | 269,131 | -297,575 (-53%) |
| OVERALL LEVEL OF LEGAL IMMIGRATION | 1,183,505 | 601,660 | -581,845 (-49%) |
| Refugees (including Cuban Adjustment Act) | 120,216 | 35,000 | -85,216 (-71%) |
| Rest of Legal Immigration System | 33,529 | 33,529 | 0 (0%) |
Source: National Foundation for American Policy, Dept. of Homeland Security. *Assumes presidential proclamation on suspension of most immigrant visas and other Trump administration immigration policies continue in FY 2021 and a spillover of unused numbers from FY 2020 family-based preferences will be used for employment-based category in FY 2021 up to the highest recent level of approximately 220,000 in FY 2005.
This is excellent news! For decades, corporate interests have been able to direct Congress to provide an unending supply of cheap, foreign labor in order to displace American workers who expect a living wage in their own country.
The article states that:
Reducing legal immigration most harms refugees, employers and Americans who want to live with their spouses, parents or children, but it also affects the country’s future labor force and economic growth. “Average annual labor force growth, a key component of the nation’s economic growth, will be approximately 59% lower as a result of the administration’s immigration policies, if the policies continue,” according to an analysis from the National Foundation for American Policy. “Economic growth is crucial to improving the standard of living, which means lower levels of legal immigration carry significant consequences for Americans.”
The fallacy of that statement is that continued high levels of mass immigration will negatively impact quality of life for American workers.
Mass immigration may be be a boon to profit-seeking corporate interests, but American workers end up paying dearly for those profits.
Let's issue an immigration moratorium now.