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May 29, 2020 15 tweets 12 min read Read on X
1/ THREAD and ALERT on OPT! This morning, members of the @HouseGOP received an email from @FAIRImmigration, pressuring members not to support the continuation of the #OPT program. Image
2/ In @FAIRImmigration‘s email on OPT to the @HouseGOP, they threaten: “If your boss signs on, we will highlight this accordingly to our members. Further, all signatories can expect the attention of conservative media.” They link to this clip:
3/ This @TuckerCarlson clip attacks nine prominent GOP senators who urged the president not to restrict visas that can help the economic recovery…
4/ ... including many senior Republicans, such as the chair of @senjudiciary—which has jurisdiction on immigration issues—and members of Senate leadership.
5/ Stalwart conservative Senators @LindseyGrahamSC, @JohnCornyn, @SenatorLankford, @MikeCrapo, @SenDanSullivan, @SenatorRisch, @SenToddYoung, @lisamurkowski, and @SenatorRounds understand the critical importance of immigrants in our economic recovery.
6/ @FAIRImmigration’s critiques of the OPT program don’t hold up to scrutiny and deserve to be challenged. A review of research that highlights the case for the OPT program:
7/ According to @FAIRImmigration, OPT recipients take jobs that would otherwise go to unemployed young professionals as our economy recovers. They’re wrong—OPT benefits Americans and will help speed up the economic recovery.
8/ .@FAIRImmigration claims that companies hire OPT students to avoid payroll taxes. BUT (as Niskanen explains in an amicus brief) economists believe that employer share of payroll contribution is passed on to their employees out of gross compensation. niskanencenter.org/wp-content/upl…
9/ So there's no tax incentive to hire OPT participants over natives. With the many costs to hiring OPT participants—limited duration, uncertainty, costs to retain them, etc.—it’s no surprise that research finds NO evidence of OPT displacing natives. niskanencenter.org/optional-pract…
10/ OPT benefits U.S. workers. It leads to higher average earnings for Americans, without costing U.S. workers their jobs or decreasing U.S. worker wages. And it increases innovation in the U.S. niskanencenter.org/wp-content/upl… ImageImage
11/ A @NFAPResearch March 2019 study (focused on STEM employment) found NO EVIDENCE that OPT participation reduces job opportunities for U.S. workers and recent college graduates. #OPT nfap.com/wp-content/upl…
12/ A December 2018 report by @BizRoundtable illustrated SIGNIFICANT NEGATIVE EFFECTS on the U.S. economy if OPT were scaled back or curtailed, including job losses impacting U.S. workers. businessroundtable.org/policy-perspec…
13/ According to @NAFSA, foreign students and their families contributed nearly $41 billion dollars and more than 458,000 jobs to the U.S. economy during the 2018-2019 academic year, making international education the fifth-largest U.S. services export. nafsa.org/economicvalue
14/14 @RepSteveStivers and his colleagues deserve credit for standing tall to protect #OPT, thereby expediting America’s economic recovery. @fair is peddling bad economics and partisan politics. This will hinder U.S. growth. #Standwithfactsnotfear. fwd.us/news/protectin…

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More from @NiskanenCenter

May 9
New apartment buildings in U.S. all look really similar to each other.

One reason: U.S. regulations dictate an oddly-specific layout that's hostile to families and limits light/ventilation.

THREAD:
Image
Image
In most U.S. cities, building code requires multiple exit stairways accessible from each apartment for buildings over 3 stories tall.

It's all done in the name of fire safety. But the restrictions don't really advance fire safety.
Enter the double-loaded corridor layout.

Long, windowless corridors slice through the middle of deep floor plates.

Non-corner units only have windows on one side, opposite the entry door—favoring studios and one-bedroom layouts. Image
Read 8 tweets
Feb 20
.@heritage publishes regular iterations of its “Mandate for Leadership” with an agenda for the next Republican administration. The prior Trump admin implemented nearly 64% of its recommendations in its 1st year.

Here’s what’s in the 2025 edition: niskanencenter.org/project-2025-u…
First, the Mandate would effectively close many avenues of legal immigration by:
❌Halting H2 visa programs
❌Closing the H-1B visa program to most recent grads
❌Leveraging entire visa categories as collateral in foreign policy negotiations
It would sabotage U.S. humanitarian relief by:
❌Repealing all TPS designations, stripping almost 700,000 of legal protection + work authorization.
❌Forbidding use of DHS staff time on DACA, Uniting for Ukraine, etc.
❌Prohibiting refugee vetting, ending refugee resettlement.
Read 14 tweets
Apr 6, 2023
NEW PAPER: Manufactured housing is an affordable option in rural areas where land prices are low. They even promise to ease the housing crunch in coastal cities where land prices are high!

But, as always, housing discrimination is getting in the way. niskanencenter.org/manufactured-h…
To clarify, we’re not talking about vacation trailers, or 1970’s-era mobile homes. Modern manufactured homes have strict standards for structural integrity and safety. They often look like homes built on-site, but they were assembled in a factory, like a car or an airplane.
Benefits of manufactured homes include: (1) They’re safer and more efficient to make, their materials don’t have to be exposed to the elements until the house is fully assembled, and (3) they can help improve quality of housing while driving costs down.
Read 12 tweets
Apr 4, 2023
Critics of Welcome Corps (the new U.S. private refugee sponsorship program) have been complaining loudly that it's vulnerable to fraud.

We’ve looked into 3 of the main concerns and have found that all but one are completely unsubstantiated. 1/ niskanencenter.org/is-there-any-t…
CONCERN 1: “The vetting process for refugees is being expedited and is therefore less thorough.”

FACT: Privately sponsored applicants must still go through the same USRAP pipeline as everyone else and have often been waiting years to travel. 2/
CONCERN 2: “The quality of protections meant to ensure sponsors are well-vetted aren’t good enough.”

FACT: Extensive safeguards have been built into the private sponsor group application process to screen for potential bad actors. 3/ Image
Read 6 tweets
Feb 28, 2023
THREAD: Why do housing supply restrictions persist? Conventional wisdom says it's because incumbents are defending their property values.

The reality is way more complicated. That's an opportunity for YIMBYs.

Introducing our agenda for abundant housing: niskanencenter.org/an-agenda-for-… Image
Before we enact any reform, we have to understand the political economy of our system: whom it empowers, whom it enriches, etc.

Answering these questions will rally opinion shapers around reform, protect reforms against backlash, and help avoid unintended consequences.
Here's how the conventional wisdom explains the political economy of housing: single-family homes and large lot sizes restrict the availability of housing to buyers who will pay at least as much in local taxes as they consume in public services, such as schools.
Read 13 tweets
Feb 24, 2023
THREAD: The cost of building public transit is out of control. We can do something about that:

Stop relying on outside consultants to do the work of government agencies. slate.com/business/2023/…
In the name of cutting costs, we’ve hollowed out government agencies, asking full-time employees to handle impossible tasks.

The result? Chaos. And lots of wasted taxpayer dollars. (After all, government contractors arguably cost even more money).
.@alon_levy produced a report for us outlining some solutions:

(1) The federal government should require that state/local transportation agencies demonstrate they already have the capacity to oversee big infrastructure projects before releasing funds. niskanencenter.org/report-so-you-…
Read 9 tweets

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