And I Said Yes We Will Put American First You Dumb Jackasses.
The GOP’s business-first leadership has expanded the H-2B visa-worker program, so reducing marketplace pressure on companies to offer higher wages to Americans just months before the November election.
The pre-election giveaway is buried on page 1760 of the 2232-page 2018 omnibus bill, where language allows the Department of Homeland Security to greatly expand the size of the H-2B visa-worker program up to roughly 100,000 imported workers:
SEC. 205. Notwithstanding the [66,000] numerical limitation set forth in section 214(g)(1)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(g)(1)(B)), the Secretary of Homeland Security, after consultation with the Secretary of Labor, and upon the determination that the needs of American businesses cannot be satisfied in fiscal year 2018 with United States workers who are willing, qualified, and able to perform temporary nonagricultural labor, may increase the total number of aliens who may receive a visa under section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b)) in such fiscal year above such limitation by not more than the highest number of H–2B nonimmigrants who participated in the H–2B returning worker program in any fiscal year in which returning workers were exempt from such numerical limitation.
The jargon gives the green light to Senators and Representatives to pressure DHS leaders until unless they agree to hand out more H-2B visas to the politicians’ local employers.
Many thanks, @timkaine & @MarkWarner for signing the letter to our Senate leaders urging them to include language in the FY18 omnibus package requiring caps to be increased for temporary worker visas. #SaveH2B. Time is running out for many small businesses.
“This shows that Congress uses the budget process to grant special access to insider lobbyists,” said lawyer John Miano, who opposes visa-worker programs. “By granting the ability to slip special interest provisions into a bill that must pass Congress, it rewards those who supply donations,” he added.
(Mitch Says) “get your hand out of my ass” Paul
The H-2B visa-workers are imported by landscapers, forestry companies, seafood processors, construction firms, resorts, hotels and restaurants to import foreign workers for seasonal work. The imported workers are not cheap — see the data here — but their arrival means that employers do not have to raise their wages to persuade Americans to take seasonal jobs.
Moreover, if they raised their wages high enough to attract Americans to the seasonal jobs, then the companies would also have to raise wages for their year-round and supervisory workers.
Those extra wages would reduce company profits, raise costs and reduce the number of customers, and shrink the number of companies. But the extra wages would also leave hundreds of thousands of American voters working in higher-wage jobs, and would also nudge many additional employers to raise wages.
That free-market outcome is anathema to many GOP leaders, including House Majority Leader Paul Ryan. He has repeatedly said that immigration rules should be tuned to help employers — not employees — and that CEOs should be allowed to hire “any willing worker,” even if those workers live far outside the United States.
In 2015, Ryan sharply increased the size of the H-2B program, but after Donald Trump’s shocking victory in 2016, he let the program return to the 66,000 level.
In 2017, Ryan against pushed to expand the program with a 2018-style rule that encouraged legislators to pressure DHS officials for additional visas. Under then-DHS chief John Kelly, the agency reluctantly granted some additional visas, but far fewer than sought by business groups.
In 2018, the Department of Homeland Security has started distributing the 66,000 regular H-2B visas via a lottery because so many companies asked for a share of the H-2B visas.
The H-2B program is dwarfed by the size of the white-collar guest worker programs, via the H-1B, L-1, J-1, H-4, TN, and OPT programs. Collectively, these white-collar outsourcing visas keep more than 1 million foreign university graduates in healthcare, computer, business, and design jobs sought by American graduates.
The existence of the H-2B visa program creates a “crony-capitalist” economy. Companies which win the government-provided workers get to reduce their payroll costs, win more customers and generate more profits. Companies which do not get H-2B workers shrink and lose business. This dynamic forces many companies and labor-brokers to compete for the H-2Bs and to lobby for even more H-2Bs, so generating business donations and endorsements for politicians — at the cost of cutting wages for many Americans.
The program also distorts local economies. For example, in forest towns, the program allows out-of-state forestry contractors to ignore local job-applicants in favor of foreign H-2B workers.
Sabine Duren, the mother of son killed by illegal immigrant, shares her perspective on ‘Fox & Friends First.’
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who sparked national outrage when she undermined a federal immigration raid last month, worked with illegal-immigration activists before she warned the public about the raid– a move that ICE said led to hundreds of illegals evading detention.
Schaaf took to Twitter to warn the public about the raid, and has stood by her decision despite a number of hardened criminals being caught — and ICE officials warning that potentially hundreds of other criminals escaped as a consequence of the tipoff.
