Sean Hannity Slams Green Card Giveaway Bill Backed by 100 GOP Reps

HannityCloseUp
Getty Images
Neil Munro

Fox News host and radio host Sean Hannity slammed the Democrats’ pending jobs giveaway to hundreds of thousands of Indian graduates, which is co-sponsored by roughly 100 GOP legislators.

Hannity said July 9:

I do believe in merit-based immigration, but I don’t think this is the bill, though, because it would reward employers who literally replace American workers potentially with hundreds of thousands of low cost, less skilled workers who are entering on temporary visas, mainly H-1Bs, often working the tech sector. 

…

If we want to raise the standard of living of the American people, right now, the little bit of shortage we have in the job market, you know, it creates an opportunity for … it is a natural pressure-up that people are going to get more pay, better benefits and if you start allowing immigration on a mass level … you have to do it in a way that protects the American worker and their ability to climb the ladder of success and their opportunities and their standard of living.

…

I want a solution to the problem … the devil is in the details. It can always be done better.

The bill is expected to get a fast-track vote on the House floor on Wednesday. The fast-track process, however, requires 290 votes for passage of a bill, so the bill will fail unless it is also backed by roughly 60 GOP legislators.

So far, the GOP’s House leaders — Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Whip Steve Scalise — have remained silent in public while business lobbyists pressure many GOP legislators to back the unpopular giveaway bill.

The bill would create a fast-track to green cards for 300,000 Indian contract-workers who have backlogged the green-card waiting lines. The bill would also aid their 300,000 family members in the United States.

The promise of extra green cards — and subsequent citizenship — for Indians will also encourage many other Indian graduates to take jobs from American graduates via the uncapped low-wage H-1B visa and the uncapped Optional Practical training program. 

Hannity’s comments came after a Florida caller urged listeners to call their legislators about the bill, numbered HR.1044 and titled “The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019.” Starting at 85:00, the caller said:

It is anything but fair. HR.1044 is a fast-track to a green card, giving the majority of big-tech jobs to low-wage Indian graduates, which will take away jobs from our own middle-class American graduates as well as further complicating the immigration issue because we will be favoring those that come from India. This is a really important issue and unfortunately, there are about 108 Republicans it is rumored they will vote yes.

Hannity responded:

I’m very aware of it, and you’re right, it has to do with changing our employment green card distribution by eliminating some of the safeguards that prevent our green card [awards] from being monopolized by citizens or one or two countries.

I do believe in merit-based immigration, but I don’t think this is the bill, though, because it would reward employers who literally replace American workers potentially with hundreds of thousands of low cost, less skilled workers who are entering on temporary visas, mainly H-1Bs, often working the tech sector. 

The bottom line is this — and I went through some of these numbers earlier — I mean we have right now virtual full employment in the country. That is a good thing. [Also] 224,000 new jobs have been added [in June]. That is a great thing. The federal reserve says we have nearly 7.5 million job openings right now. That is a great thing.

If we want to raise the standard of living of the American people, right now, the little bit of shortage we have in the job market, you know, it creates an opportunity for … it is a natural pressure-up that people are going to get more pay, better benefits and if you start allowing immigration on a mass level … you have to do it in a way that protects the American worker and their ability to climb the ladder of success and their opportunities and their standard of living.

That is why I am so gung-ho on energy and gas … because it is just going to create career jobs and double or triple the standard of living of millions of Americans …

Like everything else, Congress gets their hands on something and they just screw it up …

I want a solution to the problem … the devil is in the details. It can always be done better.

Hannity noted that he supports legal immigration:

I’m all for merit-based immigration in special sectors — engineering, sciences, etcetera, in particular — because I think that just helps the country, but you have to do it in a way that protects the American worker and their ability to climb the ladder of success and their opportunities, and their standard of living.

The Democrats’ giveaway bill is being opposed by NumbersUSA, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, American for Legal Immigration PAC, Progressives for Immigration reform and a new wave of groups created by Americans who say their incomes have been slashed by companies’ use of the green card system to attract and pay cheap white-collar labor from India.

During the last year, these professionals have organized into several groups, including the American Workers Coalition, doctorswithoutjobs.com, ProUSworkers, No on H.R. 1044, and The Multinational Coalition Against H.R. 1044/S. 386. In 2018, these American opponents of the green card giveaway bill helped defeat Kansas GOP Rep. Kevin Yoder, who supported a prior version of the legislation.

In turn, these professional groups are backed-up by websites that are tracking the scale and location of the outsourcing industry in each legislator’s district.

For example, h1bhuntinglicenses.com allows users to quickly check federal data to see which employers are trying to hire H-1B contract workers in every zip code or career.  The federal data, for example, shows that employers tried to hire 2,500 foreign architects instead of Americans during the last decade.

