One of the most flawed narratives pushed by proponents of illegal immigration over the last few decades was that illegal aliens come to our country to take jobs that Americans didn't want in the first place.
And as someone who did many of these jobs early in my career — moving boxes, driving forklifts, and swinging a hammer — I always knew that was a lie. Now that I own and operate my own construction business that has built over a hundred single-family homes, projects, and managed countless commercial structures throughout Arizona, I know that it's a sinister lie. The crews on my job sites are made up of Americans who are ferociously eager for work.
The truth is, it was never about jobs Americans wouldn't take; it was about wages that Americans wouldn't and couldn't work for. Open borders advocates never tell you that illegal labor drives pay down, housing costs up, and taxes higher as social services like schools and hospitals subsidize the low pay of illegals. Despite these facts, liberal politicians like Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass continue to assert that the American economy won't thrive without illegal aliens.
Thankfully, President Trump disagrees, as his administration has completely shut down illegal entries at our border, while the brave men and women at ICE under his direction conduct a vast dragnet from coast to coast, removing those who don't belong here.
But another threat to American prosperity remains: migrant visa programs that allow corporations to bring in cheap foreign labor. This threat is not only tolerated but actively championed by powerful corporate interests; such an entrenched problem means it's more resistant to reform than we think. Compounding the problem is the fact that wages garnered by illegals are remitted to their home country.
To make this possible, the oligarchs and corporations that profit from these programs push an even more sinister lie than the one about Americans not being willing to do jobs. This lie is that these are jobs that Americans can't do because we are too stupid. Americans have been told we're incapable of succeeding without the mass importation of foreign labor from countries that can't manage indoor plumbing.
Nothing could be further from the truth. There's no problem America can't solve with our own people.
And just as President Trump has addressed our illegal immigration problem, he's now working to fix the broken worker visa program. By increasing the application fee to $100,000 and increasing the wage floors for the H-1B program, the Trump administration has taken the important first steps to ensure that American jobs go to our own citizens who have a stake in our future.
Stories abound of recent graduates being unable to find work, of tech workers being forced to train their own migrant worker replacements, and companies hiding job posts so Americans can't find them to claim that no qualified applicant is available, enabling them to give the job to a migrant worker.
The migrant worker programs, we were told, were designed to bring in rare, exceptional talent that are being used to pursue pickleball coaches and undergraduate math professors at public universities. One of our government's biggest contractors, Palantir, has even sought to bring lawyers in Manhattan that use the program. If there's one thing we don't have a shortage of, it's lawyers…and podcasters (please don't get any ideas).
For me, this is personal. My daughter will be graduating from high school soon and has aspirations of becoming a doctor.
But for too many aspiring physicians, their dreams are cut short because our medical residency programs are turning away thousands of qualified American candidates to make room for foreigners sponsored on either H-1B or J-1 visas that will transition into H-1B visas.
I applaud the President's leadership in making sure American jobs benefit Americans, and in Congress, I will join him in taking that mission by banning the federal, state, and local governments and their contractors from hiring migrant workers outside of explicit national security needs authorized by the Secretary of Homeland Security.
The preamble to the US Constitution makes clear that this country was founded not to make profits for global corporations or to allow foreign nations to enrich themselves through remittances, but to "secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." We are on the right path more than we ever have been before, and I will help to lead us further.
Daniel Keenan is a Republican candidate for Arizona's 5th Congressional District.
