Trump Needs New Buy American Hire American Executive Order

On April 18, 2017, President Trump signed the Buy American and Hire American (BAHA) Executive Order. As the anniversary date approaches, it is important to point out that the first Trump Administration was explicit about protecting American labor from foreign competition. We eagerly anticipate the new Trump Administration building on past success. 

The BAHA EO laid out some pretty clear guidelines that should be strengthened and restated to adjudicators and policy staff across the government:

“In order to create higher wages and employment rates for workers in the United States, and to protect their economic interests, it shall be the policy of the executive branch to rigorously enforce and administer the laws governing entry into the United States of workers from abroad, including section 212(a)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(5)).”

Section 212(a)(5) requires, among other things, the government to certify that an alien seeking entry into the country for employment purposes will not adversely affect the job prospects or wages of similarly situated American workers. This statement may seem pretty rudimentary and self-evident, but the U.S. government has not prioritized creating immigration policies that raise American wages or employment rates. So, as far as orienting policymakers' thinking, this was a significant shift. 

It did lead to tangible policy changes, most notably the 2020 H-1B regulations, which, among other things, tied the H-1B visa lottery allocation to the highest wage level offered. Notably, many H-1B employers began complaining about rising denial rates for cheap labor visas. 

President Trump also endorsed Senator Tom Cotton’s RAISE Act, which cut legal immigration to the country and moved to a merit-based immigration system. In his first term, President Trump solidly endorsed policies to preserve a tight labor market and increase American wages and employment rates. 

Understandably, the crisis created by Biden's border policies took center stage early in President Trump’s second term. Now that the border is largely secured and interior enforcement has begun, it is time to begin turning policy attention to legal immigration. American workers are being devastated by immigration policies created to enable American employers to hire cheaper foreign workers. 

American workers need a new BAHA Executive Order that matches the ferocity and laser focus on American interests of the Trump border and enforcement strategy. Here are some things a new BAHA EO could do quickly to prioritize hiring Americans:

• Remove exemptions from E-Verify for Federal Contractors. Even today, some employers contracting with the Federal government are not using E-Verify. Taxpayer dollars should not be used to do business with anyone refusing to Hire American. 
• Prohibit Federal agencies and their contractors from hiring nonimmigrant guest workers, including H-1B visa holders. Again, American tax dollars should not be used to pay foreign workers rather than Americans.
• Revoke ALL current discretionary Employment Authorizations. Unelected bureaucrats have created dozens of categories of aliens who can obtain discretionary work permits, even though the law does not provide for them. They are open-market employment authorizations with no labor protections. All should be revoked immediately. 
• Create a worksite enforcement quota. Worksite enforcement was barred during the Biden Administration to encourage illegal entry and employment. For those reasons, it is obvious that worksite enforcement must be ramped up immediately. President Trump should set clear requirements for monthly worksite raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Identifying and prosecuting employers that hire illegal aliens, and removing the illegal workers to open up jobs for Americans, should be a priority.

In the 2024 presidential election, American workers demanded a secure border and mass deportations. President Trump and his advisors must understand that part of the motivation for supporting those policies was to protect Americans’ economic interests. American workers understand that mass immigration lowers their wages and employment rates. We need a President dedicated to immigration policies that increase those wages and employment rates again. We need a concentrated effort to hire Americans, with the same energy with which we are focused on securing borders. We need a new BAHA.