Worker-Protection Immigration Grade Cards
How each candidate's immigration positions would loosen or tighten the labor supply and affect market pressures to raise wages and recruit from underutilized U.S. populations.
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Updated: September 17, 2019 |
THE PROBLEM: For too many Americans, the economy is not working. The government's unemployment rate is low, but it doesn't count millions of workers who wanted a full-time jobs last month but couldn't find one.1 The employment rate is especially low for African Americans and for Millennials of all ethnicities without a college degree.2 The economy is also not working well for tens of millions of other Americans where inflation-adjusted wages are still lower than in the 1970s.3 |
2020 Presidential Hopefuls
(Click on photos for quotes)
lower overall immigration
The most recent bipartisan federal commission on immigration recommended cutting annual numbers of legal immigration to half the current level in order to protect the jobs and wages for America's most vulnerable workers. It is the flow of legal immigration that is the most harmful to American workers because it adds far more workers to compete for jobs and wages than does illegal immigration. Because every legal immigrant gets a lifetime work permit, the offer of immigration should always be considered very seriously in terms of whether it will make it harder for American workers to gain a job or wage increase.
to use E-Verify
No single immigration enforcement action will open up more jobs for Americans than enacting an "E-Verify-plus" law that requires every employer to use E-verify to keep unauthorized migrants from taking construction, manufacturing, technical and service jobs. Ratings are based on support for that, for requirements that root out identity theft and fraud, and for enforced penalties on employers who violate the law.
to reduce visa overstays
Successive Presidents have refused to implement the law requiring a computerized, biometric check-in/check-out system that should be used by the government to track every foreign citizen who enters the U.S. by air, sea or land and to be aware the day that foreign visitors fail to check-out by the exit date on their visa. Visa overstayers account for nearly half the U.S. jobs that are filled by illegal aliens.
violate immigration law
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unauthorized migrants
Regardless of what candidates may think about the use of deportations to re-establish the rule of law in our immigration system, we are rating them on their commitments about whether they will force Americans to compete in the legal job market with millions of foreign citizens who are in the United States illegally.
for illegal migration
No single immigration enforcement action will open up more jobs for Americans than enacting an "E-Verify-plus" law that requires every employer to use E-verify to keep illegal migrants from taking construction, manufacturing, technical and service jobs. Ratings are based on support for that, for requirements that root out identity theft and fraud, and for enforced penalties on employers who violate the law.
and asylum abuse
More than half of the millions of U.S. jobs that Americans are denied are held by foreign citizens who crossed our borders illegally. Candidates are rated on their commitment to implementing border-security laws already passed by Congress and on their specific promises about increasing judges to rapidly turn back surges, and about fencing, manpower and equipment for operational control of the borders.
lower-wage jobs
The government should institute safeguards that will prevent importation of specific foreign workers for specific kinds of visas and jobs any time that would threaten the jobs or depress the wages of American workers in those occupations. Employment-based visas (lifetime and temporary) should be issued only after a job has been posted nationally on the internet for Americans to apply. And the process should be transparent so the public can see which employers are filling which jobs with foreign workers.
higher-wage jobs
The government should institute safeguards that will prevent importation of specific foreign workers for specific kinds of visas and jobs any time that would threaten the jobs or depress the wages of American workers in those occupations. Employment-based visas (lifetime and temporary) should be issued only after a job has been posted nationally on the internet for Americans to apply. And the process should be transparent so the public can see which employers are filling which jobs with foreign workers.
The No. 1 cause of the quadrupling of the number of legal immigrants obtaining lifetime work permits has been new chain-migration categories that allow each immigrant to petition for certain adult relatives, each of whom can petition for their relatives, creating a virtually endless chain of migration into the future. We rate candidates on how much chain migration they recommend eliminating and what they would do with the current backlog.
