The Biden administration is looking to employ more migrants in the coming year to help bolster the economy, but a Republican lawmaker suggested President Biden look at hiring another group of people first: Americans.
While unemployment continues to fall in the post-pandemic months, millions of Americans remain unemployed and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, took to Twitter Tuesday to call on President Biden and senior administration officials to consider first putting them to work.
‘Why not just hire AMERICANS looking for jobs?’ the Ohio Republican asked in a tweet, responding to a report of the Biden administration’s new plan.
On Tuesday, Axios reported President Biden was looking to tackle immigration reform in the coming year, and to negotiate with a Republican majority in the House of Representatives.
His plan, according to the report, will include the hiring of more so-called ‘Dreamers,’ or ‘lawfully present’ recipients of the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program or Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.
These people are eligible for work authorization in the U.S. as they wait for permanent residency.
According to the report, the Biden administration is looking to tackle two problems with one solution: As up to 14,000 migrants are expected to cross the border daily when Title 42 ends, the Biden administration is looking to get them into the workforce to lower inflation.
Immigration reform is ‘harder in the divided Congress, but it’s so clearly necessary in light of what we’re seeing in the job market,’ Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement to Axios. ‘The thing that’s underpinning inflation still — that’s driving inflation still — is this tight labor market.’
‘Immigration is a lever,’ she added. ‘We’re down a million immigrants a year. That’s a workforce that we need.’
The upcoming Speaker of the House, likely Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., will determine the legislative agenda and will be responsible for taking up immigration reform — or not.
Title 42 is set to expire on Wednesday, Dec. 21.
