Category: Guest Authors

Authoritarian Lawless Tom Wolf

Authoritarian Lawless Tom Wolf

By Joseph B. Dychala

Gov. Tom Wolf has forced a lawless state on the citizens of Pennsylvania. He has criminalized behavior of law abiding, tax paying business owners and consumers alike.

Under his regime the rule of law no longer exists, it is now do what you feel bold enough to risk in response to his decrees and edicts while participating in a strange game of ‘Mother, May I’ allowing only baby steps and a contrived return to the starting line on every turn as part of his totalitarian rule book.

Authoritarian Lawless Tom Wolf
Remember, this guy backed a vicious racist.

Business will be closed- many shuttered for good, livelihoods affected, years or decades of sobriety lost, lives literally ended due to despair all while an underground economy thrives and a shrinking revenue base leaves the state adding further irreparable damage to an already faltering economy.

Wolf is an authoritarian and a zealot. Every Communist revolution throughout history begins with an attack on a class of people. In our case the castigated and demonized are our neighbors and friends, our small business owners who simply wish to pursue Liberty and the animating contest of freedom to make their living in a manner they see fit.

I submit that Wolf has broken the fragile public trust that is the fabric of our civil society. He has seized property and possession with absolutely no due process rights by declaring “small business” must remain closed. He ignores the will of WE, the People and our elected representatives by vetoing nearly every bill that comes across his desk then proceeds to implement his unilateral edicts then changes them on a whim.

Wolf has proven beyond the shadow of any reasonable doubt that he is unfit to lead free men and women. He speaks of “democracy” yet refuse to acknowledge our Federal and State Constitutions, our Bill of Rights and the norms of our Representative Republic.

I believe Thomas Westerman Wolf must be removed from office and I am publicly and continually calling for immediate impeachment investigations for abuse of power and negligent criminal behavior. Tom Wolf is an enemy of a free people and as such has forfeit the privilege of serving as our governor. He must be removed from office before his lawlessness is forever enshrined in public policy.

Authoritarian Lawless Tom Wolf

Wolf Impeachment Planned By State Rep.

Wolf Impeachment Planned By State Rep.

By Kim Kennedy

We have two America’s happening right now guided by two completely different ideologies.  States run by red Governors are largely working to open their states from the shutdown or have already done so.  Western Journal reports, “15 days after restrictions started being lifted, Kemp indicated on Twitter that the emerging evidence supports his decision and proves his critics wrong.  “Today marks the lowest number of COVID-19 positive patients currently hospitalized statewide (1,203) since hospitals began reporting this data on April 8th,” he posted Saturday. “Today also marks the lowest total of ventilators in use (897 with 1,945 available). We will win this fight together!” he added.”1. We have the ongoing deteriorating state of Pennsylvania with its citizens suffering under poor leadership.  I had mentioned in a previous article published April 27 about how Gov. Wolf was ignoring representative government tactics of dealing with the potential of a major health crisis and was dictating policies with no input from legislators or private sector.  Governor Wolf continues the same stance, acting as if he is the Supreme Leader in Pa answerable to none.  He has no sense of urgency to help citizens regain lost time and revenue for business owners.  Many counties in Pa have either not had a single case of COVID or 10 or less cases. 

Wolf Impeachment Planned By State Rep.
Covid response warrants Impechament

In speaking with Pennsylvania State Rep. David Zimmerman (R-99) concerning the overall handling of the COVID-19 situation in Pa, I share this report with you.  The lesson that must be learned: Democrats cannot hold public office in this country.  They do not respect representative government and defy rule of law, with little or no consequences.

Yes, the Governor does have absolute power granted to him in health emergencies.  Are we still in a health emergency?  Well, we are seeing data manipulated and used and some of it later exposed for being false.  Reader be aware!  The Republicans hold the majority in both the House and Senate.  Rep. Bryan Cutler is the House leader and has reached out, without success, to have Gov. Wolf meet jointly in planning sessions on how to get Pennsylvania moving again.  This has been his way of “leading” throughout most of his 2 terms.  Rep. Cutler would like to stop payment on some of his pet projects in order to force a conversation.  Interestingly, before COVID-19 the state had close to a $1 billion surplus, 800 million of that is gone.  Even more interesting, the money was directly appropriated by Gov. Wolf himself, bypassing the process of going thru the legislation process.  I asked, where did that money go?  Rep. Zimmerman listed off Human services projects, help for his campaign and it appears as though where other funds went is unknown.  On March 19, the state was put into a 90 day lockdown.  The latest day of opening again is June 4, two days after the Pennsylvania primary.  Rep. Zimmerman is in complete agreement that Health Secretary Levine should step down and face criminal charges.  Zimmerman owns several retirement communities in Lancaster county.  One of them in Ephrata, Fairmount Home, was ordered by the Department of State to take a patient from a hospital who had COVID-19.  Not the jurisdiction of the government.  It’s a completely illegal demand and it never should have happened.  Dr. Levine should be held accountable for this.  Rep. Zimmerman does support Rep. Metcalfe’s call to impeach Gov. Wolf.  Rep. Metcalfe’s call for impeachment are listed at the end of this article.

Legislation was passed in 1977 that allows a local disaster emergency to be declared by the governing body of a political subdivision upon finding a disaster has occurred or is imminent.

