Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue says the business group “will work cooperatively” with President-Elect Joe Biden to expand legal immigration levels to the United States in order to fill American jobs with foreign workers as 18 million Americans remain jobless.
At an annual event this week, Donohue outlined the group’s plans to work hand-in-hand with incoming Biden administration officials to expand legal immigration levels beyond their already historic rates, where more than 1.2 million green cards are allotted every year and 1.4 million foreign visa workers are admitted to take American jobs annually.
Donohue claimed that despite 18 million jobless Americans and another 6.2 million Americans who are underemployed — all of whom want full-time work — the U.S. still has “significant labor shortages” and prided himself on suing President Trump in order to continue importing foreign workers during a mass unemployment crisis. He said:
We also have to confront the reality that we have people without jobs and massive amounts of jobs without people. Even if we successfully employed every American willing and able to work, we would still face significant labor shortages—in construction, agriculture, health care, retail, manufacturing, and tech.
Donohue continued:
We fought vigorously and successfully against actions by the Trump administration to severely limit legal immigration, and we will work cooperatively with the Biden administration to reform our immigration system to meet the needs of our modern economy. [Emphasis added]
Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise … allowing the world’s most talented and industrious people to contribute to our economy drives growth, which in turn creates more jobs for Americans. This urgent priority should draw bipartisan support. [Emphasis added]
Building consensus on immigration reform, workforce development, and infrastructure investment this year will help accelerate the widespread recovery and deliver economic relief to the businesses and workers whose resilience has been put to the test. [Emphasis added]
That “consensus on immigration reform” is likely not only to include more legal immigration but also some form of an amnesty for illegal aliens living in the U.S. — both longtime priorities of corporate interests who see their profit margins grow when the cost of labor is crushed.
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, Americans’ 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, since more than 17 percent of the workforce is foreign-born.
As Breitbart News has reported, Biden has said he will “immediately” send an amnesty for illegal aliens to the U.S. Senate after taking office.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.