Requiem for a Dream: DACA Goes Down While DHS was Sleeping

By Chris Chmielenski

Southern District of Texas District Court Judge Hanen finally ruled against the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program after years of legal back-and-forth. The short (by judicial standards) 40-page opinion is a bit anticlimactic, largely because the Federal government put up very little fight. In fact, if you examine the history of DACA closely, … Continued

CHIPS Act Uses Taxpayer Money to Hire Foreign Workers

By Chris Chmielenski

The CHIPS Act was hailed as bringing the vitally important semiconductor industry to the United States.

Spending Bill Last Chance to Secure the Border Until 2025

By Chris Chmielenski

The polarization of both the House and Senate has made it largely impossible to pass legislative overhauls without some parliamentary chicanery. Obamacare, Trump’s tax cuts, and Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act were all passed under the budget reconciliation process which allows a simple majority in the Senate to bypass the legislative filibuster. In other words, the … Continued

America the Beautiful (Serenity is Hard to Find)

By Jeremy Beck

How far do you have to go to find peace and tranquility, away from the sounds of traffic or construction? One in twenty heart attacks in cities have been linked to noise pollution. But by some estimates, there are only roughly one dozen places in the entire United States where one can listen for 15 … Continued

Investigations of Farm Labor Violations Hits Record Low in Biden Administration

By Jared Culver

The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) has a new report examining the free-fall in Department of Labor (DOL) investigations into farmworker abuse, which dropped to a record low of 879. 879 closed cases when hundreds of thousands of H-2A employees are working every year. This continues the trend of “see no evil, hear no evil” of … Continued

H-2A Forced Labor Exposes “Legal Pathways” Flaws

By Chris Chmielenski

Enrique Balcazar, 37, and Elizabeth Balcazar, 21, operators of Balcazar Nature Harvesting, LLC (BNH), were sentenced in Federal court for using the H-2A agricultural visa program to import forced labor. Enrique received 40 months in prison along with fines, and his daughter received time served and fines. BNH was fined approximately $508,000 in restitution to … Continued

With Labor Day Upon Us, August Jobs Numbers Disappoint

By Eric Ruark

The August jobs numbers are out as we look forward to Labor Day. The main takeaway is that unemployment numbers surged “unexpectedly.” It seems the “experts” are constantly surprised about the underperformance of the U.S. economy. A perfect example is that the jobs figures have been revised downward for every month in 2023. Economic predications … Continued

The New York Times Has an Immigration Hot Take

By Chris Chmielenski

In other breaking news, the Earth revolves around the sun. Andrea Flores, an immigration policy advisor under both Presidents Obama and Biden, is going to tell us how to fix the immigration system. Apparently, letting everyone enter the country with employment authorization is the correct answer to driving down the illegal entries. How would rolling … Continued

The United States of Emergency

By Chris Chmielenski

Secretary Mayorkas of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says the border is secure and that we have operational control. President Biden has also said the border is secure repeatedly, when he has not dismissed the border crisis as “seasonal.” Generally, the Biden Administration has refused to describe the calamity at the border as a … Continued