Yes.
The "jobs Americans won't do" theory of immigration is one of the most pernicious lies of the past half century.
There's a world that exists in the abstract, in the minds of neoliberal wonks; and there's a world that actually exists in real places, like Charleroi, PA. 🧵
The "jobs Americans won't do" theory of immigration is one of the most pernicious lies of the past half century.
There's a world that exists in the abstract, in the minds of neoliberal wonks; and there's a world that actually exists in real places, like Charleroi, PA. 🧵
https://twitter.com/MikeNeedham/status/1839320646654030202
We were on the ground in Charleroi for the past week. You can watch the trailer for our documentary below.
This is a downwardly-mobile, working-class town of just 4,000 people.
Over the past few years, it's been overwhelmed by Haitian immigration.
This is a downwardly-mobile, working-class town of just 4,000 people.
Over the past few years, it's been overwhelmed by Haitian immigration.
https://x.com/America_2100/status/1838292705836691644
This wasn't a coincidence. Thousands of Haitians don't just happen to show up in a small town in southwestern Pennsylvania. Someone was bringing them there.
It didn't take long to find out why.
As @MikeNeedham notes, this was about one thing: A desire for cheap labor.
It didn't take long to find out why.
As @MikeNeedham notes, this was about one thing: A desire for cheap labor.
Needham calls it the "Jobs Americans Won't Do" theory: The idea that there are tens of millions of jobs that are too low-pay—and low-productivity—to attract Americans, and thus require foreign workers instead.
We debunked this theory in this thread:
We debunked this theory in this thread:
https://x.com/America_2100/status/1838648272602436041
This goes beyond the simple issue of "illegal" immigration—something that every Republican at least claims to be against.
It implicates a large swathe of legal low-skill immigration, which has enjoyed widespread bipartisan support for decades.
That very much includes the GOP.
It implicates a large swathe of legal low-skill immigration, which has enjoyed widespread bipartisan support for decades.
That very much includes the GOP.
This arrangement is great for business interests. They get lots of cheap foreign labor.
But American workers get the short end of the stick.
"Those jobs that [immigrants] have—they used to be American jobs," Andy, a Charleroi native, told us last week.
But American workers get the short end of the stick.
"Those jobs that [immigrants] have—they used to be American jobs," Andy, a Charleroi native, told us last week.
https://x.com/America_2100/status/1836603986717081800
It isn't just bad for our native working class. In the long term, it's bad for all of America.
Importing foreign labor is the cheap and easy way for businesses to remain profitable and competitive.
But it prevents them from investing in innovation:
Importing foreign labor is the cheap and easy way for businesses to remain profitable and competitive.
But it prevents them from investing in innovation:
https://x.com/America_2100/status/1838648548948312544
As Needham notes below, mass low-skilled immigration—legal and illegal alike—is preventing economic and technological innovation.
Rather than transforming low-wage, low-productivity industries into high-wage, high-productivity ones, businesses are able to take the easy way out.
Rather than transforming low-wage, low-productivity industries into high-wage, high-productivity ones, businesses are able to take the easy way out.
It doesn't have to be this way. We can have an economy that's the envy of the world again—an economy built by and for Americans.
But we need elites who are loyal to our nation over their bottom line.
Full documentary on Charleroi coming soon. Stay tuned.
But we need elites who are loyal to our nation over their bottom line.
Full documentary on Charleroi coming soon. Stay tuned.
https://x.com/America_2100/status/1838292705836691644
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