Hiring U.S. citizens is now anti-immigrant… and xenophobic. That's the message that viewers of Telemundo’s midday newscast took away from its report on the executive order signed by President Donald Trump limiting the issuance of H-1 visas.
Anchor Felicidad Aveleyra, who called the President´s move to protect American workers “xenophobic”, recurred to a foreign journalist employed by the federally-funded run media platform Voice of America (VOA), to offer his take on the executive order “as someone who looks in from the outside”.
A rather odd statement, given that the journalist in question is hardly someone looking from the outside but is well inside and directly affected by the executive order. Watch as Bricio Segovia, who covers the White House for VOA in Spanish, bashes Trump for ensuring that visas like the H1-Bs and J-1, are used “for top, highly paid talent to create American jobs, not as inexpensive labor program to destroy American jobs”:
FELICIDAD AVELEYRA: The White House says the executive order would help prevent federal agencies from unfairly replacing U.S. workers with low-cost foreign labor. What’s your read on this?
BRICIO SEGOVIA: Well, I think that there’s no further read other than this is an anti-immigrant measure
AVELEYRA: We're clearly talking about xenophobia.
According to a report from the very own Voice of America: “The executive order also comes as some foreign journalists at Voice of America await a ruling on whether their J-1 visas will be renewed following an agency wide review of such visas.” Segovia, is evidently playing the victim card as, maybe, he will have no other choice but to legalize his “immigration status in another way”, “or leave the country after 30 days”, when his visa expires, “which is the grace period that the government gives us.”
As is the norm in almost every country in the world.
Let sponsors like Target know about the liberal bias they enable at Latino news nets that consider protecting American jobs, xenophobic.
Press on expand to read the transcripts of the above mentioned segment:
Noticias Telemundo Mediodía
August 4, 2020FELICIDAD AVELEYRA: President Donald Trump yesterday signed an executive order restricting federal agencies from hiring foreign employees. This measure affects many Latino immigrants who see their visas and their own employment at risk. And that is what happens with employees at the government news agency, the Voice of America, in its Spanish-language service. One of them is Bricio Segovia, a reporter who covers, to be precise, information from the White House and whom I now greet. Good afternoon, Bricio.
BRICIO SEGOVIA: Good afternoon, thank you for the invitation.
AVELEYRA: The White House says the executive order would help prevent federal agencies from unfairly replacing U.S. workers with low-cost foreign labor. What’s your read on this?
SEGOVIA: Well, first of all the Voice of America, a company that depends on the government, we have reporting independence. On the one hand. What’s our read on this? Well, I think that there’s no further read other than this is an anti-immigrant measure, because President Donald Trump also says in this executive order that he does not consider it fair that Americans are out of work during a pandemic, yet he does consider it fair that immigrants recruited and hired by the U.S. government before this pandemic will now be out in the street in the midst of the pandemic; there is only one way to read this.
AVELEYRA: Listen Bricio, we're clearly talking about xenophobia. But if you tried to put your perspective as someone looking in from the outside, what would you say someone brings to a job by virtue of not being from this country?
SEGOVIA: Well, obviously it contributes in our case, it represents professional growth, it also obviously provides us an income just like any other job, anyone else, right? What is serious about this case is precisely that they are giving us an absolute silent treatment, we don’t know what’s in store for us. In fact, we were aware of this situation three weeks before that executive order (was issued). However, despite all this, we found out through the press, what was leaked in the media, and no one, absolutely no one, is telling us what's going to happen to us in a few months. And in the meantime, what we do know is that our visas are running out, they will expire, and leave us with no choice but to legalize our immigration status in another way, for those of us that can do that, or leave the country after 30 days, when our visas expire, which is the grace period that the government gives us.
AVELEYRA: We are talking about trained immigrants who live here legally and who are eligible for certain jobs, and are now at risk. Bricio Segovia, thank you for your perspective on this situation.
SEGOVIA: Thank you for giving a voice to this issue.