“It is Oakland’s legal right to be a sanctuary city and we have not broken any laws,” Schaaf said in a statement last month. “We believe our community is safer when families stay together.”
Her move sparked anger not just from ICE officials, but also the Trump administration. The Justice Department is currently conducting a review of Schaaf’s actions.
“What happened in Oakland was a disgrace to our nation,” President Donald Trump said in California on Tuesday.
KPIX5 reports that Schaaf was in touch with Centro Legal de la Raza just hours before the announcement, giving her information on what employers should do in the case of an ICE raid.
That group, which did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News, is a nonprofit with a focus on providing legal services to those in the country illegally. It also appears to act as an advocacy group for illegal immigrants — printing an “ICE Activity Hotline” on its website.
“Centro Legal has been at the forefront of efforts to curtail unlawful collaboration between local law enforcement agencies and federal immigration authorities in order to prevent unjust deportations and keep immigrant families together,” the group’s website says. It does not appear to be affiliated with UnidosUS — formerly the National Council of La Raza.
According to KPIX5, Schaaf also spoke with a Catholic priest at St. Jarlath’s Church and Emma Paulino at Oakland Community Organizations. Paulino appeared with Schaaf at a press conference warning of the raid.
“It is important for us to understand that sometimes what ICE is doing with these tactics is to try and paralyze our communities,” she said.
Paulino told Fox News Friday that the conversations were about assessing whether or not to share the information with the community in the first place, and then how to do so in a way that did not create panic.
“It was about if we should share what we know and how to share that information in a responsible way so to not create panic in the community,” she said. “People live in fear already.”
KPIX5 reports that the emails also show that the Oakland Indie Alliance, a group of independent businesses, received a message saying, “Important Alert! Credible information ICE Raids in Oakland Sunday 2/25 and Monday 2/26” and, “This information comes directly from the Mayor.”
A spokesman for Schaaf told Fox News that she consulted “with several leaders and groups representing our immigrant community before she made her public comments.”
“She mentioned it in her initial press release and in numerous public statements after; it’s well known that she conferred with several people before making her decision,” he said.
He also said that she did not warn businesses, although added that “it appears those who she consulted with may have shared the information with business owners in an attempt to make sure the owners knew their obligations and responsibilities under state law.”
Families of victims of illegal immigrant crime have expressed their anger at Schaaf’s actions, calling for her to be prosecuted, as have groups which lobby for less migration into the U.S.
“As far as Libby Schaaf is concerned, what she did is nothing short of obstruction of justice,” said Ira Mehlman, of the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
“She is not compelled to assist ICE in doing its job, but she certainly has no right to interfere with ICE carrying out its lawful duties,” he said. “In our view, the U.S. Department of Justice should look into the matter and prosecute her for obstruction if the circumstances warrant legal action.”
But amid the national controversty, Paulino told Fox News that Schaaf’s stance was getting a very positive reception in Oakland.
“People are really supportive of her because she took a stand,” she said. “She is serving the people who elected her.”
They should have beaten him with a baseball bat. BTW he looks to be 41 not 21.
He is the chicken nugget bandit.
A Minnesota man broke into a home early Saturday morning and cooked himself “children’s chicken nuggets” before police arrived and took him into custody, according to a court filing.
Investigators say that Dylan Bradley Madden, 21, entered a Mankato home though an unlocked garage door around 2 AM. The residence was occupied at the time by a woman and her two juvenile children.
Madden, seen above, found his way to the kitchen, where he cooked the chicken nuggets and got himself a drink. The homeowner, who confronted Madden inside the residence, told police that the intruder appeared inebriated.
A subsequent breath test recorded Madden’s blood alcohol content at .10, just above the .08 limit. Madden, cops noted, “did not appear to be intoxicated to the point of not being able to make conscious decisions.”
Madden was arrested on a felony burglary charge in connection with his quest for a post-midnight snack.
Madden’s rap sheet includes a 2016 felony conviction for which he was sentenced to five years probation. He violated terms of his release last year, but court records do not indicate what additional punishment may have been levied against Madden.
These too are idiots. Why don’t they stop people from drug overdoses?
MSNBC host and former Republican Joe Scarborough has joined the liberal campaign against the NRA and is calling on video streaming services to ban the NRA’s channel from their platforms.
Liberal activists are trying to pressure Amazon, Apple, Google and Roku into banning NRA from their platforms as a response to last week’s Florida school shooting, which followed a series of law enforcement failures. Scarborough jumped on the bandwagon Friday evening and called on the companies to censor NRATV.