Each political subdivision included in a declaration of disaster emergency declared by either the Governor or the governing body of the political subdivision affected by the disaster emergency is authorized to exercise the powers vested under this section in the light of the exigencies of the emergency situation without regard to time-consuming procedures and formalities prescribed by law, according to the law.

“Gov. Wolf’s orders in response to the COVID-19 outbreak have violated a number of our God-given rights affirmed in the United States Constitution,” said Zimmerman. “In particular, his order mandating the closure of physical locations of all businesses that he has deemed ‘non-life sustaining’ has violated our citizens’ rights in many devastating ways.”

Zimmerman said Wolf’s order constitutes a taking of property from business owners without just compensation. “The lack of due process and judicial review permitted under his order also violates the Constitution. In addition, this order coupled with the stay-at-home order, has violated our rights to free speech and assembly,” he said.

Another troubling aspect of his mandates is the utter lack of transparency demonstrated by the administration, Zimmerman noted.

Agencies under his control have stopped responding to requests for records and his office has refused to provide vital information,” he said. “The waiver process established under the Department of Community and Economic Development resulted in arbitrary and capricious decisions about which businesses may stay open.”

Zimmerman said that the public, press and General Assembly all have the right to know about these decisions and how they have been made. “While the Wolf administration has finally slowly begun to release some of the relevant information regarding which businesses received waivers, they have yet to release any information about how or why these decisions were made,” he said. His delays and obfuscation have been, and continue to be, entirely unacceptable.”

Zimmerman also noted Wolf’s failure to adequately administer the unemployment compensation system. He said that countless Pennsylvanians have been unable to collect their benefits.

“His focus on restraining business is particularly disturbing, as the majority of deaths due to the pandemic have been residents of long-term care facilities,” Zimmerman said.” The governor should have focused his attention there, but he has entirely failed to implement a comprehensive state plan to protect our most vulnerable citizens who reside in nursing homes, which have had inadequate supplies of Personal Protective Equipment and testing kits throughout the outbreak.”

Zimmerman said impeachment is the only means to address the actions of Wolf.

“As Gov. Wolf has violated so many of our fundamental rights as citizens of the Commonwealth, I will be introducing a resolution impeaching the governor and exhibiting Articles of Impeachment to the Senate. His actions plainly constitute the misbehavior in office required for his impeachment under the Pennsylvania Constitution.

“While these are certainly challenging times, Gov. Wolf must be held accountable for his actions that have harmed so many of our citizens and violated so many of our rights. No individual or office is above the law.”

It is clear that this Governor is going to rule Pennsylvania as if her were Sovereign Lord.  He is not.  We are a representative government.  All Americans need to know this and be aware, this can happen anywhere!• Take responsibility for your own liberty• Participate in peaceful, public demonstrations• Constantly write to leadership and tell them what is happening in your life as they take their good ole time opening the state.  Remind them that you vote!• Exercise your Constitutional rights. https://constitutionstudy.com/2020/05/18/knowing-your-rights/• PRAY!  The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turns it wherever he wills.  Proverbs 21:1

Ms.Kennedy is founder of Restore the Culture.

Wolf Impeachment Planned By State Rep. Wolf Impeachment Planned By State Rep. Wolf Impeachment Planned By State Rep.

American Workers First In Pandemic

American Workers First In Pandemic

By Congressman Paul Gosar and Kevin Lynn
If the most conservative member of Congress can partner with the director of Progressives for Immigration Reform, then there is a real chance our nation can undertake true meaningful immigration reform. Prior to coronavirus laying waste to the economy, President Trump often correctly said that we have the “greatest economy in the history of the U.S.” We boasted about low unemployment numbers and celebrated new stock market highs, GDP growth and job creation. What looked promising on the surface belied serious flaws that lay beneath.

American Workers First In Pandemic

Even when unemployment was reported to be low, Americans were being displaced by foreign workers at alarming rates. Today a record 30 million Americans have filed for unemployment – most in the last six to eight weeks. For reasons only a few can fathom, the Administration seems hell-bent on bringing in more workers from abroad through our employment-based visa programs, such as the H-1B, H-2B and Optional Practical Training (OPT). In good times and bad, corporations and policymakers are unwilling to recalibrate employment visa quotas to current economic conditions. We saw this in 2008, and we see it now. It needs to change now.

At the time of this writing we face an unemployment rate that meets or exceeds the peak of the Great Depression. The institutionalizing of neoliberal policies that has enabled the unfettered movement of people and money across international borders so as to maximize profits has gutted the nation’s productive class. In the 1990s we were told there were jobs that didn’t have an economic right to exist and shipped a large portion of our vital manufacturing sector overseas.

Later, we were falsely told there were jobs Americans simply would not do, so we opened the floodgates to large numbers of legal immigrants and turned a blind eye to people coming here illegally who were only too eager to work for less money and no benefits. Now we are being told there are jobs that Americans can’t do. Almost as if the country that put a man on the Moon and invented the Internet could no longer produce skilled knowledge workers and needed to place its homegrown technology infrastructure in the hands of foreigners. The truth is Americans have always been among the most productive and hardest working people. But they should not have to work for below-market wages, kept artificially low by cheap foreign labor.

In the words of Lisa, a knowledge worker:

“I have degrees in math and computer science from the late 80s. Ditto my husband. He’s a database administrator. We’ve both been in IT our entire careers and are sickened to see what’s happened with all of the outsourcing. We are sick of training our Indian replacements.”

