Billionaire Koch Network: ‘Critical’ to Increase Legal Immigration While 30M Americans are Jobless

KOCH-BROTHERS
(MSNBC)

The pro-mass immigration Koch brothers’ network of billionaire, donor class organizations is begging President Trump not to reduce foreign worker competition against the roughly 30 million Americans who remain unemployed.

In a letter to White House advisers Jared Kushner and Larry Kudlow, the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity (AFP) and LIBRE Initiative ask Trump not to halt or end the H-1B, J-1, L-1, H-2B, and OPT visa programs that force millions of Americans to compete for white-collar jobs against cheaper foreign workers.

Instead, AFP and LIBRE Initiative executives ask that Trump increase legal immigration.

The Koch groups write:

But to ensure a speedy economic recovery, we respectfully request that this administration refrain from suspending, restricting, or imposing additional barriers on non-immigrant visa programs, and the legal immigration system writ large. Instead, we ask you to please consider the critical role that non-immigrant visa programs have played, and will continue to play, in helping to bolster and maintain a vibrant, expanding economy that will benefit all Americans during and after this unprecedented public health crisis. [Emphasis added]

It is imperative that we not further isolate America and restrict legal channels for those seeking to contribute by learning, developing, or applying their unique talents here in America. We do not need to suspend, further restrict, or impose additional barriers to our legal immigration system — we need to build a better one. [Emphasis added]

In the meantime, however, the focus should be on removing barriers that stand in the way of our recovery, including barriers to the legal immigration system, rather than doubling down on policies that undermine these efforts. Americans for Prosperity and The LIBRE Initiative stand ready to partner with your administration and lawmakers from both sides to continue to pursue policies that will ensure America recovers stronger than ever. [Emphasis added]

The full letter can be read here:

AFP Letter Nonimmigrant Visas by John Binder on Scribd

While the Koch groups request Trump not to reduce the current foreign worker inflow, the Kochs have vowed not to financially support the president in his 2020 re-election bid against Democrat nominee Joe Biden.

The donor class is making a last-ditch effort to stop Trump’s rumored expansion of his existing executive order on immigration that halted new employment-based green cards.

In a similar letter, Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donahue urged Trump not to halt foreign visa programs and claimed that businesses are suffering from labor shortages despite an oversaturated labor market with millions of Americans unemployed and wanting full-time jobs.

Conversely, a growing grassroots effort between American worker advocates, conservatives, and college student groups has emerged to ask Trump to reduce foreign worker competition against Americans.

In May, 30 college student groups signed a letter to Trump asking him to halt H-1B visas and the OPT program — whereby corporations are able to hire foreign graduates at a discount — as many of them face the worst jobs crisis since the Great Depression.

Every year, the U.S. admits about 1.2 million legal immigrants on green cards to permanently resettle in the country. In addition, another 1.4 million foreign workers are admitted every year to take American jobs. Often, Americans are fired and replaced by foreign visa workers. Many are forced to train their foreign replacements.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.

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