The government should stop using a lottery to raffle off lifetime work permits to tens of thousands of randomly chosen foreign citizens each year. These work permits are given out without regard to whether a foreign worker has a skill that is needed by this country and without any consideration to the effect on the employment and wages of American workers.
Biden (DEM)
Booker (DEM)
Buttigieg (DEM)
Harris (DEM)
O'Rourke (DEM)
Sanders (DEM)
Warren (DEM)
Yang (DEM)
WHAT DO THESE GRADES MEASURE?
For the most part, candidates are being measured by the recommendations and principles of the bi-partisan U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform which favored an immigration system that protects the interests of American wage-earners
(both U.S.-born and foreign-born). Commission members were chosen by leaders of each party in the Senate and House, with Chairwoman Barbara Jordan appointed by Pres. Bill Clinton.
UPDATED WEEKLY:
Every week, we add statements by candidates that modify or add texture to a candidate's stances. Then, each category rating and grade is re-calculated weekly.
HOW THE HOPEFULS ARE ORDERED ON THE GRID: In alphabetical order.
WHAT ARE WE MISSING?
Are you aware of statements by a candidate that we don't have, especially if they suggest a different stance than what we show? If so, send url links to us at: elections2020@numbersusa.com
WHAT COUNTS MOST IN RATINGS?
Past actions as a legislator or governor are important. Usually more important, though, are the promises a candidate makes on his/her website, in official press releases and in statements reported in credible media. We are looking for specifics in
what candidates say they would do if elected President. We usually give more weight to recent statements and actions. But we watch for signs of deception and waffling in the past that challenge credibility. We always give candidates the opportunity
to clarify statements, especially in direct communication with us.
HOW TO DIG DEEPER:
(a) Click on a candidate's photo to view all statements & actions that led to the rating for each category.
(b) Hover over the category titles in the left column for a quick description of what a category is about.
(c) Click on the question marks in the left column for a full description of what a candidate needs to do to achieve a pro-worker rating in a category and why it is important to American workers.
HOW YOU CAN OJECTIVELY RELY ON THE GRADES:
NumbersUSA has a point of view and agrees with the "Jordan Commission" that a tighter labor market is better for the American people. So, we give the high grades to candidates who prefer tightening the labor supply, and we give low grades to candidates
who favor looser labor supplies. But everybody can rely on the spectrum upon which we place each candidate. If you disagree with NumbersUSA and think the U.S. would be better off by adding more foreign workers into the current labor surplus, you still
can depend on our grading system to tell you which candidates are best for you on immigration policy by looking for the F and D grades.
ARE THE GRADECARDS A FORM OF ENDORSEMENT OR OPPOSITION?
NO! We understand that people choose to back candidates based on their stands on many different policy issues, as well as on their character, experience and leadership. We intend our Grade Cards to be the most reliable source for judging a candidate
on one issue: how to modify immigration policies to add or reduce the number of foreign workers competing with American workers in U.S. jobs.
1 In August 2019, 6.05 million were officially unemployed, meaning they actively looking for work; 4.38 million were working part-time but wanted a full-time job; 3.0 million of those not in the labor force “want a job now.” Additionally, 1.56 million were classified as “marginally attached to the labor force” meaning they want a job and have looked at some point in the last 12 months but were not currently looking. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “The Employment Situation – August 2019,” Tables A-1 and A-16.
2 The employment rate for U.S.-born Blacks is 66.8%% compared to 73.3% for all workers. For 18-29 year olds without a high school diploma, the employment rate is 49.2%; for 18-29 year olds without a college degree it is 67.9%. Center for Immigration Studies, “The Employment Situation of Immigrants and Natives in the Fourth Quarter of 2018.”
3 “After adjusting for inflation…today’s average hourly wage has just about the same purchasing power it did in 1978, following a long slide in the 1980s and early 1990s and bumpy, inconsistent growth since then.” Pew Research Center, “For most U.S. workers, real wages have barely budged in decades,” August 7, 2018.