Commentary: Conservatives Applaud Trump’s American Workers First Executive Order

On Monday President Trump issued an Executive Order suspending most work-related immigration to the United States, this proclamation is an extension and expansion of his Proclamation 10014 of April 22, 2020 “Suspension of Entry of Immigrants Who Present a Risk to the United States Labor Market During the Economic Recovery Following the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Outbreak.” The new Order extends limits on immigration “of certain aliens as immigrants and nonimmigrants would be detrimental to the interests of the United States” through December 31, 2020.

This much-needed executive action confirms Donald Trump as the “American Workers First” President, a role he staked-out for himself in the first days of his 2016 campaign, and from which he has never wavered.

As President Trump described in Proclamation 10014, excess labor supply is particularly harmful to workers at the margin between employment and unemployment — those who are typically “last in” during an economic expansion and “first out” during an economic contraction.  In recent years, these workers have been disproportionately represented by historically disadvantaged groups, including African Americans and other minorities, those without a college degree, and Americans with disabilities.

Conservatives were quick to applaud the President’s action, with our friends at NumbersUSA issuing a statement saying, “NumbersUSA applauds President Trump’s unprecedented Executive Order temporarily halting the entry of certain immigrants and guest workers.  No previous administration in our lifetimes has recognized the imperative of slowing the importation of foreign workers during an unemployment crisis.  For the more than 45 million Americans who have lost their jobs during this pandemic, this EO represents real opportunity to regain employment at a livable wage.  Just as important, it represents an opportunity for American employers to broaden their recruitment efforts into historically underserved communities and prove that Americans will do those jobs.”

Likewise, Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning issued a statement praising President Donald Trump’s executive order to cut legal immigration into the U.S.:

President Trump is putting Americans first with his memorandum cutting the number of legal immigrants into the country.  At a time when more than 20 million Americans are on the unemployment rolls, it is important to insure that opportunities generated by the U.S. economy go to those who have lost their jobs due to the Chinese-originated COVID-19 virus response.

America is a very generous nation, and the President’s executive order will ensure that those who have high-end unique skill sets will still be able to contribute to our nation’s growth over the next six months. But this executive order should put an end to the days of companies like Disney replacing their American workers in their IT shops with cheaper, temporary foreign workers.  When Donald Trump ran for President, he campaigned against this abhorrent practice of forcing U.S. workers to train their foreign replacements with the threat of losing their pensions and unemployment benefits hanging over their heads.

As ours and the world’s economy resets, this is the perfect opportunity to reconfigure visa allocations to best reflect our nation’s needs, and President Trump’s actions today are projected to open up as many as 500,000 jobs for hard working, willing Americans.  The President campaigned as an America first president, and today’s announcement is just one more proof point that he is governing as an America first President.

In the face of opposition from Big Business and the Wall Street – Washington – Silicon Valley Axis, and lobbying by some of his own White House staff who secretly and not-so-secretly share their globalist views, this latest Executive Order limiting immigration is another concrete example of Donald Trump keeping faith with America’s forgotten men and women.

During the 2016 campaign in a speech in Monessen, Pennsylvania Donald Trump made a point that should have been self-evident to America’s political class – or perhaps it is self-evident and they are so corrupt that they just don’t care – and it is something that every voter should be reminded of before the election:

America became the world’s dominant economy by becoming the world’s dominant producer. You know that from right here, right in this plant.

The wealth this created was shared broadly, creating the biggest middle-class the world has ever known. But then, America changed its policy from promoting development in America — in, in, in America — to promoting development in other nations. That’s what’s happening and that’s what’s happened.

We allowed foreign countries to subsidize their goods, devalue their currencies, violate their agreements and cheat in every way imaginable, and our politicians did nothing about it. Trillions of our dollars and millions of our jobs flowed overseas as a result. I have visited cities and towns across this country where one-third or even half of manufacturing jobs have been wiped out in the last 20 years. Today, we import nearly $800 billion more in goods than we export. We can’t continue to do that. This is not some natural disaster, it’s a political and politician-made disaster.

In his Executive Order limiting immigration during the economic turmoil caused by the Chinese virus President Trump is preventing another political and politician-made disaster from befalling America’s working families.

We urge CHQ readers and friends to contact the White House switchboard 202-456-1111 to thank President Trump for expanding and extending the limits on immigration, as set forth in his Monday, June 22, 2020 Executive Order. You can also thank President Trump through the White House web portal.

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