Another American wrote to us:

“I’m a 47-year-old database developer. I’ve been replaced multiple times (that I’m aware of) by OPT workers, and I’ve seen my entire IT department at a major corporation replaced by Indian H-1Bs. I do ‘have skills.’ I’m highly regarded and well-respected by my peers and boss, and I have a well-established work history. I’ve been fighting the work visa treason for years, and I never feel like anyone in Washington, D.C. cares about American workers.”

That is why Congressman Gosar has filed H.R.3564, the Fairness for High-Skilled Americans Act of 2019. It would eliminate the OPT program that is used to hire foreigners over U.S. citizens and pay them less. It is immoral and wrong. We encourage our students to get into STEM fields, but because of OPT, 50 percent of STEM graduates can’t get a STEM job.

The pandemic spotlighted that outsourcing and offshoring of jobs have not made America stronger, rather the country has been weakened, vulnerable to the whims of foreign interests. How can we stave off a pandemic when most if not all the components of personal protective equipment are produced overseas or when 90 percent of our antibiotics and antiviral drugs are produced abroad? This is not only an economic concern; it is a national security concern. At one point China threatened to withhold pharmaceuticals from Americans. This is no small threat when almost all are made in China.

But there’s more. The nation’s top financial services and insurance companies have offshored hundreds of thousands of IT and call center jobs, with many going to India. Does it leave us vulnerable having so many foreign nationals able to access our citizens’ sensitive data?

Coronavirus has exposed the greed and corruption of the neo-liberal system and its high priests. In the face of a pandemic, our healthcare system failed us. These efficient and complex global systems did not function well when stressed. Truth be told, the system was beginning to crack before the virus, and it was financialization – not productivity – that was propping up the world’s economy.

However, in the midst of all this chaos, could there be a silver lining? It is time for our elected officials to act and reform the system. This is a great opportunity to hammer out a plan that repatriates manufacturing and back-office operations to the U.S. Moreover, we can take this opportunity to implement immigration reform that puts American interests first. It is time to bring back America, and one way to do it is to make America first when it comes to hiring.

Congressman Paul Gosar represents Arizona’s Fourth District in Congress and has an America First platform that starts with ending cheap foreign labor. He is consistently ranked among the most conservative in Congress.

Kevin Lynn is the executive director of Progressives for Immigration Reform, an organization focused on the unintended consequences of immigration policies and guest worker programs that undermine working Americans.

American Workers First In Pandemic

Cotton Seeks Restricting Student Visas For Chinese

Cotton Seeks Restricting Student Visas For Chinese


By Joe Guzzardi

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said in a nationally televised interview that issuing F-1 visas to Chinese students to allow them to pursue “quantum computing degrees” is a self-defeating exercise. Studying Shakespeare and the Federalist papers would be okay with Cotton, a Harvard J.D. graduate, U.S. Army captain and Afghanistan war veteran. But educating Chinese nationals who become, as Cotton said, so many of the Chinese Communist Party’s “brightest minds” is “a scandal.”

Cotton Seeks Restricting Student Visas For Chinese

Cotton’s comments set off a firestorm of criticism. The Washington Postwrote a scathing editorial that strongly rejected Cotton’s proposal; the Internet was abuzz with harsh retorts to limiting F-1 visas to Chinese students.

However, the facts support Cotton whose suggestion is actually too limited. The 2019 Open Doors Report on International Education released by the Institute of International Education and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs showed that 872,214 overseas students were enrolled during the 2017-2018 academic year, while another 223,085 were in Optional Practical Training programs (OPT). Chinese nationals comprised 369,548 of the 872,214 international students; India ranked second with 202,014 enrollees.

OPT’s history is a sad lament of a greed that leaves Americans on the unemployment line. At an elitist Georgetown cocktail party years ago, multi-billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates whined to then-Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, his globalist friend, that the tech industry suffered from insufficient H-1B workers.

Congress couldn’t be swayed to lift the H-1B 85,000 cap, so tech lobbyists concocted the OPT scheme that allowed science, technology, math and engineering students to remain in the U.S. and take jobs that otherwise would go to Americans. Bottom line: without congressional approval, OPT which originates with the F-1 visa has, in recent years, ballooned into a major U.S. tech worker job displacer.

In 2017, Amazon hired about 2,400 OPT foreign-born workers, and placed them in white-collar jobs that should have gone to Americans. Amazon’s preference for OPT workers is easily explained: DHS data found that Amazon earned nearly $25 million in tax breaks by employing foreign workers. And since the long-ago Georgetown soiree, the self-serving Gates’ net worthhas doubled from $50 billion to $100 billion, while thousands of OPTs have bumped U.S. tech workers from their jobs.

Many of the foreign-born OPT students matriculate at public universities like the University of California’s Davis, San Diego, Berkeley and Irvine campuses. In 2016, Chinese students made up 34 percent of that year’s Berkeley admissions. Penn State, Michigan State and Iowa State universities are also among international students’ preferred destinations.  PSU, MSU and ISU are land-grant schools, state taxpayer-funded institutions specifically for local citizen-residents’ advancement in the agriculture, science, military science and engineering disciplines. At no time since President Abraham Lincoln signed the 1862 Morrill Act that ceded federally controlled land to the universities has the legislation designated that international students be admitted while rejecting U.S. citizens.

Foreign student high enrollment means that qualified U.S. high school graduates are shut out, an inarguable fact. Only a fixed number of freshman seats are available each academic year, and Americans must have the first priority.

