Blog

Trump's First 100 Days: Improvements to Enforcement, Begin Laying Groundwork for Legal Reforms

Chris Chmielenski's picture

Published:  

  by  Chris Chmielenski

Saturday marks Pres. Donald Trump's 100th day in office, and immigration has been a key component of his 100-day agenda. Thus far, Trump has solely relied on his executive powers to stem the tide of illegal border crossings and beef up interior enforcement. And while he's taken some good first steps in addressing legal immigration, he's yet to take strong action on protecting American workers from the steady flow of cheap foreign labor that drives down wages and increases job competition for workers.

Blog

Focus is on the 'Wall', but What About American Workers?

Chris Chmielenski's picture

Published:  

  by  Chris Chmielenski

Most of the immigration talk over the last week has been about Pres. Trump's "border wall". Meanwhile, Congress continues to consider increases in H-2B visas for low-skilled foreign workers, and tens of thousands of American tech workers continue to suffer from flatlined wages and fewer job opportunities. Building the wall may have been Trump's most famous campaign pledge, but he also pledged to protect American workers from foreign worker competition.

Blog

USA Today says end Chain Migration

Chris Chmielenski's picture

Published:  

  by  Chris Chmielenski

When a mainstream media outlet calls for an end to Chain Migration, the debate over legal immigration is heading in the right direction. Earlier this week, the editorial board for the nation's largest newspaper, USA Today, offered a quasi-endorsement of Pres. Trump's proposal to move the legal immigration system away from favoring extended family connections and towards placing a greater emphasis on one's skills.

Blog

New Kelly Memos Restore Immigration Enforcement & Rescind *Most* Obama-era Memos

Chris Chmielenski's picture

Published:  

  by  Chris Chmielenski

DHS Secretary John Kelly has certainly been busy since the Senate confirmed his appointment last month, but two memos he signed yesterday are the most significant actions he's taken thus far. Kelly signed a memo titled "Enforcement of the Immigration Laws to Serve the National Interest" and another one titled "Implementing the President's Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements Policies" providing guidance to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Border Patrol, and USCIS on how to execute Pres. Trump's Jan. 25 executive orders.

Blog

Ninth Circuit Chooses Politics Over National Security

Chris Chmielenski's picture

Published:  

  by  Chris Chmielenski

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) issued by Federal District Judge James Robart against Pres. Trump's Jan. 27 executive order. While the Ninth Circuit's job in this ruling was simply to decide whether the executive order was lawful and constitutional, it essentially ignored that question and based its decision on politics.

Blog

Trump tells 60 Minutes he'll deport 2-3 million people -- Who are they?

Chris Chmielenski's picture

Published:  

  by  Chris Chmielenski

During his first primetime interview since the election, President-elect Donald Trump told Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes that he plans to deport 2-3 million illegal aliens -- coincidently, that's the same number of aliens deported by the Obama Administration. So who are the 2-3 million that Trump says he'll deport?

Blog

Five NumbersUSA True Reformers Win on Election Day

Chris Chmielenski's picture

Published:  

  by  Chris Chmielenski

We know the White House's position on immigration will change dramatically when Donald Trump is sworn in on January 20, but what kind of Congress will he have to work with? While dozens of House and Senate seats were up for grabs on Tuesday, most of the seats rated as toss-ups were held by Republicans, and Trump's win minimized the loses. Democrats managed to flip six seats, but in only one of the six was there a clear difference between the two candidates on immigration.

Pages