Democrats Claim Nation-Wide Amnesty Is 'Temporary Protection'

Democrats are trying to sneak through an amnesty by claiming their “Build Back Better” bill only offers “temporary protection” for migrants, says an analysis by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

“Do not be fooled by the semantics Democratic leaders and the Judiciary Committee are using to push BBB,” says the FAIR report, released November 15. The report continues:

This is an amnesty, plain and simple. It shields immigration lawbreakers from removal. It gives them work documentation and access to public benefits, which is exactly why illegal aliens come to the United States in the first place. It creates a perverse incentive to further reward this population of illegal aliens 10 years from now and all but guarantees permanent protections. Even worse, it contains absolutely no enforcement tradeoffs.

The amnesty for roughly seven million illegal migrants will cause economic harm to millions of Americans, FAIR said:

Authorizing millions of low-skilled illegal aliens to work will not increase the wages and productivity of American citizens. It will have the exact opposite effect, particularly on first generation immigrants, African Americans, those without a college degree … Flooding the job market with millions of illegal aliens will decrease wages, reduce opportunities for Americans, and reverse any gains made from tight labor markets.

GOP leaders are echoing similar messages, sometimes with hard-hitting pocketbook themes. For example, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), slammed the pending bill in a November statement:

BOTTOM LINE: President Biden and Speaker Pelosi are out of touch with the American people’s concerns. Millions of moms and dads are struggling to pay for basic necessities like food, gas, and groceries because of Democrats’ inflationary policies. Instead of introducing legislation that would help millions of hardworking families who are feeling squeezed, Congressional Democrats have prioritized giving jobs to foreigners. How about taking care of the American people first?

“These provisions would be largest update to our immigration system in 30 years,” said a November 4 tweet from the Niskanen Center, which supports the expansion of legal immigration.

Democrats may try to vote the BBB bill through the House this week. But it is likely to be delayed by disagreements among Democrats about state taxes and various government benefits.

So far, no Democrats have denounced the far-reaching immigration provisions, which would cut Americans’ wages and drive up their housing prices. For example, the Congressional Black Caucus has stayed silent about the bill, even though it will likely damage the wages, housing, and status of millions of less-educated black Americans.

The bill can pass the evenly-divided Senate if the Democrats stick together.

But a few Democrat senators may be working behind the scenes to minimize the painful economic impact of the immigration provisions.

For example, Sen. Joe Manchin, (D-WV), has argued that the bill should be trimmed and has repeatedly suggested that immigration provisions be excluded. His view is important because it means the Democratic leaders cannot override the Senate’s debate referee, who has excluded prior immigration proposals from the so-called “reconciliation” bill.

“By all accounts, the threat posed by record inflation to the American people is not ‘transitory’ and is instead getting worse,” said November 10 a tweet from Manchin.

“From the grocery store to the gas pump, Americans know the inflation tax is real and DC can no longer ignore the economic pain Americans feel every day,” said his tweet, which is sandwiched between other tweets touting the money that will flow into West Virginia from the Democrats’ infrastructure bill.

Alongside the amnesty, the pending bill would also supercharge the inflow of foreign graduates seeking the white-collar jobs that are needed by Americans. “This ‘temporary fix’ is nothing more than a giveaway to Big Tech companies and massive corporations who prioritize foreign workers over American citizens,” said FAIR.

The bill would also allow top agency officials to allow many would-be family chain migrants to come to the United States. Roughly four million people are waiting in the chain migration line for about 250,000 green cards each year, but the bill would allow them to buy green cards once they arrived in the United States.

In practice, this rule would encourage migrants to support Democrat politicians in the expectation that they will persuade friendly Democrat officials to let their family relatives into the United States.

Any large-scale inflow of migrants would drive up housing prices that are now keeping millions of young Americans from buying their own homes.

Many polls show that labor migration is deeply unpopular because it damages ordinary Americans’ career opportunities, cuts their wages, and raises their rents. Migration also curbs Americans’ productivity, shrinks their political clout, and widens regional wealth gaps,

Migration also radicalizes Americans’ democratic, compromise-promoting civic culture, and allows elites to ignore despairing Americans at the bottom of society.

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