Steve Bannon blames Asians for taking jobs from African Americans and Latinos

SCREEN CAPTURE / CNN

CNN host Fareed Zakaria interviewed for Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon, right

RADICAL CONSERVATIVE Steve Bannon recently took swiped at immigrants who come to America on H-1B visas, the majority of whom come from Asia. 

In an interview with Fareed Zakaria, which aired on CNN a week ago, the former White House chief strategist known for his hardline stance on immigration said that if “you’re from Asia and you’re here, second-generation, you’re (an) American citizen, that’s absolutely no problem.”

But Bannon told the Indian American host that he felt differently about those who are in the U.S. via the visa, which allows employers to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations. 

“These (H-1B) visas where you come here… basically to take the jobs of American citizens is just not acceptable. And that’s not racist,” Bannon said. “The central beating heart of this is that Hispanics and blacks have to get into the high valuated tech jobs; we’re never going to do that as long as they have unfair competition.”

JOHN YANG

Zakaria mentioned remarks by Bannon last year in which he said that “two-thirds or three-quarters of the CEOs in Silicon Valley are from South Asia or from Asia,” and that the U.S. “is more than an economy. We’re a civic society.”

Pressed to explain his views, the former former CEO for the conservative Breitbart News, said he was espousing “economic nationalism,” which he claimed has nothing to do with race, ethnicity, religion or gender, but concerns American citizenship. 

The overwhelming majority of H-1B visas go to immigrants from Asia, specifically India and China. Those who qualify for them have a bachelor’s degree or higher and work in fields that require highly specialized knowledge, especially in the fields of medicine and tech.

Bannon’s comments, however, are based off various stereotypes and fears of Asian immigrants, said John C. Yang, the executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC). 

Bannon is particularly misguided by the “model minority” myth that Asians have higher incomes and higher levels of education than other minorities, said Yang.

RELATED: Bannon says Catholic Church needs immigrants for economic reasons

“I think what Mr. Bannon is clearly trying to do is race-bait. He is trying to drive a wedge between races,” Yang told HuffPost. “What he’s really doing is trying to limit opportunities for all minorities.” 

“He’s just trying to draw a wedge and he’s hoping that somehow that African Americans and Hispanic Americans will read his quote and find alliance with him rather than with all the minorities.

Bannon's theory against the H-1B visa holders has repeatedly been debunked by numerous studies.

A New American Economy study showed placing caps on the H-1B visas actually disproportionately hurt U.S.-born tech workers, especially those who have bachelor’s degrees. H-1B visa denials in 2007 and 2008 slowed down jobs and wage growth and caused over 200 metropolitan areas to miss out on creating 231,224 tech jobs for U.S.-born workers. It also cost college-educated tech workers as much as $3 billion in total annual earnings.

Bannon's assertion that Asians comprise the majority of tech C.E.O. positions is way off the mark. A recent study by Ascend, a nonprofit group for Pan-Asian business leaders, concluded that although Asians and Asian-Americans are well represented in lower positions at companies— 27 percent of professionals at Silicon Valley tech companies -- less than 19 percent of managers, and fewer than 14 percent of executives at Silicon Valley tech companies are Asian or Asian American. Instead of having an overabundance of Asians in leadership positions, the data strongly suggests that systemic bias prevents Asians and Asian Americans from moving up the career ladder in proportionate numbers.

Ascend also found that when it comes to career advancement in Silicon Valley, race trumps gender. It found that U.S.-born white men and women are 154 percent more likely to have top executive roles in large companies rather than their Asian counterparts.

“If he really believed that he wanted to get more opportunities for minorities…then he should be talking about increasing educational opportunities for minorities,"  said Yang, . "He should not be talking about how one race is supposedly taking from another race. That’s just not the reality here.”

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