Colorado’s left-wing Governor, Jared Polis, says it is “dumb” to oppose the H-1B program that delivers thousands of tuition-paying foreign graduates into the careers needed by well-trained Colorado graduates.
Polis told CNN’s Kaitlin Collins on December 26:
Look, we have world-class universities here, University of Colorado at Boulder [and] Colorado State University. Students from across the world come here. And one of the stupidest things we do as a nation is when they get their degree, or their graduate degree, it could be a PhD in physics, in engineering, we literally say, ‘You’re not allowed to work in this country, you have to go somewhere else.
Polis added:
Guess what? In a global economy, the jobs follow them, back to India, back to China. It hurts our economy, hurts job creation. And it’s one of the dumbest things that we do.
Polis also urged Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk to continue speaking in favor of H-1B Visas in particular and immigrant workers in general. “They certainly seem to get the [economic] contributions around entrepreneurs and engineers. And frankly, that’s a start.”
His view is echoed by some other Democrats, including California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“From Silicon Valley to the Central Valley, we are better off when we have competition and top talent – from farmworkers, construction workers, CEOs, and beyond,” Newsome tweeted on December 28.
“Immigrants contribute across the entire economy,” Polis told CNN.
Polis’s comments come on the heels of a new debate within the Republican Party as members of the America First side of the argument criticize the business side of the party for prioritizing foreign workers over hiring Americans.
Last week, for instance, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley blasted Vivek Ramaswamy for his staunch support of the H-1B Visa program and noted that when she was governor, she reduced the hiring of foreign workers and hired American citizens.
Meanwhile, Ramaswamy insisted that the H-1B program is necessary because there aren’t enough educated and trained Americans to fill jobs in the tech sector.
But conservative detractors of the visa system point out that it is often abused by making the imported workers virtual “indentured servants” to the companies that hire them, forcing them into low-paying jobs which they can’t lose nor face being sent home.
The issue has lined up to become the first deep debate between members of the president-elect’s coalition.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, or Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston
Read the full article here