Vance targets firms over foreign worker hiring

Washington: US Vice President JD Vance said the administration was pursuing visa fraud involving companies that replace American workers with foreign labour, placing job protection at the centre of his economic message at a campaign rally in Texas.

Speaking in Weatherford, Vance said corporate executives and foreign companies were among the targets of the administration’s efforts. He presented the action as part of a broader push to ensure government policy served American workers.

“You know, sovereignty is about going after the visa fraud that we've been going after we're going after the CEOs and the foreign corporations who would dare lay off an American worker and replace them with a foreign indentured servant, because sovereignty means American jobs got to go to American citizens.”

Vance did not identify any companies, executives or nationalities. He also did not name a visa category, describe individual investigations or announce charges during that passage of his speech.

His remarks did not set out a new visa rule or changes to eligibility requirements. Instead, he cited action against alleged visa fraud as an example of the administration’s approach to protecting jobs.

The vice president linked that argument to trade and manufacturing policy. He said businesses seeking to expand should invest in the United States and claimed the administration had brought substantial new investment into the country.

“We put finally, American workers back at the center of our trade policy we're fighting for American jobs,” he said.

Vance cited $670 billion in new manufacturing investment, referring to ports, refineries and factories. He credited Texas with helping lead that expansion and argued that domestic production was essential to preserving jobs and communities.

He extended his argument about sovereignty to housing, prescription medicines and family finances. He said the government should help young people afford homes and protect households from costs that left them struggling to meet basic needs.

On housing, Vance said the administration had acted against purchases by Wall Street and foreign investors. He presented that approach as a way to give Americans greater access to homes, without outlining the scope or implementation of the measures in his speech.

Vance also promoted tax relief involving tips, overtime and seniors, alongside expanded benefits for families with young children. He described those measures as evidence that the administration was responding to working households.

Returning to employment towards the end of his address, he said Americans should be able to find careers close to home rather than move long distances for work. He coupled that message with calls for more factories, more housing and increased domestic energy production.

Vance said he wanted children to have the opportunity to buy homes, build families and secure stable careers. Drawing on his upbringing in Ohio, he described being raised by a grandmother who sometimes had to choose between buying medicine and food.

He urged voters to support candidates who would continue the administration’s policies, arguing that further tax cuts and industrial expansion depended on the election outcome.

Vance was campaigning in Weatherford for Ken Paxton’s US Senate bid. His address combined appeals for Republican votes with arguments about employment, border enforcement, energy production and the cost of living.

The speech’s discussion of visa fraud formed part of a wider theme of national sovereignty. Vance described that theme through the interests of workers, families and communities involved in farming, manufacturing and military service.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

IANS

[email protected]