Mass Unemployment in U.S. Once Eased by Immigration Pause

Between 1920 to 1928, legal immigration admissions floated between 300,000 to more than 805,000 annually. In 1929, legal immigration admissions dipped into free fall with less than 280,000 admissions — the lowest annual level of immigration since 1919, when only about 141,000 legal immigrants were admitted to the U.S.

While the Great Depression left millions unemployed, between the late 1920s and through the 1930s, legal immigration levels went from 241,700 admissions in 1930 to century-low of 23,068 admissions in 1933 — the lowest annual level of immigration to the U.S. since 1831, when about 22,000 legal immigrants arrived.

For nearly 15 years, between 1931 and 1945, the U.S. stabilized its legal immigration admissions below 100,000 a year. By 1946, the U.S. had started admitting about 108,000 legal immigrants, and for the next 20 years, from 1947 to 196, annual admissions did not exceed 400,000.

In fact, legal immigration during those 20 years stayed mostly below 330,000 annual admissions and did not tick up to more than 360,000 admissions until 1967 — two years after the Hart-Celler Immigration Act of 1965 was signed into law by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Since Johnson Hart-Celler, and President George H.W. Bush’s expansion of immigration in the 1990s, U.S. legal immigration admissions have averaged more than a million a year. Not since 1987 have annual legal immigration admissions dipped below 600,000, and 2013 was the last year annual admissions dropped below a million.

Polls and surveys have exhibited a longing for less immigration. The latest Harvard/Harris Poll found that about five-in-six Americans, or 83 percent, want to end all immigration from Mexico — one of the largest immigration-sending countries.

Rasmussen Reports releases weekly surveys on immigration issues. The latest findings, a survey conducted March 29 to April 2 of 1,250 likely voters, reveals decreasing overall immigration remains more popular among Americans than increasing or keeping immigration levels the same.

For example, a 47 percent plurality of Americans want legal immigration cut — including 32 percent who want less than 500,000 annual admissions. Working class Americans with no college education, those most likely to be forced to compete against foreign workers, are the most supportive of cutting annual legal immigration admissions down to below half a million.

The Rasmussen survey also finds that more than six-in-ten Americans say it is better that businesses raise wages to recruit American workers than to import foreign workers. Another 57 percent of Americans say the country already has enough talented people to take high-salary white-collar jobs and does not need more so-called “high-skilled” foreign workers.

---

CNN’s Ana Navarro Busted for Falsely Claiming NYC Bomber Was Targeting Mamdani Just Hours Before Abby Phillips Apologized for Making the Same Mistake

---

Op-Ed: Trump and Clinton’s Similarities are Glaring, Why Do Dems See Them So Differently?

---

GOP billionaire trying to woo Trump’s support in key Georgia race bankrolled his 2024 presidential rivals

---

Nancy Pelosi endorses former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn in second congressional bid

---

Watch: Hilarious Video of Bill Clinton Pushing Hillary Clinton Into Busy Intersection

---

At least 15 senior CBP employees were pushed out under Noem: Sources

---

Alabama teen comes to mother’s aid, knocks out stepfather during alleged strangulation attempt

---

Dr Oz helps older woman who collapsed during Trump’s speech at Kentucky event

---

Ax-wielding suspect subdued by teen military recruit’s MMA takedown in car wash clash caught on video

---

‘Unprecedented’ agreement releases emergency oil reserves as gas prices spark concerns

---

House Oversight Committee demands depositions from Bondi and Lutnick in Epstein probe

---

Dem lawmaker disputes police bodycam amid reports he said he was above the law: ‘On top’ or ‘on time’

---

Bipartisan housing push advances, but Trump-backed investor ban faces resistance

---

Trump administration puts key Biden-era immigration policy on notice: ‘Unsustainable cycle’

---

Newsom knocked for ‘insane’ California gas prices after blaming Trump for rising costs

---

See also  Lindsey Graham’s war rhetoric complicates Trump’s push to calm MAGA base

Currently, the State Department has halted routine visa services at its embassies and consulates overseas. The agency, though, has said their goal is to return to standard visa services “as soon as possible,” but are unable to provide a specific date at this time.”

Despite mass unemployment, annual legal immigration admissions are expected to continue hovering around more than a million in 2020, unless President Trump’s administration executively halts most immigration to keep Americans from competing for scarce work against foreign nationals.

In June 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed the president’s control over legal immigration. In Trump v. Hawaii, the court stated that presidents have extraordinarily broad discretion to admit or exclude foreign nationals from the U.S. when they believe doing so is in the national interest.

Story cited here.

Share this article:

Facebook

Twitter