American workers

The Trump administration has an historic opportunity to find out, once and forever, if Silicon Valley employers are truly dependent on imported foreign labor.

The 2020 lottery that will grant 85,000 new H-1B visas is over and done. But imagine that President Trump did the right thing, and announced that allowing 85,000 new workers into the U.S. during this period of rising unemployment (which the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank predicted may exceed 32 percent) is against the best interests of the U.S. President Trump could add, truthfully, that to allow 85,000 overseas workers into the U.S. as the coronavirus rages on would unnecessarily expose them to dangerous and possibly fatal health risks.

Although immigration advocates would oppose visa restrictions even though unemployment and health crises grow greater daily, they would look foolish and self-serving. The Indian lobby, nevertheless, has taken the extraordinary step of asking a federal judge to commandeer immigration-making decisions from President Trump and suspend the routine visa deadlines for about 2 million workers.