SAITJ.org allows voters, staffers, and political researchers to quickly see how many H-1B workers were sought in each legislators’ district.

Congress.gov shows the GOP sponsors of the green card giveaway act, and the date when they co-sponsored the bill:

Rep. Amodei, Mark E. [R-NV-2] 05/09/2019,

Rep. Armstrong, Kelly [R-ND-At Large] 02/25/2019,

Rep. Bacon, Don [R-NE-2] *02/07/2019

Rep. Baird, James R. [R-IN-4] 04/10/2019

Rep. Balderson, Troy [R-OH-12] 03/08/2019

Rep. Banks, Jim [R-IN-3] 03/26/2019

Rep. Barr, Andy [R-KY-6] *02/07/2019

Rep. Bilirakis, Gus M. [R-FL-12] *02/07/2019

Rep. Bishop, Rob [R-UT-1] 02/11/2019

Rep. Bost, Mike [R-IL-12] 03/12/2019

Rep. Brooks, Susan W. [R-IN-5] 02/07/2019

Rep. Buck, Ken [R-CO-4] 02/07/2019

Rep. Bucshon, Larry [R-IN-8] 02/13/2019

Rep. Budd, Ted [R-NC-13] 06/21/2019

Rep. Byrne, Bradley [R-AL-1] 06/10/2019

Rep. Calvert, Ken [R-CA-42] 02/07/2019

Rep. Cline, Ben [R-VA-6] 04/09/2019

Rep. Cole, Tom [R-OK-4] 02/26/2019

Rep. Comer, James [R-KY-1] 02/07/2019

Rep. Cook, Paul [R-CA-8] 03/08/2019

Rep. Crenshaw, Dan [R-TX-2] 03/26/2019

Rep. Curtis, John R. [R-UT-3] 02/07/2019

Rep. Davis, Rodney [R-IL-13] 02/07/2019

Rep. DesJarlais, Scott [R-TN-4] 06/14/2019

Rep. Emmer, Tom [R-MN-6] 02/07/2019

Rep. Estes, Ron [R-KS-4] 02/07/2019

Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] 02/07/2019

Rep. Fleischmann, Charles J. “Chuck” [R-TN-3] 02/28/2019

Rep. Flores, Bill [R-TX-17] 06/18/2019

Rep. Fulcher, Russ [R-ID-1] 03/12/2019

Rep. Gianforte, Greg [R-MT-At Large] 06/19/2019

Rep. Gibbs, Bob [R-OH-7] 02/07/2019

Rep. Gonzalez, Anthony [R-OH-16] 02/28/2019

Rep. Gonzalez-Colon, Jenniffer [R-PR-At Large] 02/07/2019

Rep. Gooden, Lance [R-TX-5] 02/13/2019

Rep. Granger, Kay [R-TX-12] 05/28/2019

Rep. Graves, Sam [R-MO-6] 05/14/2019

Rep. Green, Mark E. [R-TN-7] 06/10/2019

Rep. Grothman, Glenn [R-WI-6] 05/02/2019

Rep. Guest, Michael [R-MS-3] 02/07/2019

Rep. Guthrie, Brett [R-KY-2] 02/07/2019

Rep. Hagedorn, Jim [R-MN-1] 06/12/2019

Rep. Hartzler, Vicky [R-MO-4] 05/09/2019

Rep. Hern, Kevin [R-OK-1] 05/17/2019

Rep. Herrera Beutler, Jaime [R-WA-3] 02/07/2019

Rep. Hice, Jody B. [R-GA-10] 02/07/2019

Rep. Hill, J. French [R-AR-2] 02/07/2019

Rep. Hunter, Duncan D. [R-CA-50] 04/29/2019

Rep. Hurd, Will [R-TX-23] 02/07/2019

Rep. Johnson, Bill [R-OH-6] 02/07/2019

Rep. Katko, John [R-NY-24] 02/07/2019

Rep. Kelly, Mike [R-PA-16] 02/19/2019

Rep. Kelly, Trent [R-MS-1] 02/25/2019

Rep. King, Peter T. [R-NY-2] 02/07/2019

Rep. Kinzinger, Adam [R-IL-16] 02/07/2019

Rep. LaMalfa, Doug [R-CA-1] 03/08/2019

Rep. Lamborn, Doug [R-CO-5] 02/26/2019

Rep. Lesko, Debbie [R-AZ-8] 03/25/2019

Rep. Long, Billy [R-MO-7] 02/07/2019

Rep. Luetkemeyer, Blaine [R-MO-3] 03/08/2019

Rep. Marshall, Roger W. [R-KS-1] 02/07/2019

Rep. Massie, Thomas [R-KY-4] 02/07/2019

Rep. McCaul, Michael T. [R-TX-10] 03/05/2019

Rep. Rodgers, Cathy McMorris [R-WA-5] 02/07/2019

Rep. Mitchell, Paul [R-MI-10] 05/09/2019

Rep. Moolenaar, John R. [R-MI-4] 05/28/2019

Rep. Mullin, Markwayne [R-OK-2] 05/14/2019

Rep. Newhouse, Dan [R-WA-4] 02/07/2019

Rep. Norman, Ralph [R-SC-5] 02/07/2019

Rep. Pence, Greg [R-IN-6] 04/02/2019

Rep. Perry, Scott [R-PA-10] 02/07/2019

Rep. Reed, Tom [R-NY-23] 03/08/2019

