According to Just the News, “Democrats are coming under fire on two fronts for immigration and minimum wage plans that critics say will hurt the poorest Americans the most. . . .

The Democrats released a plan this week to create a path to citizenship for roughly 11 million immigrants now living illegally in the U.S. The plan will hurt poorer Americans with its depressing effect on wages for U.S. citizens and legal immigrants, according to Joseph LaVorgna, chief economist at the National Economic Council during the Trump administration.

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The Democrats’ plan would allow more immigrant labor from low-skilled workers, creating more competition for those low-skilled jobs, which in turn lowers the price employers are willing to pay, explained LaVorgna. . . .

In 2010, under the Obama administration, the U.S. Civil Rights Commission released a report called “The Impact of Illegal Immigration on the Wages and Employment Opportunities of Black Workers.”

Among its findings, the commission reported that “illegal workers are estimated to account for as much as one-third of total immigrants in the United States, and that illegal immigration has tended to increase the supply of low-skilled, low-wage labor available.”

About “six in 10 adult black males have a high school diploma or less, and are disproportionately employed in the low-skilled labor market in likely competition with immigrants,” the commission found. “Evidence for negative effects of such competition ranged from modest to significant, according to the experts who testified, but even those experts who viewed the effects as modest overall found significant effects in occupations such as meatpacking and construction.” . . .

LaVorgna said a better alternative to a plan that rewards illegal immigration would be to follow immigration criteria seen in places like Europe and Canada, which place more weight on skills rather than, for example, family ties. “But unfortunately, the politics and the divisiveness sometimes gets in the way,” he lamented, speculating that the Democrats’ approach to the issue “has less to do with what good policy is, [and is] more about who who can we get on our side to push something through so as to remain in power.”

Democrats are also coming under fire for their plan to hike the minimum wage gradually to $15 an hour over five years, a proposal tucked into the $1.9 trillion Biden stimulus plan. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the proposal would result in the loss of 1.4 million jobs (for workers more likely to be poor and nonwhite, according to University of California, Irvine economist David Neumark) and price hikes of goods for poorer Americans as companies pass their increased costs on to consumers.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the first black Republican U.S. Senator elected in the South since Reconstruction, speaks often about growing up in an impoverished home, raised by a single mother, yet was able to achieve great career success through work and dedication.   . . .

The White House press office did not respond to a request for comment for this article.

Harris Won’t Overrule Senate Parliamentarian on Minimum Wage, White House Chief of Staff Says

According to The Epoch Times, “Vice President Kamala Harris will not attempt to overrule the Senate parliamentarian if she rules that a federal minimum wage increase cannot be enacted through a process known as budget reconciliation, according to White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain. . . .

Democrats are pushing through President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package using the budget reconciliation method, which requires 50 votes to pass, instead of the 60 votes necessary to break a legislative filibuster.

The package includes a federal minimum wage increase to $15 per hour, which the Congressional Budget Office has estimated will result in the loss of 1.3 million jobs. . . .

Even if the minimum wage is not stripped from the bill, Democrats may have to amend the bill to get to 50 votes. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) opposes the $15 minimum and has said he will back an amendment to change the amount to $11 per hour. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) has also expressed concern about the wage provision, specifically because it does not appear to be a budget item eligible for reconciliation. . . .

The bill features the first expansion of Obamacare in a decade and a refundable child tax credit that would amount to a monthly cash payment to families who do not owe taxes.

According to the Committee for Responsible Federal Budget, nearly half of the stimulus package has been diverted to issues unrelated to the pandemic of the CCP (Chinese Community Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. House Republicans, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), have said that only 9 percent of the stimulus bill is targeted at CCP virus relief.

What do you think of the effects that changing the minimum wage would bring? Share in the comment below. . .

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