Every time immigration comes up, it’s painted as a choice of extremes. Compassion or common sense? No immigration or no rules?

That’s a false choice — and it’s one that benefits only the politicians who’d rather argue than govern.

Preferring immigration that strengthens our economy instead of undercutting it is just common sense.

The recent controversy over H-1B visas is a perfect example. Americans are waking up to the reality that this program, sold as a way to fill “critical skills gaps,” too often does the opposite. It replaces U.S. workers, suppresses wages, and gives leverage to corporations that have every incentive to choose cheaper foreign labor over American talent. That’s not America First. That’s America Last — with a diversity slogan slapped on top.

But here’s what the media and the political class won’t tell you: Not all immigration programs are created equal. And if we’re serious about prioritizing American workers, jobs, and communities, we should be talking a lot more about the policies that actually deliver.

Programs like the EB-5 investor visa system.

Unlike H-1B, EB-5 doesn’t take jobs from Americans. Instead, it creates them. It doesn’t offer handouts. It requires real skin in the game from applicants. And with a strict cap of 10,650 visas, it maintains a controlled influx of immigrants, keeping America stable and secure.

Here’s how it works: A foreign applicant invests at least $1.05 million — or $800,000 if the investment is in a targeted employment area, such as a rural community or a region with high unemployment. Returns are not guaranteed. If the investment fails, the investor loses his money.

In exchange, he gets a chance at a green card — only if he meets strict requirements and proves his investment generated American jobs.

That’s the key: EB-5 doesn’t promise success; it requires it.

RELATED: ‘A direct path to Citizenship’: Trump announces official launch of Trump Gold Card visa program

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

EB-5 aligns incentives the way immigration policy should. Investors succeed only if American communities succeed. Jobs must be created here, projects must be built here, and money must stay here. That’s a far cry from visa programs that reward outsourcing, encourage dependency, and leave taxpayers holding the bag. EB-5 treats U.S. residency as something to be earned.

The results speak for themselves. Between 2008 and 2021, the program generated $43.9 billion in foreign direct investment. That money translates to real American improvement through projects like hotels, infrastructure, commercial developments, and housing. From 2010 to 2013 alone, EB-5 investments were responsible for creating over 100,000 American jobs.

Contrast that with H-1B, where companies can import foreign workers, often at lower wages, to the detriment of American citizens.

Critics love to point to early reports of fraud in the EB-5 program. What they conveniently leave out is that those cases were tied to bad actors running projects — not the investors themselves. The perpetrators were prosecuted. Reforms followed.

In fact, the program has been significantly strengthened over time. Investment thresholds were raised in 2019 to ensure only serious investors qualify. Then came the 2022 reforms, which added even more transparency, oversight, and accountability.

That’s how a healthy immigration system is supposed to work. When abuse was identified, Congress stepped in. Oversight increased. Standards tightened. Transparency improved. Instead of scrapping a productive program, lawmakers fixed it — proving that enforcement, not abandonment, is the answer when a policy shows real promise.

The compliance data doesn’t lie. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reported a 94% decrease in I-829 petition denials by 2015 — meaning the overwhelming majority of participants were meeting the program’s requirements.

That’s what responsible immigration looks like: high standards, strict enforcement, and real benefits for America.

RELATED: Chip Roy’s immigration blitz hits the lawless left and the squish right

Photo by Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images

And let’s address another elephant in the room. EB-5 doesn’t fast-track voters. It doesn’t hand out political favors or rely on emotional blackmail about being “anti-immigrant.” It’s transactional, transparent, and limited by design.

You invest. You create jobs. You follow the rules. Or you don’t qualify.

That’s it.

For years, Americans have been told that questioning immigration policy makes them heartless. But there’s nothing heartless about asking whether a program actually helps this country. Preferring immigration that strengthens our economy instead of undercutting it is just common sense.

If Washington insists on talking about immigration, let’s at least talk honestly. Programs like H-1B deserve scrutiny — and reform — because they too often put corporations ahead of citizens. Programs like EB-5, when properly enforced, do the opposite.

America doesn’t need more slogans. We need smarter policy. And that starts with rewarding systems that put Americans first.

​Opinion & analysis, Immigration reform, H-1b visas, Eb-5 visa program, Investment, Jobs, Employment, Green cards, America first, Sara gonzales 

President Donald Trump and Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey apparently agreed on de-escalating the situation that led to the lethal shooting of an anti-ICE protester.

The president said on social media that he had spoken via phone with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), before adding that he had a positive phone call with Frey as well.

‘Violent criminals should be held accountable based on the crimes they commit, not based on where they are from.’

“I just had a very good telephone conversation with Mayor Jacob Frey, of Minneapolis,” Trump said.

“Lots of progress is being made!” he added. “[Border czar] Tom Homan will be meeting with him tomorrow in order to continue the discussion.”

Frey posted about the call on his account soon after.

“I spoke with President Trump today and appreciated the conversation. I expressed how much Minneapolis has benefited from our immigrant communities and was clear that my main ask is that Operation Metro Surge needs to end. The president agreed the present situation can’t continue,” the mayor said.

“Some federal agents will begin leaving the area tomorrow, and I will continue pushing for the rest involved in this operation to go,” he added.

Frey could be referring to reports that top Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino and some other agents agreed to leave Minneapolis.

The mayor went on to say that the city would continue to cooperate with federal investigations but not with “unconstitutional arrests of our neighbors” or to help enforce federal immigration law.

“Violent criminals should be held accountable based on the crimes they commit, not based on where they are from,” he added.

“I will continue working with all levels of government to keep our communities safe, keep crime down, and put Minneapolis residents first,” he continued.

RELATED: More UNHINGED anti-ICE extremist footage: ‘I am a liberal, leftist, pagan, lesbian, transgender woman, and witch!’