Universities are the major culprit in the steadily soaring international admissions injustice. The Wall Street Journal reported that aggressive recruiting abroad has led to a 79 percent international enrollment increase over the last decade, and has created a financial bonanza for the universities. At UC Berkeley, for example, in 2020 undergraduate fees and tuition was $14,253 for residents; out-of-state, $44,000, more than three-times what locals pay.

The F-1 visa was originally intended to provide overseas students with an opportunity to obtain a quality U.S. education. Upon graduation, the students were expected to return to their native countries and apply the skills they learned in the U.S. to improve their home nations. Instead, the F-1 visa has devolved into a job-eating force that’s ballooned out of control. Moreover, and to Cotton’s point, the federal government has no ability to track international students after they arrive. Many of them routinely vanish. An alarmed FBI has urged universities to review ongoing research involving Chinese students and researchers whose academic pursuits could have defense applications.

Cotton’s call to restrict F-1 visas to Chinese nationals is a good start. But Cotton needs to include other countries like India whose presence denies education and employment opportunities to deserving Americans. Congress won’t give Cotton much support, if any. President Trump needs to intercede with an executive order.


Joe Guzzardi is a Progressives for Immigration Reform analyst who has written about immigration for more than 30 years. Contact him at jguzzardi@pfirdc.org.

Cotton Seeks Restricting Student Visas For Chinese

Pre-Paid Debit Cards For Illegals In LA

Pre-Paid Debit Cards For Illegals In LA

By Joe Guzzardi

The handful of journalists who have spent decades on the immigration beat have a saying: “Never say never.” Translated, the maxim means that no matter how outrageous or illegal federal, state or local lawmakers’ outreach is to unlawfully present aliens, a more shocking development will soon supersede it.

Pre-Paid Debit Cards For Illegals In LA

As an example of the inherent wisdom of never say never, turn to Eric Garcetti, the legacy mayor of Los Angeles. With Garcetti’s wholehearted endorsement, Los Angeles city officials are accepting applications for pre-paid debit cards, including from illegal aliens. The cards, funded privately, will have values of $700, $1,100 and $1,500, depending on the applicants’ household income, assuming that annual earnings fall below the federal poverty line and that the household’s head has a 50 percent income reduction directly related to COVID-19. As of this writing, 450,000 people have submitted applications for what Garcetti calls Angeleno cards.

No one argues that being down and out in Los Angeles, and with limited prospects for significant lifestyle improvements, is awful. But neither can anyone disagree that Garcetti’s action, and the actions that precipitated the cards’ issuance, involves multiple federal immigration offenses. Employers are guilty of hiring illegal immigrants, the aliens are guilty of falsifying employment documents that may involve identity theft and of working without legal authorization, and Garcetti is guilty of harboring aliens. Specifically, Title 8, U.S. Code 1324 prohibits proving direct cash assistance to illegal aliens that enable them to remain in the United States. Nevertheless, Garcetti said, “Applicants will not be asked anything about their immigration status. We are all Angelenos.”

For more than 20 years, California’s Republican and Democratic governors Gray Davis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom have disregarded immigration laws. During that period, the governors, along with mayors like Garcetti, San Francisco’s Willie Brown and Ed Lee, and Oakland’s Libby Schaaf, have willfully turned their backs on U.S. workers.

The Migration Policy Institute estimates that Los Angeles County has more than 1 million unauthorized residents; 80 percent fall into the prime working-age demographic, 16 to 54. Furthermore, MPI found that 66 percent of Los Angeles’ civilian, over-16 population is employed – a total that includes unlawfully present immigrants. Contrary to the old, discredited saw that illegal immigrants do jobs that Americans won’t do, Los Angeles’ alien population is nearly exclusively employed in manufacturing, food services, construction, professional services and retail. In an increasingly tight employment market, most Americans would eagerly take jobs in those employment sectors.

A University of Southern California Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research study found that more than half of Los Angeles’ residents are unemployed. Within the next three months, the USC study estimates about 33 percent of those unemployed residents will run out of money, and will be unable to meet their financial obligations. Chaos will likely follow.

As Los Angeles slowly reopens its economy – an event that, given Garcetti’s hardline “we will shut you down” stance, may be weeks away – U.S. citizens and lawfully present immigrants are entitled to have the first opportunity to fill jobs as they become available. Since there is literally zero likelihood that California’s state or municipal officials will prioritize American workers, mandatory E-Verify is the best and perhaps only chance U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents will have to get back on the road to economic stability.

President Trump has consistently punted on E-Verify. During the employment crisis, now is the time for the president to step up and put his office’s full weight behind the companion House and Senate bills, the Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act, which Senate Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) introduced. The legislation would permanently reauthorize E-Verify. Within a year, all employers would be required to use the program, and existing employees would have to be E-Verify-checked. Employers that refuse to adopt E-Verify would be subject to fines up to $2,500, and risk further penalties.

Congress should do everything in its power to protect the jobs and wages of hard-working Americans. The Accountability through Electronic Verification Act would be one part of that elusive goal.


Joe Guzzardi is a Progressives for Immigration Reform analyst who has written about immigration for more than 30 years. Contact him at jguzzardi@pfirdc.org.

