by Tamyra Murray
When Michiganders cast their ballots this year, they won’t just decide whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden occupies the Oval Office, or which party will control Congress.
They may well determine what Michigan’s job market looks like for years to come.
Joe Biden has proposed a list of radical immigration policies, including expanding the number of green cards available, increasing guestworker visas for low-skilled workers, and dramatically raising refugee admittances. Those proposals would take away job opportunities from Michigan workers and drive down the pay of those fortunate enough to remain employed.
If Biden is elected, the only thing that could prevent his immigration schemes from becoming a reality is a Republican-controlled Senate. The GOP currently holds a slim majority in Congress’s upper chamber. And Michiganders can keep it that way — by electing John James.
Michigan’s two Senate candidates couldn’t be farther apart on immigration. James, a West Point graduate who piloted Apache helicopters during Operation Iraqi Freedom, stridently opposes amnesty for illegal aliens. He also wants to defund sanctuary cities.
His opponent, incumbent Gary Peters, wants America’s 11 million illegal immigrants to be handed citizenship. He also thinks U.S. taxpayers should provide numerous perks to illegal immigrants, like in-state tuition rates at public colleges and taxpayer-funded healthcare. Peters also supports the federal funding of sanctuary cities.
In other words, Sen. Peters’ immigration positions are a carbon copy of Joe Biden’s.
Joe Biden plans to increase the number of refugees allowed into the United States by more than 100,000 per year. Biden also pledges to lift the cap on employment-based visas and allow family members of green-card holders to pour into the United States. He even wants to create a new type of visa to allow mid-sized cities and counties to invite thousands of immigrants to compete against local residents for jobs and resources.
More competition from foreign workers is the last thing Michiganders need right now.
Our state’s employment outlook remains dire. Unemployment claims remain 4 times higher than pre-pandemic levels. At 8.4 percent, Michigan’s jobless rate exceeds the national average, and more than 408,000 residents are currently collecting unemployment benefits.
By adding so many foreign workers to the labor market, Biden’s immigration policies would make it even tougher for Michigan residents to find good jobs. It’s an iron law of economics that additional competition for jobs puts downward pressure on wages.
Biden’s open-borders approach would also incentivize even more illegal aliens to sneak into the country and drain taxpayers dry. Back in 2010, Michigan’s state and local taxpayers spent $929 million providing education, health care, welfare and social services to illegal immigrants, while receiving little in the way of tax revenues in return.
That staggering price tag has only increased in recent years, as the state’s illegal immigrant population has jumped from 115,000 in 2011 to an estimated 129,000 today.
With the state economy reeling from COVID-19, and hundreds of thousands of people looking for work, Michigan can simply not afford Joe Biden’s immigration agenda. And the best way to stop it is to ensure Republicans retain the Senate.
That’s why Michiganders should vote for John James like their jobs depend on it. Because they very well may.
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Tamyra Murray is an organizer at Michiganders for Immigration Control and Enforcement and a small business owner and entrepreneur.
