Dan! Lisa! What are you thinking? Why did you join with 10 other Senators to lobby the President NOT to make ANY changes to the H1-B1 & H1-B2 Visa programs, when FORTY MILLION Americans are unemployed, thanks to the Wuhan Corona Virus? These programs should have ended long ago, perhaps when we were struggling to recover from the market collapse of 2008. Now, along comes the Wuhan Corona Virus, displacing more American & Alaskan workers than even the Great Depression of 1929, and you both think importing labor from other countries is a good idea. I, for one, am concerned. The rest of Alaska, and frankly, the entire country should be too.
Those FORTY MILLION plus workers should be our Senator’s top priority. Instead we get excuses like; those are the jobs Alaskans & Americans don’t want to do. When, in fact, most of the foreign visa jobs are in the tech industry and pay quite well. Then we hear; Well, Alaskans/Americans aren’t trained for those jobs. The facts don’t bear this out either, considering most of the foreign visa workers are being trained by the Americans they are going to be replacing, at a lower wage than themselves.
If training is the issue, then the State of Alaska had better start developing training programs for those jobs that are available. Many will never return to their chosen profession when we do get the Wuhan Corona Virus behind us, the damage to many industries has already been done. Those people need an alternative opportunity to continue to live in, and love Alaska! Not be put behind foreign, non citizens of the U.S., and in particular, The State of Alaska!
Furthermore, why are we importing fishery workers from the lower 48 & Asia, and the Wuhan Corona Virus they’ve been bringing with them, to begin with? With Alaska’s fisheries poised as the mainstay of our economy for the foreseeable future, why is the State not promoting those jobs and training people for them? With a population of over Seven Hundred Thousand, you can’t tell me there aren’t enough people to fill those jobs, WITHOUT importing workers and the Wuhan Corona Virus. We’ve already seen outbreaks in Bristol Bay, The Kenai Peninsula and Cordova. Importing the Virus has got to stop!
I’ve already written the Governor, again, concerning his travel restriction modification, to begin June 6th. Instead of, “A test within 72 hrs. or we’ll test you here.”, the test within 72 hrs. WILL be required at the departure point AND you WILL be tested again when you arrive in Alaska. A lot can happen in 72 hours and this will help prevent importing the Wuhan Corona Virus back into Alaska through travel, the only way the Virus can spread. Every entry point into Alaska must be equipped with the 5 to 20 minute “Instant Results Testing Machine”. If you test positive upon arrival, you self quarantine for the 14 days, period.
As I’ve said before, it’s time to start thinking outside the box and envision a new normal, one where Alaska and Alaskans come first. President Trump is putting America first on every level. Our Senators should be doing the same for Alaska, but they’re not. Write them and let them know how you feel. Dan will probably respond but don’t expect much from Lisa.