Pre-Paid Debit Cards For Illegals In LA

The Day The Town Stood Still

The Day The Town Stood Still

Dr. John W. Gilmore

The streets are almost empty where I live.  They call it being sheltered.  I walk the streets just for exercise.  In the air of  uneasy quietness I pass neighbors walking their dogs every so often .  We wear masks and spread out just a little farther to keep our distance, unlike the walks in the parks I have gone on where bicyclists come rushing down narrow paths and people without masks stroll rapidly toward you never giving way.  

The Day The Town Stood Still
Wyndmoore, Pa. in the time of Covid

Like everything else, spring seems to be frozen waiting for the corona virus to pass.   But the animals are active, as usual on the cool, sunny day.   Even they seem to be wondering what is going on as I walk past and they look at me strangely.  They move more boldly than usual, probably wondering why things are so quiet and where the humans are.  I suppose if I were an animal I would be delighted, and I think they are.

Most of the streets on the main drag here, on Willow Grove Avenue in Wyndmoor are closed.  Only a sandwich shop, a gas station and pizza shop and Rita’s Ice Cream are open for pick up, but not going in or sitting down, just grab and go.  There’s a small grocery store open where people are standing in the street; only a certain number at a time are allowed in. I ordered a hoagie today.  I drove a little way up the street and went to a window with the top slid down to pick it up, which was new.  It was like being in a high crime area where you pay for your food through a slot in a thick plexiglass window.  I had on my mask and a masked man from inside asked what I would like.  It all seemed a bit silly as I paid for my order and waited.  A stranger masked like I was approached and waited, making sure to fulfill the six foot mandatory distance.  I sat in my car and waited relieving myself of my green, homemade mask while listening to my Nothing Like the Sun Sting CD for just a few moments.   

Upon receiving the signal I paid for my sandwich and tossed it in the front seat.  I took a quick look again at the Twilight Zone like environment and began to drive home.   I passed the neighborhood coffee shop, closed, and looked at several very small stores that looked closed, even if they weren’t.  The 711, which is open all the time, looked lonely with very few cars sitting in the parking lot.  The whole place is on lockdown.  It is strange to live in a place where humans have been removed from the equation.

Even so, the animals seemed just a bit happier.  The air seemed just a bit purer and the place quieter.  I thought I could get used to it.  A teenager popping a wheelie on a bike came shooting by right down the middle of the street in all of his teenage arrogance shattering the magic of the moment.  Had I pulled out one second earlier he would have been dead.  Thanks to him I could definitely understand why the animals were so happy and  could actually see a positive side to being without humans. 

Residency Policy Punishes Good US Doctors — And The Rest Of Us

Residency Policy Punishes Good US Doctors — And The Rest Of Us

By Dr. Doug Medina

For years, the Association of American Medical Colleges has predicted the United States will face a large physician shortage, and the coronavirus pandemic may further exacerbate this shortage.

However, there are thousands of qualified U.S. doctors who are unable to practice. Every year, about 1,000 U.S. citizens graduate medical schools in the U.S., but don’t move onto residency at a teaching hospital because they don’t “match” via the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), the organization that controls this process. Without matching into residency, doctors cannot practice medicine.

Residency Policy Punishes Good US Doctors -- And The Rest Of Us

I’m one of those doctors ready to help during this current pandemic but can’t. Even though I graduated Georgetown University School of Medicine (GUSOM) in good standing, earning Honors in five clinical rotations, I have not matched into residency.

My path to a top-tier medical school in our nation’s capital started at the University of Colorado where I earned a degree in biochemistry. After college, I received a grant to work at the Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Materials Research Center in Colorado. My hard work and study ethic helped me score in the 90th percentile on the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT). I was accepted to GUSOM, which receives about 10,000 applications per year and only selects about 200 candidates.

Since graduating Georgetown in 2011, I passed the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE), Steps 1, 2 and 3. To become a licensed physician, a doctor must pass the USMLE. While I am a nationally licensed physician in the U.S., I cannot practice because I do not have a license number since I don’t have a residency position.

This is happening every year to too many U.S. doctors.

Since 2011, I worked with Floating Doctors, an international nonprofit organization in Central America. In 2014, I published research from the Research Institute on Addictions. After 2014, I received grants to work as an extern under supervising psychiatrists at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, the first federally operated mental health hospital, and the Veteran’s Administration Mental Health Clinic in Washington, D.C. I’ve worked jobs in electronic medical records and as an intake clinician admitting patients at a mental health hospital. I’ve had nine supervisors give me high marks and provide letters of recommendation.

To obtain my medical degree, I incurred debt of $50,000+ per year in federal student loans to pay tuition at Georgetown. With an interest rate of 6.7 percent, my student loans accrue interest of more than $25,000 annually and have ballooned to more than $460,000. Even with my job as an intake clinician earning $30 an hour, and paying my student loans via an Income Driven Repayment (IDR) plan, I’m not even able to afford to pay the accruing monthly interest on my student loans.

Last month, more than 1,200 U.S. medical seniors did not match into residency through the NRMP. In addition, an untold number of prior medical graduates didn’t match. In fact, each year, upwards of 2,000 current-year grads and prior-year graduates don’t match.

Yet just this year, through the NRMP, 4,222 non-U.S. citizen international medical graduates (non-U.S. IMGs) from medical schools outside the U.S. were provided medical residencies, which are largely funded by U.S. taxpayers (via Medicare funding). In fact, each year since 2011, the year I graduated, the number of non-U.S. IMGs receiving U.S. residencies has increased – from 2,721 in 2011 to more than 4,200 in 2020, a total of more than 36,000 foreign doctors in a ten-year period.