Anti-ICE protester Alex Pretti was shot and killed during a scuffle with federal immigration agents when he tried to interfere with an operation on Saturday. Pretti was carrying a firearm at the time, but one agent grabbed it away from him before shots rang out.

Democrats responded to the incident by demanding that all of the federal troops be pulled out of the state.

“Minnesota has had it. This is sickening,” Walz replied. “The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.”

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​Minneapolis mayor jacob frey, Operation metro surge, Trump and frey deal, Minneapolis federal surge, Politics 

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota claimed that President Donald Trump’s true aim with the surge in Minnesota had to do with rigging elections, and Vice President JD Vance issued a brutal rebuke.

Omar said that Trump was trying to gain possession of voter rolls in order to rig the upcoming midterm election that could stall the president’s agenda for the rest of his term.

‘This was never about immigration or fraud.’

“‘ICE will leave Minnesota if you hand over your voter rolls’ tells you everything you need to know. This was never about immigration or fraud. It was always about rigging elections,” Omar posted on social media.

She was referring to reports that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi had included in her demands from the state the requirement that they hand over voter rolls. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon responded on Sunday with an unequivocal “no.”

Vance reposted Omar’s message and offered a satirical translation of what she really meant, according to his estimation.

“‘We really want illegal aliens to vote in elections and will riot to ensure that it is so,'” he posted.

Trump said Monday that he had a phone call with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D), and the mayor laid out the agreements they made. He said that some of the federal agents would leave Minneapolis and that he would continue to seek for all of them to leave.

The White House said that border czar Tom Homan would be sent to Minneapolis to look over the operations after Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino agreed to leave the city.

RELATED: More UNHINGED anti-ICE extremist footage: ‘I am a liberal, leftist, pagan, lesbian, transgender woman, and witch!’

Democrats have begun publicly voicing a plan to block a bill to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement in order to oppose the president’s mass deportation policies. If they are unable to reach a compromise, it may result in a partial government shutdown.

“Government funding expires at the end of the week, and Republicans are determined to not have another government shutdown,” said a Senate Republican spokesperson about the disagreement. “We will move forward as planned and hope Democrats can find a path forward to join us.”

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​Jd vance vs ilhan omar, Minnesota voter rolls, Ice in minnesota, Ice agents leave minnesota, Politics 

Last week, anti-ICE agitator and left-wing activist William Kelly, also known as “DaWokeFarmer” on social media, was arrested by the FBI and charged with obstruction, conspiracy to deprive rights, and violating the FACE Act for his role in invading Cities Church during a worship service as part of an anti-ICE protest on January 18 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Shortly following the demonstration, Kelly took to social media and posted a profanity-laden video challenging Attorney General Pam Bondi to arrest him.

“Yesterday, I went into a church with Nekima Armstrong, and I protested these white supremacists. The pastor of the church is a f**king ICE leader in the city. How can you be a f**king pastor and be a f**king ICE agent? F**k ’em,” Kelly railed, donning a “F**K TRUMP” beanie.

“They want to come after me. F**k ’em. How can they live so comfortably while the f**king people from Somalia that are in this country legally that have f**king citizenship can’t even go to their mosque and pray? How do they deserve any f**king different? F**k those f**king Nazis. Come and get me, Pam Bondi, you f**king traitorous bitch. F**k, all power to the people,” he continued.

To Kelly’s expletive-filled video, Bondi humorously replied, “OK,” before arresting him just days later.

When Glenn Beck saw the footage, he was appalled by Kelly’s delusional rant.

“Hey, farm boy,” he taunts, “the policies that you’re pushing for right now, let me ask you: How’d they work out for the farmers in the Soviet Union? How’d they work out for the farmers in Ukraine? How’d they work out for the farmers in China?”

When it comes to “these policies that you’re so in love with … you know who loses their farms right away? The stupid farmer like you!”

On this episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Glenn responds to “DaWokeFarmer” with a truth bomb so savage, you’ll feel the heat through your screen.

In communist regimes like the one Kelly advocates for in the U.S., farmers are some of the first to be targeted, Glenn points out.

“They take people like you, and they shoot them. And then they take dummies like you who know nothing about farming and say, ‘Hey, now you go farm.’ … And then everybody starts to starve, and then the government comes back and says, ‘You’re part of the problem too.’ And they take those people and shoot them. … And it just, lather, rinse, repeat,” he excoriates, denouncing Kelly as a “moron.”

Glenn then pleads with Kelly to send him the “list of Somali citizens that are citizens who have done nothing wrong.”

If such a list exists, he vows to “stand with” Kelly — but, of course, no such list exists.

“How do I know? Because if you had that evidence, it would be all over ABC, NBC, and CBS. It’d be everywhere. But I don’t see that,” Glenn says. “I just see people like you using the F-word, wearing a hat with the F-word … saying they’re coming and they’re arresting innocent people.”

The truth is, in the first year of the Trump administration, ICE has arrested only two Somali-American citizens.

“One was released a couple of hours into it. The other one, they didn’t sort it out until the next day, but they were immediately released once the problem was found,” Glenn says.

“These victims are all made-up people,” he says.

The fact that these protesters are still so concentrated on Renee Good — the 37-year old woman who was lethally shot after she struck an ICE officer with her vehicle while deliberately impeding a federal immigration operation — is proof that there isn’t a genuine victim list, Glenn says. Otherwise they wouldn’t need Good to be their convenience linchpin.

“They know they have nothing,” he concludes.

To hear more of his epic rant, watch the video above.

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​Glenn beck, Beck, Glenn, Minnesota church protest, Minneapolis protests, Minnesota protests, Anti-ice, William kelly, Dawokefarmer, Pam bondi, Leftwing violence, Somali fraud, The glenn beck program, Blazetv, Blaze media