Maddy Joseph is a student at Harvard Law School.
This week, President Trump endorsed legislation that would halve legal immigration to the United States in the next decade, by drastically reducing the number of immigrants admitted because of family ties. Although the number admitted based on jobs skills would remain steady at around 140,000, the legislation would award merit-based green cards using a points system that looks at education, job offers, and “entrepreneurial initiative,” among other factors.
Trump, his Labor Secretary, and the legislation’s Senate sponsors claimed the changes were needed in part to stop immigrant workers from taking American workers’ jobs and lowering American workers’ wages. But economists question whether reducing immigration leads to more or higher-paying jobs. As the New York Times puts it:
“[E]conomists say . . . that there is no clear connection between less immigration and more jobs for Americans. Rather, the prevailing view among economists is that immigration increases economic growth, improving the lives of the immigrants and the lives of the people who are already here.”
Workers at a Mississippi Nissan plant continue to vote today on whether to unionize. The organizing campaign at the plant, where the majority of workers are African-American, began in 2012, and, as the New York Times characterizes it, has “bitterly divided” workers along racial and other lines. It has also elicited intense opposition from Nissan. As we’ve previously noted, the Mississippi plant is one of the few Nissan plants worldwide where workers are not unionized. Last Friday, the NLRB issued a complaint against the company, which included the charge that Nissan had illegally told workers that the plant might close if they voted to unionize. The voting ends today.
The Senate voted 50-48 to put Trump nominee Marvin Kaplan on the NLRB. With Kaplan’s confirmation, the Board becomes evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans.
Daily News & Commentary
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June 23
Supreme Court interprets ADA; Department of Labor effectively kills Biden-era regulation; NYC announces new wages for rideshare drivers.
June 22
California lawmakers challenge Garmon preemption in the absence of an NLRB quorum and Utah organizers successfully secure a ballot referendum to overturn HB 267.
June 20
Three state bills challenge Garmon preemption; Wisconsin passes a bill establishing portable benefits for gig workers; and a sharp increase in workplace ICE raids contribute to a nationwide labor shortage.
June 19
Report finds retaliatory action by UAW President; Senators question Trump's EEOC pick; California considers new bill to address federal labor law failures.
June 18
Companies dispute NLRB regional directors' authority to make rulings while the Board lacks a quorum; the Department of Justice loses 4,500 employees to the Trump Administration's buyout offers; and a judge dismisses Columbia faculty's lawsuit over the institution's funding cuts.
June 17
NLRB finds a reporter's online criticism of the Washington Post was not protected activity under federal labor law; top union leaders leave the Democratic National Committee amid internal strife; Uber reaches a labor peace agreement with Chicago drivers.