To ensure fairness to American citizens, a simple solution is to prioritize U.S. graduates. This may mean a lower number of foreign doctors receiving residency positions, but in this current pandemic, doctors are needed in their home countries. For instance, currently, India has a shortage of 600,000 doctors.

Institutions that should do more to help American doctors achieve their goals work against them. That includes the powerful, influential American Medical Association, which has been lobbying to issue more employment-based visas like the H-1B and the J-1.

U.S. medical students go through a highly rigorous process to get one of the coveted first-year slots. We have a reasonable expectation that when we graduate medical school, we’ll practice our chosen profession. To be shut out while foreign nationals are hired violates America’s social contract with its citizens.

There are reasonable solutions to address this serious problem that is ruining thousands of American lives per year. The governing medical organizations, universities and our elected officials must right this wrong.

Dr. Doug Medina is a graduate of Georgetown University School of Medicine and advocate for ensuring U.S. doctors in good standing receive residency status in order to practice medicine. Contact Medina at info@doctorswithoutjobs.org.

Residency Policy Punishes Good US Doctors — And The Rest Of Us

US Doctors Bypassed For Foreign Ones?

US Doctors Bypassed For Foreign Ones?

By Joe Guzzardi 

Congress, immigration advocacy groups and immigration lawyers are urging the Trump administration to increase the number of foreign-born doctors to alleviate the alleged medical responders’ shortage during the coronavirus pandemic. Minnesota Democratic Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, along with colleagues in the House and Senate, wrote to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services requesting that the agency resume premium processing for international medical school graduates (non-U.S. citizen international medical graduates) who are seeking employment-based H-1B and J-1 visas. On March 20, USCIS announced that because of COVID-19, it would suspend premium processing.

US Doctors Bypassed For Foreign Ones?


According to the letter, more foreign-born doctors would increase health care availability, especially in rural areas, through the Conrad 30 Waiver Program, which allows U.S.-trained foreign medical school graduates to stay in the country as long as they practice in underserved areas. The “30” refers to the number of doctors per state that can participate in the program.

Traditionally, foreign national doctors who trained in the U.S. must return home for two years after their provisional period has ended before they can reapply for a new visa or permanent residency. Last year, Senators Klobuchar, Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) introduced legislation to extend the Conrad 30 program through 2021. The Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Reauthorization Act, S. 948, has 15 cosponsors, eight Republicans, six Democrats and one Independent.

Americans are united in their desire to do all possible to end the spread of coronavirus. But a reality dose is in order. There are U.S. doctors ready to work who Klobuchar, Collins, Rosen et al appear to be ignoring. National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) data shows that each year since 2011 up to 2,000 current year medical school graduates and prior year graduates did not place into a medical residency at a teaching hospital. Without that residency, they cannot practice medicine.

But in that same ten-year period, more than 36,000 non-U.S. citizen international medical graduates (IMGs) received residency positions – spots that are largely funded by U.S. taxpayers through Medicare dollars. In fact, the number of non-U.S. citizen IMGs has increased each of the years since 2011, from 2,721 to more than 4,222 in 2020.

A sensible solution to the imbalance between overseas and U.S. doctors would be to reduce the number of residencies available to non-U.S. doctors which should increase residency slots for U.S. doctors.

American medical school graduates have worked hard, often taking on tremendous debt loads to earn their undergraduate and M.D. degrees. An unmatched Georgetown University School of Medicine graduate who I’ll call Dr. X, and who I interviewed for this column, told me that to obtain his medical degree he took on $50,000+/year in federal student loans to pay for his education. The cost of a medical degree at GUSOM is even higher today.

With an interest rate of 6.7 percent, Dr. X’s student loans accrue interest at more than $25,000/year and have ballooned to an aggregate that exceeds $460,000, a sum he’s unlikely to retire if he’s unable to work as a physician. Dr. X passed his U.S. medical licensing exams and has extensive medical volunteer experience, as well as other health services experience. Still, without residency, Dr. X can’t practice.

Yet, just since 2011, 36,000 foreign-born doctors are practicing throughout the U.S. even though the federal government has no regulatory authority to oversee the quality of medical education in India, Pakistan, China and Iran, the home countries of the majority of these incoming doctors.

Not only is the existing system and the proposed congressional effort to increase the total number of foreign medical practitioners unfair to American doctors, it’s unjust to the sending countries. In this current pandemic, doctors are needed in their home countries. For instance, India reported a shortage of 600,000 doctors which means that there is one government doctor for every 10,189 persons versus the World Health Organization’s recommended ratio of 1:1,000.

American doctors have the reasonable expectation that upon earning their medical school degrees, and passing their licensing exams, they’ll be able to practice their chosen profession. To shut U.S. doctors out while hiring foreign nationals violates America’s social contract with its citizens, and is a gross injustice.


Joe Guzzardi is a Progressives for Immigration Reform analyst who has written about immigration for more than 30 years. Contact him at jguzzardi@pfirdc.org.

US Doctors Bypassed For Foreign Ones?

