Congressman To DHS Secretary: Why Don’t You Care About American Workers? Jeh Johnson: Because I Don’t
[guest post by Dana]
This week, in a hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, looking ever so put out, was grilled by PA Congressman Lou Barletta about the impact the president’s executive action on amnesty will have on the American worker:
“Some people say that our economic security is national security,” Barletta said to Johnson. “Nearly 20 million Americans woke up this morning either unemployed or underemployed. The president didn’t mention these Americans when he announced his plan to grant de facto amnesty and work permits to up to 5 million illegal immigrants.
In response to the problem, Barletta has introduced the Defense of Legal Workers Act (H.R. 5761), which clarifies that illegal immigrants granted amnesty by executive action cannot be issued work permits. In the committee hearing, Johnson indicated that the Obama Administration’s plan was to encourage illegal immigrants to come out of the shadows and seek to have their deportation deferred under the amnesty program, which would also grant them work authorization.
“But how does that make it easier for the American worker?” Barletta asked. “We keep talking about the illegal immigrant. Here we go again, talking about the illegal immigrant and how we can make it easier for them. How does this help the American worker who can’t find work and can’t provide for his family? Who’s fighting for them? Why don’t we talk about the American worker and what this will do to them, not what it will do for the illegal immigrant?”
Johnson claimed that introducing millions of newly-legalized workers would not impact Americans who are currently seeking work.
“The question of U.S. jobs, American jobs, is, in my view, a separate issue,” Johnson said.“So adding 5 million more competitors for these jobs will make it easier?” Barletta asked.
“The estimate is that the potential class is up to 4 million,” Johnson said. “Not all of those will apply. The goal is to encourage these people, who are now working off the books (and we do have undocumented immigrants in this country working off the books), to get on the books, pay taxes into the federal treasury pursuant to a work authorization. The assessment is that that will not impinge upon American jobs with American workers.”
Further, when discussing how he knew that the president’s executive amnesty was legal, Johnson explained: Because I’m a lawyer. He went on to add that because of this assurance as a lawyer , he is “fully comfortable” with the action.
In the meantime, we learn that one day after the executive amnesty was announced, the Obama administration posted 1,000 job openings for DHS:
Homeland Security officials wasted little time in ramping up for President Obama’s amnesty, posting 1,000 job openings the day after his announcement and announcing it already has space for hundreds of employees at a new space in Arlington, Virginia — an indication that it had laid its plans well before Mr. Obama said.
And even though Mr. Obama said his policy is temporary, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is hiring the employees for permanent positions, at salaries of up to $157,000 a year, according to the job postings listed on the official federal jobs website.
“USCIS is taking steps to open a new operational center in Crystal City, a neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia, to accommodate about 1,000 full-time, permanent federal and contract employees in a variety of positions and grade levels,” the agency said in an internal email to employees on Monday. “The initial workload will include cases filed as a result of the executive actions on immigration announced on Nov. 20, 2014.”
–Dana
Hello.
Dana (8e74ce) — 12/3/2014 @ 9:02 pmthis is what treason looks like.
redc1c4 (589173) — 12/3/2014 @ 9:34 pmBecause I’m a lawyer
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 12/3/2014 @ 9:54 pmumm, his area is Homeland Security Dept not the Labor Dept. So why his opinion is even being asked is just for sake of political argument and he replied in kind.
When do the States lawsuits get heard? The GOP hierarchy is supportive of the action.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/393815/sessions-house-gop-verge-breaking-2014-campaign-promises-joel-gehrke
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/texas-17-states-lawsuit-obama-immigration
seeRpea (2a32aa) — 12/3/2014 @ 9:57 pmAnd even though Mr. Obama said his policy is temporary, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is hiring the employees for permanent positions, at salaries of up to $157,000 a year, according to the job postings listed on the official federal jobs website.
Maybe what it’s going to take is for us right-wingers to move to Virginia and take these jobs. We can then sabotage the system from within: screw up on processing green cards for former illegal immigrants, “accidentally” double or triple charge them, selectively prosecute businesses who we think are pushing for amnesty, etc. I mean the left has been engaging in this behavior ever since FDR decided that a bunch of communist-sympathizer academics would lead us out of the depression; why don’t we step up to the plate and do our patriotic duty for $157,000 per year?
JVW (60ca93) — 12/3/2014 @ 10:40 pmJEH?????? Jeh Johnson is just another CLOWN HACK. He’s about as smart as a BALL PEEN HAMMER, and less useful. This is what Low Info America has become. Pelosi is smart, Sebellius is HONEST, 2 rogue AGENTS in Cincinnati!! Fast and Furious, Benghazi, Lois Lerner, Police acting STUPIDLY, Obamacare and the Pork-u-lus bill. Shovel ready jobs, the RECOVERY SUMMER.
Gus (7cc192) — 12/3/2014 @ 10:50 pmSee a pattern developing yet? Obama is a useless clown.
I can make an argument that illegals depress wages and that changing their status to legal will make them less likely to take jobs for crap wages. Not sure I believe it, but it is a defensible position.
Kevin M (d91a9f) — 12/3/2014 @ 11:00 pmThe real crime is that federal employees make to damn much money.
Kevin M (d91a9f) — 12/3/2014 @ 11:01 pm*too
Kevin M (d91a9f) — 12/3/2014 @ 11:02 pmWhere did they get the money to cover 1000 new employees and buildings – misapropriation of funds.
