Billionaire Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is using material from the far left-wing Center for American Progress (CAP) and from President Barack Obama’s White House to argue to House Republicans that amnesty would be good for the economy and for American workers.
In an effort to try to support House Republican leaders’ sprint towards amnesty for illegal aliens and a massive increase in legal immigration (including more cheap tech labor for Facebook), Zuckerberg’s lobbying outfit FWD.us distributed a packet of information to House Republicans this week at their retreat in Cambridge, Maryland. The Zuckerberg packet runs directly counter to the one Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), a longtime conservative and ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, prepared for House Republicans ahead of their retreat.
On page 5 of the Zuckerberg packet, Republicans are presented with a link to and quotation from a September 2013 CAP study that argues such open borders-style policies as contained in the Senate-passed “Gang of Eight” immigration bill and the House GOP leadership immigration “principles” released on Thursday would be good for American workers.
“The detrimental effect our current immigration system has on American workers is a problem that is not often talked about, but workers all across America see it each day,” the quote from the CAP study reads. “Currently, our broken immigration system creates an opportunity for some employers to use the immigration status of workers to undermine their employment protections. This has serious implications for all workers in America.”
“Our employment laws are strongest when all employees protected under them are able to invoke their rights when faced with workplace violations,” the study argues. “A broken immigration system that stifles immigrants’ employment rights ultimately undermines the workplace safety of all American workers.”
On page 7 of the Zuckerberg packet, Republicans are presented with a September 2012 CAP study that argues granting amnesty to illegal alien youths through a DREAM Act-style proposal, like what House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has pushed, would be somehow economically beneficial. A chart from that study argues that a DREAM Act-type amnesty would add billions to various state economies around the country.
CAP is a far left-wing progressive research and lobbying shop, funded by donors including George Soros and connected intimately with left-wing leaders like John Podesta–who headed the organization until recently joining President Obama’s White House team.
The Zuckerberg immigration lobbying packet distributed to House members also cites a Regional Economic Models, Inc., (REMI) report, which was first published on July 17, 2013 that argues hundreds of thousands of new jobs would be created in the first few years after granting amnesty to illegal immigrants. “REMI examines how the policies will expand the economic pie for individuals and businesses across the nation,” Zuckerberg’s team wrote about the REMI report in the packet.
That REMI report was used by President Obama’s White House to argue on August 1: “Commonsense immigration reform will strengthen the U.S. economy and create jobs.” The White House used that report alongside a series of products from the institutional left–various foundations and groups funded by left-wing billionaires, including Soros. GOP establishment organization American Action Network (AAN) also used the consortium of left-wing data to push the same argument in August, as Breitbart News detailed at the time.
Republicans like Sessions and others counter what is in those left-wing reports with hard economic data that shows American workers will be hurt by amnesty for illegal immigrants and a massive increase in legal immigration like Zuckerberg wants. For instance, they point to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) which estimates that the Senate Gang of Eight bill, or a plan like it, would drive wages of American workers down and unemployment numbers up.
Sessions’ communications director Stephen Miller told Breitbart News in August that the CBO’s estimates prove Americans will be hurt by amnesty.
“Based on conservative CBO projections, the Senate bill would add approximately 46 million immigrants by 2033,” Miller said at the time. “Even using AAN’s inflated claim of 6 million jobs — for which they provide no supporting data — that’s not nearly enough to keep up with the expansion of guest workers and low-skill immigration contained in the proposal. That’s why CBO reports that joblessness will grow, wages will fall, and per-capita GNP will shrink for the next 25 years.”
Likewise, a platoon of 16 House Republicans led by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) wrote to President Obama in early January to note how there are about 102 million Americans either out of the workforce or officially unemployed who should be prioritized for American jobs over illegal aliens seeking amnesty or future foreign labor CEOs want to import.
“Rapidly expanding unskilled immigration – at a time when factory work and blue collar jobs are disappearing – would represent the final economic blow for millions of workers who have been struggling to gain an economic foothold,” those 16 House GOP members wrote. “Yet, despite this jobs crisis for American workers, the White House continues to advocate that CEOs and business executives seek lower cost labor.”
“The White House has entertained a parade of high-powered business executives to discuss immigration policy, all while shutting out the concerns of everyday wage-earners who overwhelmingly oppose these measures,” they stated. “You even released an economic report saying that the ‘hospitality and leisure industry’ needs ‘legislation that would legalize workers in the U.S. and facilitate the lawful employment of future foreign-born workers.'”
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