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His talk of worker shortages undermines Trump's generally strong immigration stances
NumbersUSA ^ | Mar 5th 2016 | Roy Beck

Posted on 03/05/2016 6:01:11 PM PST by ConservingFreedom

NumbersUSA has announced to the media that we have downgraded Donald Trump on our Worker-Protection Immigration Grade Cards based on his statements in the last two debates that suggest the country has a labor shortage in a couple of categories that he indicates need foreign workers.

Since we began issuing the grades last spring, we have encouraged all of you to use them to push your favorite candidate(s) to improve their immigration positions.

For those of you who are Trump supporters, I urge you to use the information provided in this newsletter to push Trump to improve and to stop slipping on the issue that above all others catapulted him into the nomination lead.

ADMITS HE IS GOING "SOFT"

Trump acknowledged in Thursday night's Fox News debate that he has changed his position and now sides with Silicon Valley titans who claim America isn't producing enough high-tech workers.

Yet, there is no new evidence that anything has changed from previous reports that America has a glut of trained high-tech workers.

Fox's Megyn Kelly noted that his concern for Silicon Valley sounded at odds with his previous positions against businesses preferring foreign workers for high-skilled jobs.

"(KELLY) So you're abandoning the position on your website . . . "

"(TRUMP) I'm changing it, and I'm softening the position because we have to have talented people in this country. . . . People go to the best colleges. They'll go to Harvard, they'll go to Stanford. They'll go to Wharton. As soon as they're finished, they'll get shoved out. They want to stay in this country. They want to stay here desperately. They're not able to stay here. For that purpose, we absolutely have to be able to keep the brain power in this country."

After Thursday night's debate, the Trump campaign issued a statement to clarify that the candidate has not changed his position against H-1B temporary visas for high-tech workers.. Neither he nor the Fox moderator had referred specifically to the H-1B visas in their exchange in the debate.

But his comments about helping Silicon Valley were even worse than if they had been about temporary visas because he was referring to lifetime work permits to be given to foreign students as they graduate from U.S. universities.

Trump's debate comments were still unsettling Michelle Malkin and John Miano when Chris and I sat down with them Friday afternoon. They have written a powerful book, "Sold Out," that refutes almost everything that the Silicon Valley titans have claimed about their need for more foreign tech workers. Next week, we'll begin providing you video clips from our conversation.

APPEASING JOBLESSNESS AMONG YOUNGER LESS-EDUCATED AMERICANS

Trump also repeated his claim of last week's debate that there aren't enough Americans willing to do entry-level seasonal jobs in hotels and resorts, justifying visa programs that import low-skilled foreign workers even though less-educated younger Americans who would be most likely to fill such jobs have horrendous unemployment rates.

These seasonal jobs are exactly the kind of jobs needed by younger Americans who haven't been able to find a first-rung of the labor force ladder. Without the Band-Aid of foreign-worker programs, businesses would be forced to create effective recruitment channels into communities of extremely high non-workforce participation.

I'm not so much bothered that Trump's businesses legally use the foreign visa programs for hospitality workers as I am that he isn't pledging to curtail everybody's use of the programs for the good of the country.

THE LATEST CHANGES FROM OUR GRADING COMMITTEE

Our Grading Committee met Friday morning, as we have nearly every week since last May, and weighed all recent candidate statements.

After steadily rising from a "C" grade last spring to an "A-minus" grade, Trump has taken a step backwards to a "B+" with his statements about worker visas at the high and low end.

Ted Cruz has recently provided solid reinforcement of his positions that earned him a straight "A" grade as the candidate who favors immigration policies that would be the most helpful to struggling American workers and their families.

Our Committee raised Marco Rubio's grade from a "D" to a "D+".

We retained the worker-protection grades for John Kasich (D), Hillary Clinton (D-minus) and Bernie Sanders (F-minus).

TRUMP REMAINS 'GOOD' TO 'EXCELLENT' IN MOST CATEGORIES

Although Mr. Trump's latest immigration comments have been disconcerting, especially in last night's debate, we determined that they only affected one category ("protect against unfair work visa competition") of the ten immigration issues we rate.

Mr. Trump's overall positions still indicate a presidency that would be a huge improvement for American workers in terms of immigration policy. He continues to earn a VERY GOOD or EXCELLENT rating in six categories, a GOOD rating in one, a 1st STEPS in one, and he has no position on two categories (Chain Migration and the Visa Lottery).

Any waffling and flexibility on deportations and the wall by Mr. Trump had already been factored into our ratings long ago based on earlier ambiguous or conflicting statements. His overall positions on the "border" remain Very Good and on "interior enforcement" remain Excellent.