Rep. Reschenthaler, Guy [R-PA-14] 06/04/2019

Rep. Riggleman, Denver [R-VA-5] 02/07/2019

Rep. Roe, David P. [R-TN-1] 02/07/2019

Rep. Rogers, Harold [R-KY-5] 05/02/2019

Rep. Rouzer, David [R-NC-7] 02/13/2019

Rep. Rutherford, John H. [R-FL-4] 02/07/2019

Rep. Schweikert, David [R-AZ-6] 02/11/2019

Rep. Simpson, Michael K. [R-ID-2] 03/05/2019

Rep. Smith, Christopher H. [R-NJ-4] 06/14/2019

Rep. Smith, Jason [R-MO-8] 04/02/2019

Rep. Smucker, Lloyd [R-PA-11] 05/21/2019

Rep. Spano, Ross [R-FL-15] 05/21/2019

Rep. Stauber, Pete [R-MN-8] 02/11/2019

Rep. Stefanik, Elise M. [R-NY-21] 02/07/2019

Rep. Steil, Bryan [R-WI-1] 03/25/2019

Rep. Stewart, Chris [R-UT-2] 02/07/2019

Rep. Stivers, Steve [R-OH-15] 02/07/2019

Rep. Taylor, Van [R-TX-3] 05/09/2019

Rep. Thompson, Glenn [R-PA-15] 02/19/2019

Rep. Thornberry, Mac [R-TX-13] 02/13/2019

Rep. Timmons, William R. IV [R-SC-4] 06/24/2019

Rep. Tipton, Scott R. [R-CO-3] 02/28/2019

Rep. Upton, Fred [R-MI-6] 02/07/2019

Rep. Wagner, Ann [R-MO-2] 02/07/2019

Rep. Walden, Greg [R-OR-2] 03/25/2019

Rep. Walorski, Jackie [R-IN-2] 05/17/2019

Rep. Watkins, Steven C., Jr. [R-KS-2] 02/11/2019

Rep. Wenstrup, Brad R. [R-OH-2] 04/29/2019

Rep. Westerman, Bruce [R-AR-4] 02/07/2019

Rep. Williams, Roger [R-TX-25] 03/08/2019

Rep. Wittman, Robert J. [R-VA-1] 04/29/2019

Rep. Womack, Steve [R-AR-3] 03/25/2019

Rep. Woodall, Rob [R-GA-7] 02/07/2019

Rep. Wright, Ron [R-TX-6] 02/26/2019

Rep. Yoho, Ted S. [R-FL-3] 06/14/2019

Rep. Young, Don [R-AK-At Large] 02/07/2019

Immigration Numbers:

Each year, roughly four million young Americans join the workforce after graduating from high school or university.

But the federal government then imports about 1.1 million legal immigrants and refreshes a resident population of roughly 1.5 million white-collar visa workers — including approximately one million H-1B workers — and approximately 500,000 blue-collar visa workers.

The government also prints out more than one million work permits for foreigners, tolerates about eight million illegal workers, and does not punish companies for employing the hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants who sneak across the border or overstay their legal visas each year.

This policy of inflating the labor supply boosts economic growth for investors because it ensures that employers do not have to compete for American workers by offering higher wages and better working conditions.

This policy of flooding the market with cheap, foreign, white-collar graduates and blue-collar labor also shifts enormous wealth from young employees towards older investors, even as it also widens wealth gaps, reduces high-tech investment, increases state and local tax burdens, and hurts children’s schools and college educations. It also pushes Americans away from high-tech careers and sidelines millions of marginalized Americans, including many who are now struggling with fentanyl addictions. The labor policy also moves business investment and wealth from the heartland to the coastal cities, explodes rents and housing costs, shrivels real estate values in the Midwest, and rewards investors for creating low-tech, labor-intensive workplaces.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.