National Populist Newsletter
April 9th-16th
News:
United States
Immigration
Big Tech companies may lose out on a large number of high-skilled foreign tech workers due to a green card backlog. “There are about 280,000 employment-based green cards available this year, but immigration officials are on track to waste about 100,000 of them, based on processing times in the first quarter,” according to Axios. There were about 66,500 unused green cards last fiscal year, and they can not be transferred over to next year once it ends. Indian foreign nationals will be the most affected by this backlog as many are employed in high skilled tech jobs in Silicon Valley and other tech hubs. Expect both Republican and Democrat Congressman working to remedy the situation, especially the ones who receive large donations from the Tech Industry. This is one area of immigration reform that we could see before the election.
The border surge that is expected to occur following the Biden administration’s decision to end Title 42 could affect the processing of legal immigrants too. According to the Washington Times, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) might divert its resources to prepare for the incoming surge. USCIS typically deals with immigration applications that are processed through legal avenues. This is what happened to the refugee process last year, as millions of dollars that would have gone to processing refugees overseas went to processing migrants at the border.
According to Breitbart News, the billionaire Koch Brothers network is lobbying Senate Republicans and Democrats to consider backing amnesty for illegal aliens and children eligible for the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Although the network proposed a border security plan to accompany the amnesty package, the plan is supposedly very “vague.”
After Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) mandated increased inspections on trucks crossing the border from Mexico to the state to counter human smuggling, border wait times have increased to almost 35 hours, or more, in some cases, according to Dallas Morning News. While this may stop some illegal immigration, it will also strain already weak supply chains as the wait time to get supplies into the US will be held up for days- which given the midterm elections may benefit Republicans as they blame Joe Biden and Democrats for both the weak border, higher prices, and a greater scarcity of supplies. While trade and imports have been held up, the restrictions are working. Due to the long border waits affecting the local economies in Northern Mexico, regional governments are seeking to negotiate with Texas to ease the inspections in exchange for preventing mass migration towards the border.
The Texas Tribune reported that many Northern Mexican regional governments have already reached deals with Texas to prevent illegal migrants and human smuggling from coming to the border. The Mexican states who have agreed to implement security restrictions include Chihuahua, Nuevo León, and Coahuila. Gov. Abbott is also planning to meet with the governor of Tamaulipas to end the truck inspections in exchange for more enhanced security measures within the Mexican state.
As the Biden administration shows no interest in reinstating Title 42, vulnerable Democrats are growing more frustrated. Senators up for reelection, including Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Raphael Warnock (D-GA), have criticized the Biden administration’s decision to end the health provision. Sen. Kelly indicated that before repealing Title 42, he would like to see “a plan” to address the incoming wave of illegal migrants from the White House. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), and Jon Tester (D-MT) have also been critical of the White House’s decision. (NBC) So far their concerns have fallen on deaf ears and they know once Americans see millions of migrants come towards the border, immigration will rise as both an issue voters are concerned with and one they trust Republicans on.