“Lawyers from @Apple @amazon @Google and @RokuPlayer should watch these disturbing videos and remove this channel. They incite violence and could make anyone streaming them liable,” Scarborough claimed.
Former Republican Joe Scarborough comes out as pro-censorship (Screenshot/Twitter)
Scarborough and his co-host, Mika Brzezinski, have both endorsed the liberal campaign to pressure companies into cutting any ties with the NRA.
Screenshot/Twitter
Screenshot/Twitter
Several companies including United Airlines and Delta, among others, have severed partnerships with the NRA in response to the liberal pressure campaign.
Congressional investigators are puzzling over a December 2016 text message that suggests the Justice Department sought to grant immunity to Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin.
In a Dec. 13, 2016 text exchange, FBI counterintelligence official Peter Strzok sent his mistress, FBI lawyer Lisa Page, a text message referring to a conversation he had with the Justice Department discussing immunity and potential grand jury testimony.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee released the text message along with 384 pages of additional records on Wednesday.
“Talked with DoJ about HA interview,” Strzok wrote to Page.
“Told them we had to interview, no immunity. They said they thought that would get counsel to the point of saying she’s either taking the 5th in the Gj or you need to give her immunity. I said that’s fine, please have discussions to get the decision to that point and I would run it up the chain.”
Peter Strzok text message to Lisa Page, Dec. 13, 2016.
The initials “HA,” the gender reference and other text messages that Strzok sent in that time frame strongly suggest that he was referring to Abedin.
A day before the text about immunity, Strzok said that a top FBI official had offered to meet with Clinton’s lawyer, David Kendall.
Peter Strzok text message to Lisa Page, Dec. 12, 2016.
Kendall did not represent Abedin in the email case so it is unclear why the FBI sought to meet with him. A lawyer who represented Abedin on the email matter did not respond to a request for comment.
It is unclear what case Strzok was investigating at the time, and there have been no reports that Abedin was granted immunity or that she pleaded the Fifth.
The Hillary Clinton email investigation was closed for good on Nov. 6, 2016, just two days before the election. The FBI re-opened its investigation in late Oct. 2016 after Clinton emails were discovered on a laptop shared by Abedin and her husband, Anthony Weiner.
The FBI was still investigating Weiner for sending lewd messages to an underage girl.
Obama, stands with his nominee to become Health and Human Services secretary, Budget Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell who is the President of the liberal college now.
American University rolled out a $121 million diversity and inclusion plan Tuesday, which includes the creation and implementation of a mandatory two-semester race and social identity course.
American has allocated $60 million for FY 2018, though it began spending the $121 million last spring, and intends to keep spending through next year.
The majority of the funds have been earmarked for scholarships to minority applicants, but $7 million has already gone toward the creation of the American University Experience course.
The first section of AUx, taken in the first semester of freshman year, is built as a psychological, social, cultural, and academic transition into college life. Topics covered include “exploring and expressing identities,” as well as “diversity, bias, and privilege,” in addition to mental health maintenance.
The sole focus of the second semester is “race and social identity.” Students will be instructed in identifying and countering the “coded, contentious, or uncomfortable ways” in which “ethnicity, gender and sexual expression, class, disability, and religion are often discussed.”
“AUx2 seeks to create a space for conversations and learning about these topics that pushes beyond the norm,” according to the course description.
The year-long class will be mandatory for freshman starting in fall 2018, as part of American’s overhauled core curriculum — which includes an additional, separate “Diverse Experiences” requirement.
AUx director Andrea Malkin Brennertold a campus news outlet, “The best critique of things that we could change for [the course] would be to expand the number of intersectional identities that we talked about.”
An effort to increase faculty diversity has also been promised in the new American diversity blueprint .
The school has said the initiative has been in the works for the last couple of years, but its character was impacted by incidents in recent semesters that some have labeled racist.
In May bananas marked with the acronym for the black women’s sorority were found hanging from noose-like ropes, while in September a Confederate flag was hung on campus. Last week, anti-immigration posters were found posted around the campus.
According to a 2016 campus survey, 33 percent of black students reported feeling included at American, compared to 71 percent of white students.
The University of Maryland-College Park announced last week that it had allotted nearly $4 million for diversity programming, including a $200,000 program to train student leaders on intercultural competency, following the murder of a black Bowie State University student by a white Maryland student in May.
