President Trump's Proclamation on Legal Immigration

 

On April 22, 2020, President Trump issued a proclamation suspending legal immigration to the United States. Several studies in this issue call into question both the wisdom and legality of the President's action. According to Michelle Waslin in the Journal on Migration and Human Security, Trump's use of executive orders and proclamations to change immigrant policy, and in effect sidestep Congress, raises serious constitutional questions. The fact that the order aligns closely with Trump's legislative priorities, e.g. eliminating diversity visas and curtailing family migration, suggests an end-run strategy around Congress, rather than a concern for the welfare of  "American" workers. Even the jobs rationale doesn't stand up to scrutiny. In the past, we have highlighted numerous studies pointing to the crucial role played by immigrant workers, both as entrepreneurs creating jobs for other Americans and in filling important niches in the economy. The country would be in dire straights today without the contributions of immigrant doctors, nurses, and other essential workers (see the collection of articles below detailing the vital role played by immigrants in keeping Americans healthy during the pandemic). Moreover, as we learn from the Stanford study on Mexican workers featured this month, efforts to expel immigrant workers from the U.S. during the Great Depression actually backfired, eliminating "American" jobs rather than creating them, because of the "complementarity" of immigrant labor. Many economists have suggested that immigration may be "the secret sauce" of the American economy, as Geoffrey Garrett, Dean of the Wharton School put it. The present crisis may necessitate a careful review of U.S. immigration policy, but by setting up a dichotomy between immigrants and "our GREAT American citizens," the president may be sowing seeds of division and acrimony that may hurt the country for years to come.