Republican presidential primary candidate Nikki Haley revives former President George W. Bush's so-called “willing worker” policy, which sought to import foreign workers for U.S. jobs at the direction of special interests. I'm letting you do it.
At a CNN town hall in Iowa, Haley supported allowing special interests like Big Agriculture, the tourism industry and Big Tech to set legal immigration levels whenever they claim labor shortages.
Already, the U.S. admits more than 1 million legal immigrants each year on green cards and another 1 million on temporary work visas, mostly blue-collar American jobs. This historically high level of legal immigration brought the nation's foreign-born population to a record 49.5 million.
In reality, Haley's plan would emulate Bush's “any willing worker” policy. I swore Import as many foreign workers as U.S. employers want, making the foreign labor market much more competitive for U.S. workers and the middle class.
“Presidents have always said, 'Set a quota.' This is how much we're going to take this year, and this is how much we're going to take next year. Instead, think about what our economy needs,” Haley said. he said.
I come from an agricultural state and a tourist state. Our farmers needed workers. We need to focus on businesses and see if they are having trouble finding workers. …When you do it based on merit, and that’s how we need to bring in people — based on merit, not just random assignments — then you build the economy, Support your business and you will ensure we can all grow together. [Emphasis added]
Dave asked me how we would secure the border. Hear my plan: pic.twitter.com/zQaXqgofus
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) January 5, 2024
Haley also said she would expedite naturalized U.S. citizenship for legal immigrants with green cards. Currently, legal immigrants must reside in the United States for 10 years on a green card before applying for citizenship. Haley said she plans to further strengthen this process.
“Our legal immigration system is completely broken… It shouldn't take 10 years to become a citizen, and we need to get smarter about how we do it,” Haley said.
Similarly, Haley signaled that she would support a plan to funnel foreign student visa holders into American jobs. The policy increases competition abroad for American graduates hoping to land coveted white-collar jobs, especially those in STEM fields.
“Think about it: We have students coming from overseas, we educate them, and then we send them back. I mean, it's crazy,” Haley said.
Haley has consistently said during her presidential campaign that she supports expanding legal immigration levels to support businesses rather than protecting American workers from increased foreign competition that lowers wages. .
However, his policy stance is far different from that of Republican voters.
According to the Rasmussen Report, which tracks Americans' opinions on immigration. 6/10 Republican Voters likely want to cut legal immigration into the U.S. by at least half and reduce green card admissions to less than 500,000 a year.
More than 4 in 10 swing voters want to reduce legal immigration to the United States by at least half, according to the survey.
Most distinctively, 63% of likely Republican voters said they would rather U.S. employers raise wages and hire Americans for side jobs in the workforce rather than have the federal government hire more foreign workers. They are arguing that it is better to provide better welfare benefits.
Meanwhile, 77% of likely Republican voters say the U.S. has enough talented and qualified people to take American jobs, but the U.S. Less than 15% said the number of legal immigrants should be increased.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