Davod (b656c4) — 12/4/2014 @ 8:32 amJVW, I totally agree. We need people to sign up and expose the truth.
The number one reason these positions are permanent is because then the unions can extract mandatory dues and turn the money over to the Dems for their campaigns. It’s a conveyor belt of money. Taxpayer money. Obama is larding up the unions to ensure funding for the future.
Patricia (5fc097) — 12/4/2014 @ 8:48 amAnd Kevin, I can’t figure out why the Chamber of Commerce wants amnesty either, except that more workers depress wages for everyone. But when minimum wage is so high, what’s the long term gain? Will they just encourage another five million illegals to come in again?
Patricia (5fc097) — 12/4/2014 @ 8:50 amI think a comment of mine just got et by the spam queue.
The Dana in the spam queue (f6a568) — 12/4/2014 @ 10:45 amWell, I guess you wouldn’t expect a person trained as a lawyer to know economics. All he knos is what economists say.
Congressman Lou Barletta should talk to the Congressional Budget Office – and he can search high and low among economists to find someone who disagrees, and they’ll also say:
Of course this is one of those things, as the joke about the Marxist professors goes, that works in practice, but the question they have is, how does it work in theory??
This is not a very surprising question for a member of Congress to ask, because they are always counting jobs up individuall, and using this to justify bits of legislation that are supposzed to “create jobs”
But the truth is, there are as many jobs as there are people looking for them who are capable of doing them and not discriminated against in hiring.
To say anything else is to subscribe to the lump of labor theory.
Sammy Finkelman (7e7e58) — 12/4/2014 @ 12:30 pmIf they can’t legally work they’ll be added to the welfare rolls. That has got to be worse.
Georganne (e37667) — 12/4/2014 @ 12:31 pmAnd you want to know something else?
Congress can’t defund that.
CIS is funded by user fees, and not appropriations.
http://thehill.com/policy/finance/224837-appropriations-panel-defunding-immigration-order-impossible
Congress wanted it that way. They wanted the foreigners to pay for all of that.
So they are.
Now they are hoist by their own petard.
The fact that some people are talking about defunding Obama’s exective action just sows you how much ignorance there is on this subject.
Note: Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) say that no, there’s probably still a way to do it. They’d have to withdraw the authorization too. But that might require 60 votes in the Senate to pass.
Sammy Finkelman (7e7e58) — 12/4/2014 @ 12:39 pm15. Georganne (e37667) — 12/4/2014 @ 12:31 pm
That’s not true.
Welfare, food stamps, Medicaid etc have their own qualifications, and I think recent immigrants are not eligible for that, unless they are admitted as refugees. Obama maybe could do things to make them eligible for various government programs, but he hasn’t. (Now the same thing is not true for New York State. Under a court order, anyone legally in this country is eligible for Medicaid, but Obama will not give the 50% share of the federal government for this. Of course there’s enormous waste in New York’s Medicaid program.)
Sammy Finkelman (7e7e58) — 12/4/2014 @ 12:47 pmAnyway they can’t stop CIS from issuing documents by excluding that from appropriations.
They’d have to change some parts of basic immigration law.
That fact alone, will push the blame for any shutdown on Republicans, because the only way they could attempt to force Democrats to vote for this is to refuse to fund the government, or part of the government, otherwise.
And if they defund Homeland Security, things they want like “border security” gets unfunded, but not this. This goes on.
Maybe not checkmate, but the case for doing whatever has to be made on the merits, and attempting anything on this has the effect of making being anti-immigration and anti-immigrants (which will be characterized as anti-Hispanic of course, when it is merely idiocy) the most important issue for the Republican Party, which is exactly what the Democrats (read the Hillary Clinton campaign) wants.
Jonah Goldberg said the Republican Party has to be careful about overreaction. No, they have to be careful about having any reaction at all.
Sammy Finkelman (7e7e58) — 12/4/2014 @ 12:56 pm“Congress can’t defund that.
CIS is funded by user fees, and not appropriations.”
Sammy – The Congressional Research Service apparently corrected that train of thought in a memo to Sen. Jeff Session and confirm they can defund it. You must have missed it.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/11/25/Exclusive-Congressional-Research-Service-Congress-Has-Power-To-Block-Funding-For-Obamas
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 12/4/2014 @ 1:06 pm@sammyfinkelman
I’m sure you are right. That was just my visceral reaction.
Georganne (e37667) — 12/4/2014 @ 1:51 pmSammy, Sammy, Sammy. The fact that fees are collected does not mean the revenue automaticcly goes to the agency collecting the funds. Congress has to set the budget for the agency.
Davod (b656c4) — 12/4/2014 @ 1:55 pm“Congress can’t defund that.
CIS is funded by user fees, and not appropriations.”
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 12/4/2014 @ 1:06 pm
I think the situation is like this:
Congress can’t passively defund it.
If no appropriation bill that includes Homeland Security passes, it remains funded, but a loot of other things Homeland security does do not.
Shutting down the government, or passing no appropriation for Homeland Security doesn’t stop any of this. This changes the dynamics.
Sammy Finkelman (7e7e58) — 12/5/2014 @ 7:54 am90% of the Treasuries record tax receipts are devoted to entitlements and maintenance of the debt. Oh, and not quite a sixth of that debt is owed to the SS lockbox.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-05/treasury-yield-curve-flattens-dramatically-below-lehman-levels
As the curve flattens government is untenable.
DNF (3b2963) — 12/5/2014 @ 11:49 am