Why American Nationalists Should Oppose Well Educated Immigrants

It’s ironic. Political pundits insist that Donald J. Trump was swept into office by a tide of American nationalism. Democrats bemoan that if only during her 2016 presidential bid Hillary Clinton had followed the same advice campaign strategist, James Carville, gave her husband Bill in 1992 (“The economy, stupid”), those precious electoral votes in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan would have been in the hands of the Democrats. Instead, analysts believe that anti-immigration rhetoric was a key factor in winning votes for those left behind despite the economic recovery. However, it turns out that Trump immigration policies are not in the national interest of American workers at all.

But, aye, there’s the rub… The immigrants that Trump wants to block are the ones that contribute to the economy and take jobs Americans refuse to do. Blocking the entrance of these immigrants and reducing their visas has caused serious harm to American businesses, reduced American wages and increased prices on consumer goods.

Do a quick search for “summer labor shortage” and you’ll be regaled with stories from across the US including New England, Minnesota, Alaska, California, Oregon, and New York as well as those three key states – Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. The immigrant population Trump is targeting is the immigrant population that helps decrease costs for American consumers, bolsters American production, shores up long-term American jobs and increases American tax revenues.

Meanwhile Trump’s legal immigration policy changes increase the likelihood that the really good jobs – high-paying gigs that Americans actually want – are being given away to foreigners.

Ron Hira, professor of public policy at Howard University, testified that companies that have recently replaced American workers with foreign nationals include Disney in Florida, Harley Davidson in Wisconsin, and Pfizer in Connecticut.

This is why American nationalists support of Trump’s immigration policies is so ironic, much like Trump’s behavior. During the 2016 campaign, Trump claimed he wanted to crack down on this troubling visa program to protect American workers but his new immigration policy not only supports the practice he criticized but offers citizenship to the same population that is taking American jobs. Trump’s new immigration policy could ensure that horror stories like the one from Disney become a commonplace occurrence.

Interestingly, as Ross Rosenfeld pointed out in the New York Daily News, if Trump’s immigration policy had been in place a few generations ago, Trump wouldn’t be president of the United States today. Since it’s not possible to apply this policy retroactively, the only real way to “Make America Great Again” would be to protect skilled jobs for Americans and open the doors to immigrants who will support the industry jobs that Americans eschew.

(Side note: Breibart wants to call this fake news, but those who take the time to click the links above will find references included from more than 20 different sources with two links to the heavily conservative Fox News. Readers can also find information regarding Congressional votes on this matter on numerous .gov websites. It seems that, in this regard, the only fake news here is being generated by Breitbart and Trump.)