Obama Rewards Felons and Fugitives with Work Permits
Published on January 21st, 2015
Right smack in the middle of what would be another lackluster Bureau of Labor Statistics December jobs report, the Obama administration announced that, effective December 23, it would grant work authorization to all aliens released by Immigration and Customs and Enforcement. Included among the generously rewarded illegal aliens will be those who have arrived unlawfully since January 1, 2014, and had been previously identified for deportation. Convicted felons and fugitives are no exception.
Obama’s recent largess is an extension of his June unilateral decision to renew work permits for more than 500,000 aliens who first received them in 2012 as part of the president’s deferred action for childhood arrivals.
For any of the 92.9 million discouraged Americans not in the labor force but hoping to find a job, the Obama administration’s directives represent another formidable obstacle to their employment searches. BLS defines “not in the labor force” as persons 16 and older who are neither employed nor have looked for work during the previous four-week reporting period.
Despite the consistently bleak labor force participation rate, currently at a 36-year low of 62.7 percent, immigration advocates insist that Americans won’t do certain low-paying jobs and, therefore, an unlimited number of foreign-born workers should be allowed entry to fill the alleged void.
The latest nonsense comes from Maryland, and is possibly one of the most outrageous ideas immigration advocates have ever promoted. Maryland is lobbying to hire overseas bus drivers to help with what it claims is a summer shortage. What could possibly go wrong with hiring individuals who may not speak or read English proficiently enough to maneuver the rules of the road, probably have never driven in the U.S., and turning them loose into the vicious summer Beltway traffic?
In the unlikely event that Maryland can’t find enough American bus drivers, allow me to propose a better solution than issuing thousands of visas to foreign nationals who may never return home: Pay higher wages!
Please go to the CAPS Action Alert page here to sign the petition defending American workers.