Bill Would Allow Reopening Some Pa Businesses With Conditions

Bill Would Allow Reopening Some Pa Businesses With Conditions

By Sen. Doug Mastriano

I introduced legislation this week to get Pennsylvania working again.  Calling it “Pennsylvania Healthy Citizens and Healthy Businesses back to work initiative,” it applies strict health and safety measures on businesses to allow them to resume operations.  The governor should not have the sole and arbitrary power to judge which businesses should survive.  His only answer to this was creating a star-chamber like secret waiver process, which at last count has 25,000 requests pouring in.  The entire process is a well-guarded secret with zero accountability or transparency.  We have no idea if those approved/disapproved are getting political payback, or how decisions are being made.  Is it constitutional that he is wielding so much power, unprecedented in Pennsylvania’s history?  It is not up to Governor Wolf to pick winners and losers and he is indeed doing that.  This was made evident in a recent expose by the Philadelphia Inquirer, which discovered the Wolf Family legacy company to remains open, despite his order to the contrary.

Pennsylvania is indeed confronted by a contagious virus, which has necessitated certain emergency measures to curtail its spread.  This encompasses distancing, sanitary health practices, health conscience behavior, a sanitary workplace, among many other considerations as listed by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  These are designed to ameliorate the spread of COVID-19.  Chief among the considerations is the need to avoid the spike in infected people that sadly occurred in other nations, such as in Italy.  This spike overwhelmed their health care facilities and left scores not receiving the help that they required.

The key concern of Governor Tom Wolf in this environment was to reduce the spread of the virus across the state by severely restricting/limiting what he called “non-essential” and later,  “non-life-supporting” business activity.  His order to avoid a spike in cases was triggered by the governor’s 19 March order that initially called for the closure of all businesses across the state deemed non-essential that evening.  Wolf’s unilateral closure order impacted tens of thousands of businesses; millions of jobs and put at stake the very lives and economic well being of our citizens.  His draconian order took no account of CDC or Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines on allowing low contagion risk jobs to remain operational, but at the stroke of a pen, unilaterally issued a proclamation that will be calamitous for our state.  Hardest hit among these are; single-parent families, young couples, the independently employed (who still are not eligible for unemployment, despite my engagement with the governor to reverse his position on this), non-profits and small businesses.  There is a real and present danger that Wolf’s cure may be worse than the virus.

And then there is Wolf’s much-vaunted waiver office.  The governor’s waiver process lacks accountability, has no oversight and grants him unilateral power of who can and cannot be open for business.  This is too much power in the hands of one man and as we saw with the Philadelphia Inquirer exposé, it is already being used for political payoff.

My “Pennsylvania Healthy Citizens and Healthy Businesses back to work” legislation will allow businesses to reopen if they agree to abide by CDC mitigation measures to contain the spread of the virus. We need a safe, fair and balanced approach to reopening businesses.  Not the secret and random Wolf waiver process, but rather an approach that takes the incompetence and corruption of Harrisburg bureaucrats out of it.  A process that uses the expert advice of CDC and OSHA to provide direction on how certain businesses can reopen, which will at the same time, protect the health and welfare of our people and our state.

The preponderance of the “non-life sustaining businesses” closed by Governor Wolf are categorized by the Federal Government as low to medium risk at spreading the diseases and that’s without them already implementing the CDC’s health conscience best practices.  Imagine how safe they will be with the implementation of CDC’s guidance.  The way ahead for Pennsylvania is to offer businesses deemed by Gov Wolf as “non-life supporting” to resume operations but under certain conditions.   To reopen, mangers, owners, and staff agree to comply with CDC and OSHA COVID-19 mitigation measures until the state of emergency has ended.  These businesses do not require a waiver, but agree to enforce CDC and OSHA policies during the COVID-19 health crisis and will be responsible for meeting these standards if inspected by the PA Department of Health or local law enforcement.  Timely and full compliance is required to continue operating the business during the crisis.  An appeals process will be established at the Department of Labor to handle any concerns of disagreement with an inspector’s findings and monthly reports will be filed with the relevant committees in the House and Senate (Health, Labor, etc) to provide oversight and transparency.  The House and Senate Labor Committees will adjudicate any appeals or complaints that are challenged by the businesses in disagreement with a Department of Labor’s decisions.

Businesses that resume operations during this health crisis agree to abide by the following healthy practices delineated by both the CDC and OSHA:

Businesses that resume operations during this health crisis agree to abide by the following healthy practices delineated by both the CDC and OSHA:

  • Implement a generous sick leave policy, without retribution, for anyone who has COVID-19 symptoms (i.e., fever, cough, or shortness of breath)
  • Employees who develop COVID-19 symptoms (i.e., fever, cough, or shortness of breath) will immediately be sent home and not return until cleared by a healthcare professional
  • Sick employees must remain at home until their symptoms have passed and/or they receive a clean bill of health from their healthcare provider or state/local health officials
  • Employees with sick family members, or family members at higher risk (elderly, those with a weakened immune system, heart conditions, respiratory disease, chronic medical condition, diabetes, etc), should not work in a public area and all efforts should be made for them to work from home
  • Employers allow as many employees as possible to work from home (telework)
  • Employers must ensure that there is a minimum of six feet between workers, as well as six feet maintained between the employee and the public.
  • Employees at higher risk of suffering severe consequences or death by COVID-19 (elderly, weakened immune system, heart conditions, respiratory disease, chronic medical condition, diabetes, etc), will not be permitted to work in a non-life supporting business until the crisis has passed.
  • Employees with a sick family member will not return to work until that family member is cleared by a professional healthcare worker.

