The United States Chamber of Commerce CEO Suzanne Clark says the U.S. ought to import twice as many foreign workers and provide amnesty to illegal aliens for the purpose of inflating the labor market, providing business with an endless flow of cheap labor and more consumers.
During a speech on Tuesday, Clark stated that the Chamber’s official position is to double the level of legal immigration. Such a policy would bring anywhere from two to four million legal immigrants to the U.S. every year — an annual foreign-born population nearly six times the size of Boston, Massachusetts.
The goal, Clark said, is to inflate the U.S. labor market with as many workers as possible to decrease the cost of labor for businesses, which lowers wages, and to create more consumers to whom companies can sell products. Real estate investors would also be massive benefactors as high immigration levels drive up the costs of rent and housing.
Amnesty for illegal aliens, which would immediately flood the U.S. labor market with newly legalized foreign workers that America’s working class would be most likely have to compete against for jobs, is also a priority of the Chamber of Commerce, Clark said.
“We have to grow our workforce if we want to grow our economy,” Clark said:
So, who wants to put their talent to work and pursue their dreams in a dynamic economy flush with opportunity? Immigrants of every skill level. Where are they going to go? The U.S. or Canada? Let’s make it Austin or Boston, Atlanta or Denver, or any of the countless U.S. destinations in search of top talent. [Emphasis added]
We must double the number of people legally immigrating to the U.S. And we must create a permanent solution for the “dreamers”—those young men and women who know no other home and who contribute to their communities, but whose legal status is in limbo. [Emphasis added]
Clark’s remarks come as 12 million Americans, all of whom want full-time jobs, remain unemployed and another nearly four million Americans are underemployed but want full-time work.
In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News this week, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) blasted the Chamber of Commerce for leaving “the [Republican] Party a long time ago.”
“In the last election, the Chamber supported Democrats … I just assume they have as much influence in the future as they do now — none,” McCarthy said. “Our responsibility is to the American public. That is who’s going to drive it. If special interests are the American public then they’ll have a say, but it’s the American public we’re going to.”
A flooded labor market from mass legal immigration to the U.S. has had a devastating impact on the nation’s working and middle class while redistributing wealth to the highest earners and big businesses.
While creating an economy that tilts in favor of employers, the economic model helped keep wages stagnate for decades. Between 1979 to 2013, wage growth for the bottom 90 percent of Americans grew just 15 percent. Meanwhile, wage growth for the top one percent of Americans was nearly 140 percent higher.
Researchers have found that a flooded labor market can easily diminish job opportunities and wages for Americans.
One particular study by the Center for Immigration Studies’ Steven Camarota revealed that for every one percent increase in the immigrant portion of an American workers’ occupation, their weekly wages are cut by perhaps 0.5 percent. This means the average native-born American worker today has his weekly wages reduced by potentially 8.75 percent as more than 17 percent of the workforce is foreign-born.
Already, the U.S. gives out 1.2 million green cards to foreign nationals annually. In addition, about 1.5 million temporary work visas are rewarded to foreign nationals to take American jobs. The massive waves of legal immigration have led to the highest level of foreign workers in the U.S. economy in decades, making up at least 17.5 percent of the workforce.
Legal immigration levels have driven the U.S. population to a record 331.9 million.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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