All ratings and grades for all remaining candidates can be found at: https://www.numbersusa.com/content/elections/races/presidential/2016-presidential-hopefuls.html


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Alabama; US: New York
KEYWORDS: alabama; amnestypimpsonfr; banalltrumpbashers; brokenrecord; concerntroll; concerntrollalert; concerntrolls; considerthesource; corporatewelfare; cruzerluzer; cruzerluzers; enoughalready; h1b; ibtz; ilovetowhine; inyourheadrentfree; jeffsessions; luzer; luzers; ntsa; presidentdonaldtrump; waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah; zotalltrumpbashers
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1 posted on 03/05/2016 6:01:11 PM PST by ConservingFreedom
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To: Parmenio; ColdOne; Yossarian; knittnmom; sf4dubya; Mr. Peabody; wally_bert; dowcaet; ...
H-1B ping. Let me know if you're not on the list and want to be added (or are and want to be removed).
2 posted on 03/05/2016 6:02:45 PM PST by ConservingFreedom (Trump fans:'he's no more conservative than Mitt'-www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3389209/posts)
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To: ConservingFreedom

A-Rated Raul Labrador.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2014/06/16/mccarthy-labrador-about-equal-on-supporting-amnesty/

A-Rated Pete Sessions who beat Trump Spox Katrina Pierson in primary

http://www.westernjournalism.com/gop-rep-pete-sessions-flips-amnesty-not-one-person-deported/

A-Rated Congressman Goodlatte & Cantor Ally

http://www.ibtimes.com/house-immigration-reform-2013-goodlatte-cantor-working-give-legal-status-kids-1343971

A-Rated Marsha Blackburn:

http://www.mofopolitics.com/2013/11/04/la-raza-spokesbimbo-marsha-blackburn-supports-amnesty/


3 posted on 03/05/2016 6:04:16 PM PST by ObamahatesPACoal ( REINCE PRIEBUS: Yeah, but no...you google Ted Cruz ... and immigration...Those are his words,)
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To: ConservingFreedom

Well there you have it. We had better elect an establishment politick to save us. What else can you say about it ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fh-4luSBJc


4 posted on 03/05/2016 6:07:07 PM PST by soycd
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To: ConservingFreedom

Doesn’t matter 90% of his maintenance will be done by robots in 10 years.


5 posted on 03/05/2016 6:09:00 PM PST by big bad easter bunny
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To: ConservingFreedom

We need to look at what is keeping our local yokels from becoming IT experts well enough to not fade behind, or even not be able to leverage, H1B services.

A lot of the problem is something that STEM can’t address because it is a liberal arts kind of problem: general pessimism.

I work behind “enemy lines” (in scare quotes because H1B makes many things possible that wouldn’t be possible at all under current circumstances). I’m the cowboy in an office of thirty-odd Indians, so to speak, and we all get along fine. But their secret weapon is being open to optimism. I’ve been using that riff as a basis for sharing gospel with them, and they’ve been listening intently. There’s a point which pride can’t get you beyond, a point at which even karma fails to motivate. This is the point where grace begins to speak.

OK so why am I arming the enemy? Well actually no man should be our enemy. Our enemy is the demons of hell who hate everyone, no matter what color or creed.

Christians need to get serious about Christianity again. We can’t count on our Caesar to keep up that drumbeat at this point. We have to do it ourselves before the Lord in our churches and our personal interactions, or it just plain does not happen.


6 posted on 03/05/2016 6:11:02 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: soycd

Why can’t we elect Cruz instead who is a hard core constitutionalist?

Trump is not the only viable candidate. I’m very concerned that once elected Trump will go to the mushy middle - or worse with his SC nominations.

I could be wrong. But his history, and his immature behavior, tell me otherwise.


7 posted on 03/05/2016 6:18:22 PM PST by TheTimeOfMan (Three Percenter - Cruz/West)
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To: TheTimeOfMan

If he keeps faithful to his stated task of assembling a populist following, Trump will probably do okay.

His recipe is not a conventional looking recipe. He’s like the guy who says he can make Kentucky Fried Chicken using cornflakes and salt and pepper... and then produces a dead ringer for it. Then at the taste test, he says “you guys were making it too complicated.”


8 posted on 03/05/2016 6:22:15 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: ObamahatesPACoal
A-Rated Raul Labrador.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2014/06/16/mccarthy-labrador-about-equal-on-supporting-amnesty/

As your link says, he got a C+ at the time (since then he's felt the heat and voted right). No indictment of NumbersUSA there.

