Mike Collins’ Op-Ed: The America First Solution to Solving Our Immigration Crisis

The following is from Mike Collins, a trucking executive and Republican candidate for Congress in GA-10. It is presented without any edits or commentary.

The America First Solution to Solving our Immigration Crisis

Our southern border is a total disaster – and American workers and their families are paying the price.

After not even a year, Joe Biden has almost completely undone all of the unparalleled accomplishments President Trump made at the border to keep our country safe. Now, drugs are pouring in, human trafficking has run amok, and Biden has thrown open the door to thousands of unvetted and dangerous illegal immigrants, encouraging lawlessness and ignoring the obvious national security threat – all while mandating vaccines for private businesses and labeling concerned parents as domestic terrorists.

The double standard and ineptitude are unfortunately what can be expected from this incompetent administration, whose poll numbers sag lower and lower with each passing day.

But it’s not just Joe Biden and the Democrats. For years, big corporations and even career politician Republicans have enabled this problem. While the Democrats are doing it for votes, corporatists and their puppets have been doing it for their bottom line—at the expense of the working class.

One thing is certain: if we don’t reverse their damage and fix it now, our country will soon be overrun and lost forever.

First and foremost, we have to finish the wall and secure the border. This is a no-brainer – walls work. Just look at the progress made in border towns like San Diego and El Paso after the construction of border walls. Illegal entry decreased, and our border became more secure.

The wall is more important now than ever as we see caravans of immigrants, tens of thousands strong, attempting mass entry every couple of months. Furthermore, drugs, human trafficking, and other contraband are entering our country unchecked, placing children and families on both sides of the border in danger as crime and controlled substances spread like wildfire across our communities nationwide.

Next, we must end chain migration. Every year, hundreds of thousands of immigrants resettle in the United States as a result of familial ties alone. Extended relatives of an original immigrant move to America, resettle, then sponsor more relatives who in turn keep the cycle going, producing a huge “chain” of new immigrants who have very little, if any, connection to the original migrant.

This system is broken and wrong, encouraging unvetted mass migration that undercuts the American hiring market by importing cheap labor.

This point also ties into another: we have to curtail our H-1B visa program to protect American workers. Democrats claim to be the party of workers and immigrants, but they actually undermine both communities by allowing unfettered worker visas. Subsidizing cheap labor hurts American workers who are unable to keep up with the newly competitive wage rates, edging them out of the job market. What’s more, this situation severely impacts minority communities – specifically African American and Hispanic Americans – whose wages are severely depressed and whose job opportunities and chances for economic advancement are significantly narrowed. We need laws that require investment in American workers and American jobs—not hand them over to woke corporations and cheap foreign labor.

Finally, we have to get rid of our nonsense visa lottery program. This outdated system allows 50,000 immigrants who have zero connection to our country to be admitted into the United States. The program transplants thousands of random, unskilled workers who compete for jobs with Americans. Additionally, this program is riddled with fraud and abuse, and repeated admission of individuals from countries labeled as state sponsors of terrorism poses a significant national security threat to our homeland.

While Joe Biden hides in the basement, families’ security and livelihoods are on the line. We cannot afford more business as usual. Since the president refuses to act, Congress must hold him accountable – and that’s exactly what I’ll do.

I have 30 years of experience in the trucking industry creating jobs, balancing budgets, and providing opportunities to American families. I understand that we must put hardworking Georgians and their families at the center of our policy-making because they are the engine that powers our great economy. Without our workers, America would grind to a halt – just look at our current supply chain crisis and the disrespect for blue-collar Americans coming from the White House.

As the next congressman from Georgia’s 10th District, I will hold Biden and the Democrats’ feet to the fire to secure our border and put the American worker first again. Visit www.mikecollinsga.com to join us—and help us restore a legal immigration system that works for working Americans.