In his statement responding to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)—the intellectual leader in Congress against amnesty—said that the immigration policies Obama has implemented are hurting American workers.
Sessions specifically noted how, since the 2007 recession, all employment gains in America have gone to imported foreign workers instead of American citizens. Sessions says:
On immigration, the president remains wedded to a lawless policy that serves only the interest of an international elite while reducing jobs and benefits for everyday Americans. All net employment gains since the recession in 2007 have gone to foreign workers, and yet the President has violated federal law in order to provide work permits to 5 million illegal immigrants—allowing them to take any of the few good jobs that exist. In effect, the President delivered an address tonight to a Congress whose authority he does not recognize and to a public whose votes he has nullified with an imperial edict. Congress must use every tool at its disposal to stop this unlawful edict, end the immigration lawlessness, and reverse our slide towards congressional irrelevance.
Generally, Sessions noted that Obama’s policies are hurting labor force participation.
Tonight President Obama stayed the course of tax, spend, borrow, regulate, and add to the debt. This policy has hammered working families, whose average inflation-adjusted income has fallen a stunning $4,200 since 2009. Labor force participation for both men and women between 25–54 has been steadily falling since the President took office, while 12 million people have left the workforce entirely.
Then, on national security, Sessions noted that Obama has “failed” to give a “clear vision” for the United States in the battle against Islamic terrorism.
“On the national security front, President Obama has once again failed to deliver a clear vision for combating the threat of ISIS and Islamic extremism, and has still not lucidly articulated the nature of the threat challenging the West,” Sessions said.