Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said Friday that the crisis on the southern border is “really not the issue” people should focus on while speaking on Fox Business.
Walsh was asked about a “lack of skilled workers” and whether cleaning up immigration reform in order to provide for more skilled workers to immigrate to the U.S. was a priority. The U.S. added 263,000 jobs in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Friday, accelerating slightly from the 261,000 in October, as unemployment held steady at 3.7%.
“Everyone agrees on that and I think that – and that’s in partnership with businesses in America, to get people skilled up for what the needs of businesses are, and allow people to get into good paying jobs,” Walsh said. “But at the end of the day, and I’ve said this, I think the biggest threat to our economy is that we don’t have a good, strong immigration policy. We’re so focused, some people are so focused on the southern border, and that’s really not the issue.” (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: ICE Is Underreporting Illegals It Releases Into The County Without Tracking Equipment By Over 18,000%)
WATCH:
“The issue of immigration is how do we make sure that companies and businesses have the opportunity to employ people? We’ve seen a lack of immigration in our country over the last five years and it’s something that has to be addressed and hopefully the next Congress will take a good- have a good conversation and address that issue,” Walsh went on to say.
Authorities encountered more than 2.3 million migrants at the southern border in fiscal year 2022 and another approximate 230,000 in October.
Approximately 66,000 illegal migrants evaded apprehension by authorities in October, an official with the Department of Homeland Security official told the Daily Caller News Foundation.