9 posted on 03/05/2016 6:23:55 PM PST by ConservingFreedom (Trump fans:'he's no more conservative than Mitt'-www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3389209/posts)
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To: TheTimeOfMan
I'm very concerned that once elected Trump will go to the mushy middle

He's already going there.

10 posted on 03/05/2016 6:26:59 PM PST by ConservingFreedom (Trump fans:'he's no more conservative than Mitt'-www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3389209/posts)
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To: TheTimeOfMan

We got to remember what made the Constitution great.

And frankly, it was a very good (though not perfect) spirituality. It had flaws, and some of them pretty bad (like that which enabled race-based chattel slavery, which is something the Lord never advocated in the bible). It took a civil war and much ongoing grief to atone for that one.

So has that recipe gone away permanently? Well no more permanently than the Ten Commandments were gone after Moses smashed the first tablets.


11 posted on 03/05/2016 6:28:21 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: ConservingFreedom

The mushy middle? That is where the people saying “mush!” are.

The ones further to the right, JUST AS I FEARED AND PREDICTED MONTHS AGO, have refrained from playing ball with Donald. With a few bright exceptions such as Jeff Sessions.

Donald’s methodology is rewarding the people who step up to try to do something constructive, as they see it.


12 posted on 03/05/2016 6:30:22 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: ConservingFreedom

Ive listened to about 5 or 10 interviews with him all over the place. He is 90% Rubio in his talk.


13 posted on 03/05/2016 6:30:57 PM PST by ObamahatesPACoal ( REINCE PRIEBUS: Yeah, but no...you google Ted Cruz ... and immigration...Those are his words,)
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To: ObamahatesPACoal
Recently he hasn't been voting that way - and for congressmen the NumbersUSA ratings are based on votes.
14 posted on 03/05/2016 6:35:09 PM PST by ConservingFreedom (Trump fans:'he's no more conservative than Mitt'-www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3389209/posts)
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To: ConservingFreedom

There are no worker shortages.


15 posted on 03/05/2016 6:38:27 PM PST by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

We have our esteemed corrupt leaders inviting H1Bs into the USA to take STEM jobs from Americans, not because they are better, but because they are cheaper. These same sold out Americans are then stuck paying their debt off to an overpaid academia while our traitors in DC sell or STEM workers out. This is a recipe for a declining USA.

We have permitted our nation to be hijacked by traitors who put the USA 2nd, third, or 4th instead of first.


16 posted on 03/05/2016 6:41:16 PM PST by apoliticalone (Political correctness should be defined as news media that exposes political corruption)
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To: ObamahatesPACoal

Well that is the Donald. T rumpster is fun to watch. Depending on the day and the hour, he has a position on any issue, wait no more than an hour and he has another position of the issue.

One day he is going to get savagely beat over the head for his 14 different stated positions on any given issue.

I am amused by the Rumpster and of course will vote for him as the party nominee. Once the public gets focused on his evolving and often incorrect factually answers, he is going to go down in flames. He is a carnival barker, fooling a great number of folks, but no more a con man than the repub party for these many decades. So I guess the two are a good fit for one another. Entertaining, amusing, kinda dumb and ill informed on nearly everything, I guess he will be my guy come November!


17 posted on 03/05/2016 6:42:20 PM PST by whistleduck ("....the calm confidence of a Christian with 4 aces".....S.)
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To: ConservingFreedom

I’m not surprised Trump lies about his positions. It works. But you really wonder what is going through the minds of his supporters. His flip flops make Romney look like a consistent conservative.


18 posted on 03/05/2016 6:42:57 PM PST by Brilliant
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To: apoliticalone

They probably are cheaper, though I’ve never nosed into what kind of pay my colleagues get.

The onshore ones probably get paid pretty much par with the locals that appeal to them (which are rare, such as myself). The offshore ones get paid less, as they only need to live in India. And where I am? Could be better, but could be worse too. It keeps me in comfortable quarters and I’m able to help out others as well.

Like I said... US citizens have a pessimism problem. Which they never had to have. I can see this from the inside. From an economic point of view yes I am probably being a traitor by giving them something even better than the spotty Hindu theology to work with (and that has its heroic areas from time to time, but then descends back into the gloom of only getting what you deserve, which in our heart of hearts we know is God’s anger). But from a spiritual point of view? I’m winning friends. They’re starting to listen to my ideas about the parent company, which imports tractors from India, opening up assembly plants in the USA. Could be a net gain for all.


19 posted on 03/05/2016 6:48:09 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: Brilliant

You wish. Trump keeps on doing what he said he would do.


20 posted on 03/05/2016 6:48:49 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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