The Washington Examiner’s Tiana Lowe Doescher argued that Republicans are “missing the forest for the trees” with their resistance to H-1B visas to legal immigrants, contending that the visas going out to these immigrants are only a small fraction of the illegal immigrants who enter the country.
Department of Government Efficiency co-heads Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s support for H-1B visas has sparked debate and disagreement among Republicans, prompting President-elect Donald Trump to weigh in and back the two billionaires. In sharing her take on the matter, Doescher pointed to how Musk, an immigrant from South Africa, has created over 120,000 jobs through Tesla alone, and that the annual 85,000 legal immigrants who receive H-1B visas are a “net benefit” for the nation.
“And just consider the fact that there is a maximum cap of 85,000 H-1B visa jobs per year, that works to be a little more than a quarter million jobs over the course of four years,” Doescher explained on Fox News’s Your World, hosted by Edward Lawrence. “In that same time, 10 million illegal immigrants have illegally crossed into the country under the reign of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. So we’re missing the forest for the trees here. While Republicans are infighting over this program that is broadly popular, that creates a massive amount of wealth, that creates American jobs, we’re ignoring the 30 times more immigrants that came to this country illegally, and that must remain the focus.”
Another topic of infighting among Republicans is the Friday vote for the speaker of the House, as Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) aims to keep the gavel amid some opposition from his fellow lawmakers. Trump endorsed Johnson on Monday, which Doescher assessed was “a warning” to House Republicans going forward to stop infighting and instead “fight for his agenda.”
In the event that former Rep. and Rep.-elect Matt Gaetz (R-FL) will not participate in the vote, which he said he would skip, and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) keeps his word in not voting for Johnson, Republicans can only afford to lose one more vote due to their razor-thin majority in the House. Doescher further explained that if Johnson is not confirmed this Friday, it would only further delay confirming the results of the 2024 election, in which Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris.
“So the longer the infighting continues, the slower his ability to succeed in pushing that agenda forward is then resulting,” Doescher said.
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Ahead of the speakership vote, Gaetz backed Trump’s endorsement of Johnson, writing on X that future resistance to the speaker is “futile.” He concluded by suggesting that House Republicans work with Johnson to make him “the best version of himself.”
Trump endorsing Johnson is “art of the deal” level practicality.
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) December 30, 2024
We could never have held up McCarthy two years ago for concessions if a Trump certification hung in the balance. Now, it does.
We were able to hold up McCarthy because Republican voters weren’t all that eager…
Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) has also publicly announced his support for Johnson on X, writing that the speaker and Trump would deliver “the once in a lifetime change our country needs,” including an improved economy and a secure border, two factors that Trump pushed for ahead of the presidential election.