Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, said at a private gathering in England the the United States is “desperate” to find more immigrants to keep economic growth on track in the U.S., according to the Washington Post:
“We are desperate — desperate — for more people,” Mulvaney said. “We are running out of people to fuel the economic growth that we’ve had in our nation over the last four years. We need more immigrants.”
Those remarks are in stark contrast to the official policy of the administration, which has repeatedly sought to curb all immigration — legal and illegal — to the U.S. since President Donald Trump took office after promising to severely restrict allowing those from other nations during his 2016 run for office.
The Post notes that Mulvaney’s comments seem to be more in line with the conventional wisdom of the Republican Party before Trump became president and began putting limits in place on who can immigrate:
“Mulvaney’s private remarks were more in line with conventional GOP views of immigration as a major engine for the U.S. economy. The White House chief of staff told the crowd of several hundred people at Oxford Union that despite the president’s ‘anti-immigrant’ reputation, his administration wants more foreign workers.
“He praised the immigration systems in Canada and Australia and said the Trump administration wants the United States to embrace a model closer to those nations. ‘We are very interested in expanding that,’ he said.”
Ironically, Trump is known to employ immigrant labor at his golf clubs and resorts, which has led many to accuse him of being a hypocrite, seeking to restrict immigration while exploiting immigrant workers at his properties.
Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies, insists that immigrants depress the overall job market and wages of U.S. citizens:
“If everyone from Bangladesh moved here, the economy would get bigger. Would the economic condition of people already here get better? Is it necessary to increase immigration to improve the condition of Americans who are already here? The answer is no.
“A tight labor market is the best social policy. We’re seeing an uptick in wages for less-skilled workers, as well as incentives for employers to recruit ex-cons, disabled people, in general workers they would not consider if the job market were looser.”
With his comments, Mulvaney, who is reportedly on thin ice when it comes to his job security as chief of staff, may have just authored his own pink slip.
Featured Image Via NBC News