Additionally, the business will agree to:

  • Implement sanitary policies and a regular cleaning schedule to reduce exposure to COVID-19
  • To disinfect workspaces and areas with access to the public in addition to the workspaces and especially the restrooms.
  • Have adequate cleaning supplies available, as well as disposable paper towels, etc. The business will also ensure that tissues, hand sanitizers, gloves, medical masks, and other necessary sanitary products are available on site should an employee need them.
  • Online meetings will be encouraged rather than in-person
  • Employees will not share tools, equipment, phones, desks, computers or electronics.
  • Employers will agree to allow employees to remain home to care for sick relatives if necessary
  • Employers will develop flexible emergency leave policies during this health crisis and have non-punitive measures in place for those that need time off due to health concerns
  • Employers will not require their employees to have a COVID-19 positive test result to take sick leave
  • Employers will suspend non-essential operations and go to “minimal manning” to reduce the chances of spreading COVID-19
  • Employers Adopt “flexible worksites” that allows telework, etc. to reduce the likelihood of exposure
  • Break rooms and cafeterias should be closed
  • Postpone all non-essential meetings.
  • Limit public interaction and use curbside pickup, and online meetings.
  • Seek ways to increase building/office ventilation and circulation,

In closing, I’m reminded of a local florist that is operated by a husband and wife.  They can do all transactions online and deliver the arrangements to the customer.  They will not exchange money, see or meet any people and are at zero risk of spreading the virus.  There is another local business in my area that is operated by a husband, wife and their daughter.  Again, the transactions can be done online and the goods can be left out for pick up or delivery.  They will have no interaction with the public and are at zero risk of spreading the virus.  Having such low-risk businesses shut down at the whim of the governor lacks reason or justification.  He’s doing nothing to limit the health crisis while causing unnecessary pain to the community.   What’s the point of shutting down any activity that has zero to little risk of spreading the virus?  This is simply an example of the heavy hand of big government, needlessly crushing hard-working families and small business owners.

By implementing the above best practices, the spread of the virus will be contained/migrated, while at the same time allowing Pennsylvania to reopen for business.   Many of the businesses shut down by the governor’s unilateral order are considered by CDC and OSHA criteria as low risk of spreading the virus.  Mandating the implementation of these commonsense and life-saving measures, as described by CDC and OSHA, will ensure the safety of our citizens and the survival of our businesses.  Without compromising the health and welfare of our people, this balanced/commonsense approach is in the best interest of Pennsylvania.  Governor Wolf, it’s time to think about the people of Pennsylvania and get “safe businesses” back to work.

Doug Mastriano represents Pennsylvania Senate District 33

Bill Would Allow Reopening Some Pa Businesses With Conditions
Bill Would Allow Reopening Some Pa Businesses With Conditions

California Homeless Coronavirus Concern

California Homeless Coronavirus Concern


By Kevin Lynn

The novel coronavirus that first appeared in China late last year has been finding its way around the world since. Its journey highlights why a nation’s borders serve not only to protect a nation’s security, but the health and welfare of the citizens of a country. Ineffective U.S. border control for decades, as well as only cursory attention paid to internal controls that regulate entries and exits of noncitizens, has left our country vulnerable to a new pandemic.

California Homeless Coronavirus Concern

The agencies and technologies exist to effectively regulate entry, but we choose not to utilize them. Quixotically, cities, counties and even entire states opt to declare themselves sanctuaries for illegal immigrants. The poster child for local governments providing sanctuary is Los Angeles, a city least prepared to deal with a disease outbreak.

Last year, Los Angeles had an outbreak of typhus, a disease characterized by fever, headaches, a purple rash and often delirium that typically spreads by infected mites, lice and fleas. The outbreak would have probably gone largely unreported had it not been for the disease jumping from the city’s homeless population to staff working in City Hall, blocks from Skid Row.

Conservative estimates place the number of Los Angeles County’s homeless population at 59,000. Imagine if coronavirus hits that population. Unlike typhus, which is a bacterial infection, the coronavirus can spread much more easily. The virus, which results in the disease COVID-19 in humans, can spread between people who come as close as six feet, via respiratory droplets and by exposure to infected surfaces. The Center for Disease Control states, “The virus that causes COVID-19 seems to be spreading easily and sustainably in communities.”

It is hard to walk back decades of neglect and disinterest in what should be a commonsense approach to regulating who may enter the country. But the special interests that want an inexpensive as well as pliable labor force and politicians looking to feather their nests have undermined our ability to respond effectively to the coronavirus.

The countries of Singapore and Mongolia have been shining examples of how to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. The number of new cases in both countries is falling off dramatically. In the case of Mongolia, cases have plateaued. Singapore responded immediately to the crisis. Its top-notch healthcare system allowed it to do localized testing which helped not only in early identification, but also effective tracing of potential carriers. Moreover, it was able to take the restrictive measures necessary with a citizenry that was prepared to sacrifice for the common good.

Contrast this to what is now a very balkanized California. Even with its large vulnerable populations (150,000 homeless) and recent examples of disease outbreaks, California has no localized disease testing. California’s politicians are almost giddy with delight when flouting the nation’s immigration laws, but tepid when it comes to measures that actually improve the safety, health and security of its citizens.

Likely California will handle COVID-19 in much the way it responds to everything else that requires an effective response. It will launch into delusional thinking that will have its political leaders assigning blame to everyone but themselves. The question is: How long will the citizenry put up with this?


Kevin Lynn is the Executive Director of Progressives for Immigration Reform. Contact him at klynn@pfirdc.org.

California Homeless Coronavirus Concern