Republicans Set to Battle on Legal Immigration
The business and populist wings of the Republican Party are set for a battle over the nation’s system of legal immigration, which could prove to be as divisive as the fight over illegal immigrants.
The debate turns on whether foreign workers are an engine of economic growth, as many businesses say, or create unfair competition for Americans. The question divides the party’s business wing from its surging populist branch. It’s similar to one within the party over free trade, with business interests supporting trade deals and populists now led by President-elect Donald Trump seeing many of them as harmful to American workers.
Business lobbyists and other backers of liberalized immigration laws are waiting to see whether the Trump administration uses executive actions to change the legal immigration system, and whether support remains in Congress for pro-immigration policies long pushed by agriculture, high-tech and other industry groups.
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The critics are now positioned in influential posts in the incoming administration. Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Mr. Trump’s pick for attorney general, has a long record of opposing additional immigration, arguing that new workers drive down wages. Breitbart News, the news and opinion website for which Trump adviser Steve Bannon was chairman, often gave a platform to opponents of increased legal immigration.
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In contrast, the party’s business interests, represented by leaders such as House Speaker Paul Ryan and former Speaker John Boehner, have backed higher visa totals. Business-oriented Republicans also favor expanding or streamlining programs for high-tech employees, a priority for Silicon Valley firms, and for workers in agriculture, the seafood industry and other fields. Most Democrats have been willing to go along, though labor unions have voiced concerns about the impact on U.S. workers.
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http://www.wsj.com/articles/republicans-set-to-battle-on-legal-immigration-1481578555