The only hope leftists have of derailing President Trump through the first two years of his second term when he has the House and Senate (even with thin margins) is to create a MAGA “civil war.”

Do not take the H-1B bait!

Either MAGAs (Republican voters) trust Donald Trump or we don’t. Either we trust the people Trump has nominated, or we don’t. We must understand that in every relationship (from marriage to friendship to coworkers to neighbors), there will be times when we don’t agree. But you don’t file for divorce, stop being friends, quit your job, or move over occasional differences of opinion.

Let’s agree that the H-1B program has too many loopholes and has been abused. (OMG—a government program that has been abused!) Donald Trump discussed this during his first term. Even when signing an executive order suspending the program in June 2020, as COVID resulted in high unemployment, Trump always said he wanted the H-1B program to focus on merit, not lotto drawings.

Image by Grok.

Yet, the fact is that many U.S. colleges and universities are not graduating enough STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) students. These are the areas where America achieves technological innovation, not when we create a new Starbucks flavor.

Another skills gap issue is that not all STEM graduates will pursue a career in these fields. In “Why Pushing STEM Majors is Turning Out to Be a Terrible Investment,” John D. Skrentny writes:

Most STEM graduates don’t work in STEM occupations. The Census Bureau reported in 2021 that a paltry 28% of STEM grads are working in these supposedly in-demand, highly paid and important STEM jobs. These include diverse sectors such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and energy, but about half of STEM jobs are in computers, and tech firms typically complain the loudest of STEM shortages.

So, even with a STEM degree, some graduates opt to work in non-STEM fields.

Companies needing STEM workers won’t hire Americans who graduated with ridiculous degrees. (Like “the ancient art of finger painting during the Roman Empire”) Nor will HR managers find STEM workers at fast-food restaurants, where employees demand a “living wage” for brewing java or flipping hamburgers.

Questions regarding the H-1B program include:

1.Are STEM graduates of most (not all) U.S. colleges and universities on a par with STEM graduates from some foreign countries?

2.Are STEM foreign students studying in America more dedicated to their studies?

3.Does the STEM education curriculum demanded in some foreign nations exceed what is required in the United States?

We need an honest conversation on the H-1B program and how to stop/reduce its abuse, such as companies hiring foreign workers at lower wages for positions when there is an abundance of available American workers. Musk, who is a problem solver like Trump, posted on X:

Easily fixed by raising the minimum salary significantly and adding a yearly cost for maintaining the H1B, making it materially more expensive to hire from overseas than domestically. I’ve been very clear that the program is broken and needs major reform.

The HB-1 program debate leads back to MAGAs either trusting Donald Trump or not. Right now, the Democrat party is in disarray, and their only option is to create warring factions among America First Patriots. Just look at some of the comments from Democrats about their party being in a sinkhole:

New York Democrat Representative Ritchie Torres on X:

Donald Trump has no greater friend than the far left, which has managed to alienate historic numbers of Latinos, Blacks, Asians, and Jews from the Democratic Party with absurdities like ‘Defund the Police’ or ‘From the River to the Sea’ or ‘Latinx.’ There is more to lose than there is to gain politically from pandering to a far left that is more representative of Twitter, Twitch, and TikTok than it is of the real world. The working class is not buying the ivory-towered nonsense that the far left is selling.

Lindy Li, former top Democrat fundraiser:

Leaving the Democratic Party or even questioning the Democratic Party is like leaving a cult. It’s terrifying. I don’t want to be a part of this craziness. …Democrats have a stench of loser hanging over them.

Joe Manchin, outgoing West Virginia Senator (15 years); former Democrat, now Independent; CNN interview:

The D-brand has been so maligned from the standpoint of, it’s just, it’s toxic.

Lis Smith, Democrat Communications Strategist; New York Times:

The Democratic brand is in the toilet. Many of the Democrats who succeeded this cycle — our best over-performers in House races, for instance — are people who ran against the Democratic Party brand. Trump tore down the blue wall in the industrial Midwest, but he also expanded his vote the most in our bluest and most urban areas.

Donald Trump deserves the benefit of the doubt on H-B1 and other issues that might not immediately make sense to us. We should be unified around him. Yes, we can respectfully question his position on issues, but an all-out public war attacking him and/or his nominees is just what Democrats want. No, thank you. I have trusted Donald Trump since he came down the elevator in June 2015, and I will continue to trust him.

Robin M. Itzler is a regular contributor to American Thinker. She is the founder and editor of Patriot Neighbors, a free weekly national newsletter. Robin can be reached at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com.